Dish Network and T-Mobile are currently exploring a merger, with T-Mobile CEO John Legere prepared to serve as CEO of the newly formed company should things proceed. News of the rumored merger was first relayed by The Wall Street Journal late on Wednesday evening.
While specifics regarding a purchase price have yet to be ironed out, the talks between the two sides are reportedly serious enough that executives between the two companies have already held serious discussions about what new roles they’d occupy should the merger becomes a reality.
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With Dish being a purveyor of satellite media (most widely known for its satellite TV service) and T-Mobile being a cell carrier, the merger would be an interesting blend to say the least. Of course, in the increasingly consolidated media world we live in, such mergers are seemingly becoming the norm. Just recently, for example, Charter Communications announced its plan to merge with Time Warner Cable in a deal worth nearly $80 billion. And of course, there’s also AT&T’s looming acquisition of DirecTV.
As for the impetus behind the deal, the Journal astutely observes that each company brings something to the table that the other needs.
“Dish lacks the robust broadband service that cable companies can lean on to offset a declining TV business,” the Journal notes. “It also has amassed billions of dollars of wireless licenses but hasn’t built the cellular network needed to put them to use. T-Mobile’s wireless service would help address both needs.”
On the flip side, with T-Mobile’s subscriber base increasing at a rapid clip, T-Mobile would be more than thrilled to make use of Dish’s aforementioned wireless licenses and create a more robust network in the process.
Interestingly enough, Dish CEO Joseph Clayton told Bloomberg nearly three years ago that he’d be interested in partnering up with T-Mobile if AT&T’s plan to takeover T-Mobile fell through.
