Dish to bid for T-Mobile/Sprint assets

Well, AT&T spent an average of $35 billion a year on their network from 2014-2018. If you assume the cost of a launched satellite is $1 billion, that is 35 satellites per year. I believe the actual cost is as little as a third of that for traditional satellites, maybe less with SpaceX, so ~105 per year. If you are talking about LEO satellites, SpaceX just launched 60 on a single rocket, so potentially far cheaper than traditional satellites.

Are you including the costs of the support structure and personnel needed for those satellites? And those 60 SpaceX satellites are single purpose limited life designs that are in no way suited to DBS use.
 
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Are you including the costs of the support structure and personnel needed for those satellites? And those 60 SpaceX satellites are single purpose limited life designs that are in no way suited to DBS use.

No, nor did I include the operational costs to run a nationwide tier 1 telecommunications network (which includes the use of satellites BTW). The question was about the cost to build the network vs. launching satellites. As the post I was responding to did not mention video delivery vs. generic Internet access, I also included the SpaceX launch as an example of what might be possible.
 

I agree with that article if you read the whole thing. Two things that jump out.
1. Exactly as I said this is of paramount interest to the FCC.
"The US Department of Justice is expected to hand down its decision as early as this week, possibly granting approval with conditions involving the sale of spectrum and other assets that would ensure the US mobile market retains a viable fourth competitor to take on New T-Mobile, AT&T and Verizon."

2. Also as some of us have said the writer correctly identifies what DISH needs to do - get a partner to help finance it. There are already reports of two possible financial partners. (I'm not talking about Boost) And some of us have also said they need a partner that knows 5G.

Can those things happen is the question. Foreign articles I read say Amazon is not going to go after this. Lets say that is true, then the suitors are few. I think if Sprint/TMobile want their deal to happen they will find a way to help get DISH (or someone) into being a fourth competitor and the FCC will approve. If DISH is serious about using their spectrum and not selling it, sure seems like this is the time to go for it.
 
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I think if Sprint/TMobile want their deal to happen they will find a way to help get DISH (or someone) into being a fourth competitor and the FCC will approve. If DISH is serious about using their spectrum and not selling it, sure seems like this is the time to go for it.

Yeah, this is the moment of truth for DISH. Charlie, are you serious about pivoting from DBS TV to 5G broadband, with all that entails (including the financial risk of building out a new nationwide wireless network)? Or do you really just want to sell off those spectrum licenses for as much as you can get out of them (which everyone believes was the original plan)? And does he actually have a choice -- does anyone out there really want his spectrum and the expense/risk of building out a new network? There would seem to be a logical play here for the major cablecos to get involved but I'm not sure they want to jump in and take the risk. Does Amazon? Analyst sentiment has been negative on that proposition.

The T-Mo/Sprint merger seems to be do-or-die for Sprint. But how much is T-Mo willing to concede to make it happen? They should be careful here not to give away too much. T-Mo is going to be OK either way, I think. If the merger doesn't happen, I expect that Sprint will end up auctioning off all or most of that valuable 2.5 GHz 5G spectrum that they won't be able to build out. And that's what T-Mo *really* wants. Why buy the cow if you could wait and buy the milk for less a little later on?
 
Bloomberg reporting Dish is lead bidder at 6 billion.

The Verge: T-Mobile and Sprint are reportedly nearing a deal with Dish to save their merger.
T-Mobile and Sprint are reportedly nearing a deal with Dish to save their merger

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6 Billion? If that's all it takes I can partner with DISH :)..... Six Billion. Wow.

I think many of us are on the same page, this really is it for DISH either they do want to get into the business or they just thought they did... This is all the most close I can remember to there being a real possibility at least going by reports over the last days. This is obviously a combination of the FCC wanting a fourth competitor, and Sprint/Tmobile apparently really wanting their deal just about the perfect storm for DISH to step in if they have the capital to do it. (and get help)
 
6 Billion? If that's all it takes I can partner with DISH :)..... Six Billion. Wow.
This is obviously a combination of the FCC wanting a fourth competitor, and Sprint/Tmobile apparently really wanting their deal just about the perfect storm for DISH to step in if they have the capital to do it. (and get help)
I kinda just picked your quote because so many of you are saying this. That the FCC wants four carriers, yada,yada,yada.

But why? If they wanted four, they could just deny the merger. Bang....ya got four! If fact, in the article just posted:
From the very beginning last April, T-Mobile and Sprint have insisted that their coming together is necessary to build a more formidable competitor to Verizon and AT&T
Seems like they are saying we need a STRONG three.

I think Charlie still wants to do what he has said he would do. That IOT area that can do the autonomous autos etc. I think he wants the equipment, towers and/or tower space so he can instantly give the FCC something positive to stay any spectrum retraction and keep doing what he's doing. And yes, I think with the stuff he is wanting from the purchase, he can move his TV service via 5G to homes and also get rid of one thing that has been hurting satellite for the last ten years. The ability to bundle Internet/TV from one source.

I'm just spitballing here......so be gentle.
 
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I kinda just picked your quote because so many of you are saying this. That the FCC wants four carriers, yada,yada,yada.

But why? If they wanted four, they could just deny the merger. Bang....ya got four! If fact, in the article just posted: Seems like they are saying we need a STRONG three.

I think Charlie still wants to do what he has said he would do. That IOT area that can do the autonomous autos etc. I think he wants the equipment, towers and/or tower space so he can instantly give the FCC something positive to stay any spectrum retraction and keep doing what he's doing. And yes, I think with the stuff he is wanting from the purchase, he can move his TV service via 5G to homes and also get rid of one thing that has been hurting satellite for the last ten years. The ability to bundle Internet/TV from one source.

I'm just spitballing here......so be gentle.
But there won't be four (likely) without the merger. If they wanted a strong three they have that now. And if they thought Sprint was a viable fourth they might reject the merger. That they are willing to allow it if a fourth can come out of it tells me they don't think Sprint is a real fourth. That spectrum sold was exactly to get others in the game.
 
I understand the longest successful sniper shot with a 50 cal was over a mile away.

I’d say Dish’s chances at building a viable cell phone network are somewhat less than those odds


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He's trying to create a IOT network business, not a consumer wireless phone service. Boost will just be window dressing, unless he decides to subsequently sell it.
 
I tend to agree.

Is Charlie going to build his wireless network, buy sprint or buy Directv.

He can only do 1

Best move would to trade the spectrum to AT&T in exchange for Directv and get out of the wireless business.

However the Tv business is dying, so buying directv may not be that great of an idea right now
Charlie is trying to build an IOT network business, not a consumer wireless phone business. Boost will just be window dressing, unless he subsequently sells it. The bar is pretty low for Dish to meet the FCC requirements in 2020. The subsequent requirement is the challenge, but not insurmontable for even Dish.
 
If DISH is to make a real go of a nationwide 5G network, they're going to have to have outside capital investment and, sure, it'd be even better if they could partner with some company that knows that industry and can help reduce the business risk. (Remember, it's not an easy business competing against 3 entrenched incumbents. Ask Sprint.)

I think you should pause and ask whether DISH *wants* to survive and continue on as a corporate entity running a different business (wireless network operator) than what they've always done and been successful at heretofore (DBS TV). I guess the real question to ask is what Charlie wants, since he is (I think?) the largest shareholder in DISH. Would he like to extract all the profits he can from his current capital investments in the DBS TV business -- suck all the juice possible out of that orange and then toss it -- and then retire a rich man, putting his money to work in a diverse basket of investments in various future-focused industries? Or does he wish to shift his huge equity holding in DISH from a business it can run well (even if the future earnings will definitely taper down to eventually zero over the coming decade) to a new business that could do great or could be a disaster? He's got a lot of money riding on that bet.
Charlie has always said what he "wants," as you phrase it: He want to create a 5G IOT network business, not a consumer wireless phone business, althoug if he gets Boost as part of the purchase of assets that must be sold, then operating a small MVNO becomes the side business if he decides not to sell it.
 
It looks like Boost Mobile ran on the back of Nextel than sprint. Dish would have to lease space off of another carrier. Or get the accounts and tell all of their new customers. Don’t worry we will have our network up and running SOON.


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Boost is an MVNO (sometimes imprecisely referred to as "pre-paid carriers") owned by Sprint. ALL the big wireless companies also own MVNO's that use their big brother wireless networks to operate. The big wireless companies play both sides of the street. Meanwhile, Carlos Slim and his Tracfone Corp., which operate under several differnt MVNO companies and brand names with each MVNO varying in prices and services targeted to several market segments each Tracfone MVNO with their own agreements with different major carriers, is the next big fish in US wireless biz, but only as an MVNO, but I think Carlos alone has the biggest share of the MVNO business, while both Boost and Metro PCS (T-Mobile's MVNO) combined would be the largest, if I remember the figures correctly.
 
DISH bought a bankrupt company, used the name brand for awhile and got some use out of it. Not following your meaning?
Agreed. It was a fire sale, or more like something you'd find at yard sale or swap meet: you just by the darn thing because it is so cheap and might be useful. They could not pass up getting a brand name for peanuts. The problem was because the purchase was so cheap, they never had a real plan for the Blockbuster name or business before it was for sale, so Blockbuster just died. It really was the equivalent buying a back scrather at yard sale that you bring home and NEVER use and end up throwing it into the trash bin, after all. :).
 
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Agreed. It was a fire sale, or more like something you'd find at yard sale or swap meet: you just by the darn thing because it is so cheap and might be useful. They could not pass up getting a brand name for peanuts. The problem was because the purchase was so cheap, they never had a real plan for the Blockbuster name or business before it was for sale, so Blockbuster just died. It really was the equivalent buying a back scrather at yard sale that you bring home and NEVER use and end up throwing it into the trash bin, after all. :).

They used Blockbuster which at the time still had name recognition for the name of their movie pack and on demand for quite awhile. It kept jobs in several locations for awhile longer along with a disc exchange service. Corporate stores were open for about two years, DISH executed franchise agreements and many non corporate stores were opened several more years.
They bought it for exactly how they wanted to use it, never was there a thought they would keep outdated stores open for an extended period. Never certainly did I think they would keep an online disc exchange going when people were leaving the format in droves. By the way they got assets of the buildings owned by Blockbuster and there was a story of how they leveraged some of them to make money by selling them in a renewed real estate atmosphere because they were in good locations for other businesses, that story was written by a local newspaper because some were in Florida.
People to this day still refer to the name, a huge one that DISH sold two miles from me still has Blockbuster as the name of the plaza, a search on google brings up the name, and is about DISH in the first search I get. So I can't agree with the analysis they bought something and never used it. They used it for different purposes than the original one.
Blockbuster Video Stores & On Demand Movies
 
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