Some investors expect Dish Network to re-engage T-Mobile in transaction...
Some investors expect Dish Network to re-engage T-Mobile in transaction discussions, but the FCC could put a new piece of spectrum into play that the DBS company could buy instead of T-Mobile, said Guggenheim Partners analyst Paul Gallant. Counting Clearwire…
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spectrum is key, he said in a research note. The two main blocks of spectrum the commission will add to the denominator are Dish’s 40 MHz of AWS-4 spectrum, “and up to 135 MHz of the currently-uncounted BRS/EBS [Broadband Radio Service/Educational Broadband Service] spectrum at 2.5 GHz,” he said. If Sprint/Clearwire ends up above the new spectrum ownership limits, “the agency will face calls to require the company to divest spectrum to come into compliance with the new cap,” he said. The FCC might prefer to see Dish acquire any divested 2.5 GHz spectrum “if the agency believes Dish will use that spectrum to compete against cable/DSL with a fixed wireless broadband product,” he said. However, a higher industry-wide cap also might help AT&T acquire Dish, “which might be less desirable from the FCC/DOJ’s perspective,” wrote Gallant. With the Senate Commerce Committee having pressed FCC Chairman nominee Tom Wheeler to focus on rural broadband, “Dish’s acquisition of 2.5 GHz spectrum for fixed wireless could appeal to the agency,” he added.