DISH Acquires DBS and OTT Assets from EchoStar

[Troch77]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deutsche_Telekom

 

[JosephB]

The fact that T-Mobile is owned by a german company is being way overblown

The fact is that Deutsche Telekom wants to get rid of T-Mobile USA. A merger with Dish would likely result in Charlie owning a significant portion, outside shareholders owning a big chunk, and Deutsche Telekom owning a minority stake

Someone said something about Sprint and Charlie having a "bigger role" there..that's not likely. Sprint is owned by Softbank, a Japanese company, and they aren't necessarily looking to get rid of it. They want to merge Sprint with T-Mobile and keep control. T-Mobile is trying to just dump the company and get out of the USA completely. If Charlie wants to stay in control, a merger with T-Mobile is his best bet. A merger with Sprint or Verizon likely means Charlie retires to an island in the South Pacific.

 

[Troch77]

. A merger with Sprint or Verizon likely means Charlie retires to an island in the South Pacific.

I'm not so sure that's a bad thing...

 

[Deadlocked]

What I think this means is that it's a step in the direction of a merger. Basically, the technical side of the business, the uplinks, the fiber network and the OTT platform went back to Dish. This smells like Charlie is in the process of finalizing a deal with a telecom player IE: Tmobile or Verizon, ect. He's about to pull an AT&T by having all of these assets as a part of the Dish brand. He can now sell the Dish brand with the technical capabilities to anyone who wants to bid on it. Mark this post. Go buy some Dish Stock. I would buy some Tmobile stock as well. From what John L (Tmobile) said at CES and Charlie is doing, this could be Charlie's play out of the DBS market into retirement and handing Dish off to someone who can do something good with it. Oh boy things are about to get interesting if this is how it all plays out!!!!

My speculation is that Tmobile is the bidder.

I would switch to T-Mobile immediately if they merged and worked some of the same things ATT has done.


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[HobbyTalk]

Since T-Mobile currently zero rates over 100 web sites it could be assumed that they would do the same for Dish content if they merged.

Also, it is not uncommon for a company to sell off their investment in a "foreign" arm of their company. There is no reason that DT would not sell their interest in T-Mobile USA so the merged companies would be completely US based and owned. This is even more likely since DT has been trying to sell T-Mobile USA for years.

IMHO this would make it even more likely for a merge to be approved. That would keep all profits in the USA and it would not have to be split with DT as has to be done now, making the merged company even more American.

 

[Troch77]

Since T-Mobile currently zero rates over 100 web sites it could be assumed that they would do the same for Dish content if they merged.

Also, it is not uncommon for a company to sell off their investment in a "foreign" arm of their company. There is no reason that DT would not sell their interest in T-Mobile USA so the merged companies would be completely US based and owned. This is even more likely since DT has been trying to sell T-Mobile USA for years.

Anything is possible, But until we all actually hear anything at all about a merger, All we can do is assume and speculate.

Especially since no actual Merger other than Dish and Echostar is even announced.
Definitely will be an interesting year I suspect.

 

[MikeD-C05]

I read an news email from a website that is speculating that it isn't DISH that is in for a merger at all. It is Echostar, since it has all the bandwith acquired by Charlie in the last few years. Makes sense to me that who ever gets Echostar gets the bandwith.

 

[JosephB]

It could be both, I don't know enough about Echostar's remaining business to come to a conclusion, but I don't think it's *more* likely than a Dish merger. That Dish is for sale or looking to buy/merge is not a secret, Charlie has said as much in interviews and analyst calls that he thinks the way to build a network is to take his spectrum to someone already in the business. And the fact he hasn't bought a single radio or tower for all the spectrum that will turn into a pumpkin in 2020/2021 means he obviously intends on selling it off

 

[MikeD-C05]

Echostar is keeping the internet side of the business , like Hughesnet. I imagine that they will still manufacture the set top boxes for like Europe and any cable company who wants their receivers. They also make the Channel Master dvrs that charge NO monthly fee and use the Titan Tv app for their guide information. If a company wants that bandwith , either they merge with Echostar or buy it outright. Charlie might be putting all his Sling Tv and DISH sat business together because he considers the OTT Sling tv the future of tv. That way he covers both the city folks with access to high speed internet with Sling Tv and the country folks with DISH satellite business and DISH sat internet . Maybe he wants out of the international side of doing business with Echostar and he wants a buy out to go with all the bandwith he has aquired. Of course he could just sell off the bandwith to the highest bidder for as much as the market can take. I guess Time will tell.

 

[JosephB]

The set top business is going to Dish as well.

 

[navychop]

Beat this to death: WHO will own the non-Internet satellites? 110, 118, 119, 129, 65, 72 and 77?

 

[JosephB]

It looks like Echostar will own the satellites, Dish will own the uplink facilities:

http://files.shareholder.com/downlo.../EchoStar_Investor_Presentation_1_31_2017.pdf

 

[pattykay]

Has nothing to do with Dish Network not having any system setup for a cell phone company it just has to do with the fact that they own Spectrum

Be careful about capitalizing "Spectrum." That is the new brand name for Time Warner Cable.

 

[dare2be]

Be careful about capitalizing "Spectrum."

I thought you were going to say something about it being offensive.

 

[pattykay]

I thought you were going to say something about it being offensive.

No, I actually like the new brand name much better than "Time Warner Cable." I was just pointing out that "Spectrum" does not apply to the discussion in this thread, and could be confusing to those in Time Warner Cable territory, currently being bombarded with advertisements about the re-brand.

 

[dare2be]

I know. Don't take my joke seriously.

 

[DWS44]

currently being bombarded with advertisements about the re-brand

Amen to that. I've got Charlotte Hornets season tickets, who now play in the newly renamed "Spectrum Center", formerly known as the "Time Warner Cable Arena".

 

[MikeD-C05]

I always associate Spectrum with lab results. Full spectrum analysis .


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[dare2be]

I always associate Spectrum with lab results.

specimen?

 

[DishSubLA]

I also agree Dish is getting ready for a SALE, or "Merge." No buyer would want Echostar holding such assets with control of the new company. When I say getting ready, I mean--IMHO--there is already a specific buyer who've cut a deal and are just waiting for transfer of assets before Dish and mystery company make an announcement. I don't think Charlie would be doing this if it were not that a specific buyer wants those assets as part of the deal, although I'm sure Charlie figured he would have to do so for almost any buyer.

My vote (not necessarily hope) is that it is likely Verizon. They need this badly. The path they took for TV content is a disaster, and since the AT&T purchase of DirecTV, Verizon has to get a REAL TV option going. Rumor was Verizon was looking for a "cable company," which I think was a rumor intended to throw others off the track of Verizon negotiating with Dish. Greasy John, probably knew of the talks and likelihood when he stated that "Dish would not be Dish anymore."

The interesting point will be HOW MUCH MONEY they will pay for Dish. Earlier, before AT&T/DirecTV, Verizon probably thought Charlie wanted too much money for Dish, and Charlie publicly stated how he felt that Dish is worth more than some potential buyers thought because he (Charlie) had set Dish for the future better [meaning SlingTV OTT], and he could have been referring to both AT&T and Verizon most likely but along with others Dish may have talked to back then. Then AT&T/DirecTV, now Verizon is particularly behind in the TV front. It could be a wireless carrier, but they don't NEED Dish as badly as Verizon, and Verizon most likely would demand and NEED all the assets being transferred from Echo to Dish. A wireless carrier only company would most likely only need SlingTV and would prefer Echo to keep the costly sat and fiber backhaul, etc. as the wireless carrier could work from there to grow the business. But for Verizon, they would need the entire MVPD infrastructure for full control and willing to bear the costs in the short term, since they view it more as getting back in the MVPD biz.