

Here's an intriguing rumor for Friday afternoon. For several weeks now we have been hearing industry mumblings that Dish Network is trying to get their own wireless phone network going. Supposedly, they have been courting several big players in the mobile tech world, including Google. Today's rumor suggests Dish might actually be teaming up with Sprint for a national wireless network. Here's a quote with the details,
Unnamed sources have told Bloomberg that Sprint (S) has been trying to hash out a deal with Dish that would let the satellite television provider “offer mobile-phone service over the carrier’s network” in exchange for giving Sprint “access to Dish’s mobile airwaves, which aren’t currently being used.” From there, the companies would either “share revenue from customers who sign up for a Dish wireless service, or Dish may pay Sprint a fee to use the network.” Dish, which wants to use a 40MHz chunk of satellite spectrum on the 2GHz band for terrestrial LTE-Advanced services, has also reportedly held talks with Google (GOOG) to jointly operate a nationwide LTE network that would officially set up the companies as direct competitors with wireless giants Verizon (VZ) and AT&T (T).
If these rumors turn out to be true, then we could see the ries of Dish network and Sprint to truly compete head-on with AT&T and Verizon. It would certainly be a surprising twist of fate if something like this were to occur. Share your thoughts.
Source: BGR