Why does dish want sprint

Read More. Nonetheless, Ergen's testimony excited Dish investors. I've worked on it darn near every day. Now, the stars have aligned to allow us to do this and we know we can compete.

Propping up a fourth competitor. Ergen's testimony shed some light on how the merger deal, with Dish as a remedy, came together. Initially, he said, he opposed the combination. Sprint may soon be a dead brand The DOJ has approved the agreement, which will take place only if the merger goes through. Dish's wireless aspirations. Succeeding as a new entrant to a market with three massive incumbents would be a tall order.

And during a recent interview at the Dive Into Media conference, Ergen floated the idea that Dish would be glad to offer a la carte pay TV if the networks would be willing to unbundle premium channels. For years now, viewers have been begging for just exactly that. What Dish does't have is a unified way to broadcast onto mobile devices.

According to Ergen the merger would allow Dish to stream live TV to mobile devices. Want to watch Game of Thrones on the go without a Slingbox a company that Dish also acquired , just fire up your Sprint phone and watch the Starks battle the Lannisters.

In the scenario Dish envisions, viewers would pay for one bundle of mobile and TV. Watching TV on your phone on the subway is exciting, but more exciting is the possibility that Dish could create a mobile-only TV bundle. With smartphones capable of HD p output, a phone could become a mobile TV antenna. Want to watch the game at a friends' house but they don't have a pay-TV subscription? Sprint, on the other hand, can offer that without the issues.

Again, if Dish owns those waves, it can get you to pay into its system twice. It not only owns the cable you're watching, but the wireless network, too. While this is a perfect set-up for Dish, it's unclear if Sprint wants the deal. The offer came unsolicited as a counter offer to Softbank's. By purchasing Sprint's prepaid business, getting additional airwaves and adding the ability to begin offering service on the T-Mobile network while it builds its own, Dish has an easier and more cost-effective path to finally become a wireless competitor.

That is the plan -- though it's unclear what the service will look like beyond utilizing Sprint's prepaid business and retail stores. Dish already has spectrum holdings in the MHz and MHz bands, as well as some midband holdings that'll allow for greater speeds, though it doesn't have the same amount of range.

He said the company is looking forward to "delivering lower prices and increased competition in the prepaid market. The Boost prepaid brand will give Dish immediate access to a mobile business with about 9. It will operate as an MVNO, or mobile virtual network operator, by leasing access to the Sprint and T-Mobile wireless networks and reselling the service under the Boost label.

But when it comes to 5G service, Dish is essentially building a wireless network from scratch. Its plan is to combine the spectrum it owns with spectrum acquired from Sprint and to use new network technologies to build a 5G mobile network at the fraction of the cost of its bigger rivals. But many analysts are skeptical that Dish will be able to achieve the projected cost savings and execute on its new network build within the promised timeline. The prepaid Boost service should be up and running under Dish's management very quickly.