Thursday, June 27, 2013

DISH Folds & Some DISH Options

Poker 

As the long multi-hand poker game with Sprint, DISH, Softbank and Clearwire dragged on with DISH upping the ante, forcing Sprint and Softbank to push, DISH folded on both deals in the end.

DISH's game to takeover Sprint ended on June 18, 2013 when they withdrew their offer. The press release language implied that they will devote their resources to win Clearwire. It didn't look bad when the Clearwire board recommended DISH's offer back on June 12. 
But with a higher Sprint offer on June 20, the coup de grace came several days later on June 24 when the Clearwire board reversed its DISH recommendation for Sprint's offer.  




DISH folded on its second poker hand with yesterday's June 26 announcement. Many including me, expected another run, upping the ante, given DISH's playing profile but what did it have to gain? Really - nothing.

DISH's Options

The near term scenario is that DISH needs to get service up and running. Any time you're delayed means lost future revenue opportunity. With its core business slipping, there is urgency to get into the mobile space. Given this line of thought, it needs to bury the hatchet with Sprint and move to spectrum hosting.

A long term scenario is that DISH can wait until an alternate hosting provider comes on line. T-Mobile has been bandied about as that partner.  But why not Verizon Wireless and AT&T? Everyone wants access to new spectrum and if the deal is right, anything is possible. 

Regardless of scenario, DISH and a partner(s) need to seed the mobile ecosystem on DISH's bands. Technically, it may not be a stretch. However, the lead times to quickly  create/productize the chipsets and integrate into production hardware (device and infrastructure) are still an issue. Once it joins the mobile service provider club, DISH can upsell its own customers on mobile broadband (either fixed or mobile) and wholesale its capacity.  

Looking ahead, DISH is looking for another game but it may not be poker. 



Friday, June 21, 2013

The Finish Line is Close for Sprint

No one expected the level of drama and the maneuverings among Sprint, Clearwire, Softbank and DISH. To be sure, the stakes were high for all parties. A poker game analogy is appropriate as this corporate soap opera has seen its share of raised bids and stare downs.



DISH with Charlie Ergen at its helm played the classical disruptor, raising the stakes on its bid on both Sprint and Clearwire. It's logical since the DISH core business is sliding and DISH has no access to any mobile opportunities (revenue).  Though DISH has its own spectrum, it doesn't have the ability to launch service on its own. With Sprint's Network Vision strategy, DISH can ride the Sprint host with lower capital expenditure than if it built a network from scratch. But Sprint has a revenue generating subscriber base and direct sales channels that DISH can tap into if it own Sprint.  However, with a deeper pocketed Softbank raising the ante, DISH needed to fold and focus on a less capital intensive deal - Clearwire.

However, Sprint "pulled a DISH" and raised its bid for Clearwire at the last minute $5/share vs $4.40.  This reversed a Clearwire board recommendation for DISH. Let's face it, money talks and with that, the activist investors were placated. After all, they were looking to maximize any bid anyway. What didn't hurt was Sprint's lawsuit against DISH and Clearwire citing the illegality of the DISH offer.   Sprint is near the finish line to realize 100% ownership of Clearwire, unless DISH "pulls another DISH." 

The real question if the Sprint-Clearwire deal makes it is what are DISH's options to get into the mobile space and monetize its spectrum? Will Sprint and DISH bury the hatchet? In my view, they have to. DISH still needs to make use of its spectrum and Sprint is the logical partner (at this moment) since Network Vision was created for spectrum hosting. Though Sprint said in the past, wholesale revenue wasn't totally baked into the Network Vision model, any wholesale money (a fleeting LightSquared) will help its return on investment. Of course DISH can court T-Mobile, but they're focusing on its own LTE buildout. Moreover, they haven't planned for spectrum hosting. We shall see.............