Deutsche Telekom CEO says T-Mo should join up with chief competitor, not Dish Network
Update: There are conflicting reports on this news. According to Wireless Week, the Deutsche Telekom CEO has denied ever saying this.
A potential merger between T-Mobile US and Dish Network may not have the support of the up-and-coming U.S. carrier’s single-largest shareholder, German communication services provider Deutsche Telekom.
The New York Post reports that Deutsche Telekom CEO Timotheus Höttges would prefer to see T-Mobile US, the No. 4 American carrier, merge with the number three carrier Sprint.
Höttges made comments to that effect during an RBC Capital Markets conference held in Toronto, Canada, last week, according to the Post.
Earlier reports indicated that T-Mobile US was conducting “formative stage” talks with Charlie Ergen’s Dish Network, but it’s clearly nowhere near a done deal.
The Wall Street Journal reported that the two sides have discussed what a new management structure would comprise: Ergen, the CEO of Dish Network, would become chairman of the combined company, and T-Mobile US CEO John Legere would continue in his role.
Merger talks have been running rampant as telecom continues barreling toward a collision with content delivery network operators.
AT&T is awaiting approval for a $49 billion deal with DirectTV that it hopes will help it become a leading mobile, video and broadband content provider.
Sprint recently absorbed Radio Shack to improve its brick-and-mortar reach across the country and Verizon became a cable provider with the launch of Verizon FiOS.
T-Mobile US has been amping up its campaign to become more competitive with AT&T Mobiity and Verizon Wireless and overtake Sprint to be the third-largest carrier in the United States.
T-Mobile US, actively pushing its “un-carrier’ branding, has been gaining ground by signing up 1.8 million new subscribers in the first quarter of this year, but that has created a growing need for new spectrum.
Dish Network currently has lots of unused spectrum because they have no network, so it seems that the two companies’ assets would nicely complement each other.
This is not the first time Dish Network has tried get into the telecommunications field. In 2013, it bid against SoftBank to acquire Sprint Nextel. Dish also made a failed attempt to buy Clearwire.
