Dish tries to move beyond satellite, break into the ISP and wireless markets

US satellite provider Dish is reportedly retracting a bid worth $2.2 billion for bankrupt wireless provider LightSquared. The Wall Street Journal says that Dish, who bid for LightSquared in May last year, could confirm the termination of the offer this week.

Dish, better known for its satellite TV service, has spent the last two years trying to diversify its services and become a true ISP. It bid for LightSquared in May of 2013, primarily to gain access to its spectrum, after a series of unsuccessful corporate maneuvers. The satellite company attempt to buy US carrier Sprint in 2013, but was beaten out by Japanese giant Softbank. The company then bid for wireless ISP Clearwire, only to have a resurgent Sprint — part-way through being acquired by Softbank — outmatch its offer and force Dish to pull out of the deal.

Dish's attempts to disrupt Sprint's buyout with SoftBank may not have come to fruition, but apparently that doesn't mean the two companies can't make up and sign a deal. The two are teaming up to test out broadband service that pick ups wireless signals from Sprint's 4G LTE network and delivers them into homes. The service will use both indoor and outdoor routers that tap into Sprint's 2.5 GHz signal, putting high speed data services in places that might have been previously unavailable. The trial begins in Corpus Christi, Texas next year, and will be extended to other cities after that.

Sprint just announced that it has successfully completed its purchase of Clearwire — its final, best offer of $5 per share was accepted, and the transaction has been closed as of today. This comes just one day after SoftBank and Sprint announced their merger would be complete on July 10th and less than a week since the FCC gave both deals its blessing. Sprint was already a majority shareholder in Clearwire, but now the carrier — and thus Sprint's new owner, SoftBank — now owns 100 percent of the company. It's a key acquisition for Sprint, as the carrier plans to use Clearwire's spectrum to continue building out its LTE network.

This week's news also makes two of Dish's planned acquisitions official failures — the company had hoped to purchase both Sprint and Clearwire, and submitted aggressive bids to do so. But plans for both the Sprint and Clearwire purchases fell through in late June, paving the way for SoftBank and Sprint to continue unabated. It remains to be seen what exactly Dish will try next to gain a foothold in the wireless marketplace — but it'll have to find other partners to realize that dream.

The Sprint, Dish, Clearwire, and SoftBank acquisition saga may be close to over. Dish has withdrawn its offer to purchase Clearwire, according to a press release pushed across the wire this afternoon. The satellite television company last bid $4.40 per share, but Sprint's latest offer of $5 per share — enough to earn the backing of Clearwire's board — has apparently convinced Dish to give up on this particular opportunity. Sprint, meanwhile, is in the middle of being acquired by Japan's SoftBank after Dish's own discussions to purchase the Kansas-based carrier fell through earlier this month.

It's unclear if today's news marks an end of Dish's wireless ambitions, or if the company will merely look for another acquisition to move it into the mobile space. It's rumored that Dish had discussions with T-Mobile in the past regarding a takeover, and Dish CEO Charlie Ergen has been steadfast in his belief that wireless is the way for the company to grow in the future.

It looks like at least one facet of the drama between Sprint, Clearwire, and Dish will soon be coming to a close: Sprint has just submitted another increased bid to purchase the remaining shares of Clearwire that it doesn't already own. Sprint has been trying to acquire Clearwire since last December, but Dish swooped in and started a bidding war with its own offer in January. More recently, Sprint upped its bid and called it its "best and final offer," but Dish quickly responded with an improved offer of its own and appears to have forced Sprint's hand. Now, Sprint will offer $5 per share to acquire Clearwire — up significantly from the "best and final" $3.40 per share it offered less than a month ago.

While a formal shareholder vote is still required to complete this transaction, it sounds like things are close to a done deal — Sprint says that about 45 percent of the Clearwire shareholders that aren't affiliated with Sprint have agreed to vote in favor of the wireless carrier's deal, which would effectively end Dish's hopes of a takeover. Of course, Dish could come back with another offer — but it's starting to look like the company may lose out in its efforts to get a piece of both Sprint and Clearwire, something that will definitely hurt Dish's ambitions to move into the wireless space.

Dish Network has pulled out of the competition to buy third-place US wireless carrier Sprint after months of back-and-forth with competitor SoftBank. After seeing the Japanese operator table a buyout offer in October 2012, Dish countered with its own surprise bid in April, leading to some heated exchanges in the media. Reuters reports that Dish will instead focus on acquiring Clearwire Corp. The company issued a statement on its change of plans in the form of a press release, the full text of which is below:

Television provider Dish has been working to get a wireless network off the ground, trying to acquire both Sprint and Clearwire over the past several months. In both cases it's faced uphill battles: the two boards have backed SoftBank and Sprint, respectively, leaving Dish a lot of ground to make up with shareholders. In the case of Clearwire, Dish actually managed to win them over, but was hit with a lawsuit from Sprint yesterday seeking to scuttle the offer.

Dish scored a major coup in its efforts to scoop up Sprint acquisition target Clearwire last week when it won the support of Clearwire’s board. Today, Sprint is firing back in court with allegations that the proposed Dish deal would be illegal. "DISH has repeatedly attempted to fool Clearwire’s shareholders into believing its proposal was actionable in an effort to acquire Clearwire’s spectrum and to obstruct Sprint’s transaction with Clearwire," it wrote in a press release.

As Friday’s shareholder vote approaches, the competition for Clearwire’s spectrum continues to heat up, with Dish upping its bid to $4.40 a share in cash — nearly a third higher than Sprint’s $3.40 bid from just last week, reports The Wall Street Journal. But while Dish is throwing out the higher dollar figure, the would-be deal is muddled by the fact that Sprint already owns half of Clearwire, and has had a standing agreement to buy the remainder since last year. As The Wall Street Journal points out, any deal would require Sprint to sign off, and while the financial incentives could make it worthwhile in the short term, Sprint and its potential parent SoftBank desperately need the additional spectrum to complete their vision for a nationwide LTE network.

Sprint has previously said that $3.40 is its "best and final offer" for Clearwire stock, so chances are slim for a counteroffer before Friday’s vote. Since early this year, Dish and SoftBank have been locked in a battle to acquire both Sprint and Clearwire, with the boards of both target companies siding against Dish’s ostensibly higher offers. Both Sprint’s offer to acquire Clearwire and SoftBank’s offer to acquire Sprint are scheduled to be voted on within the next couple of weeks, with the latter just getting clearance from the Committee on Foreign Investment following Dish’s media campaign to fend off the deal.

Satellite television provider Dish has been making moves to launch a terrestrial LTE wireless network for years, including a $25.5 billion bid for wireless carrier Sprint. According to a report from Bloomberg, Dish isn't putting all of its bets on the Sprint deal, however, as it has put in a $2 billion bid to purchase the spectrum owned by bankrupt LightSquared.

LightSquared famously went bankrupt in 2012 after the Federal Communications Commission initially approved and then later denied its application to use the L-band satellite spectrum it owned for a land-based LTE network. The FCC said that the spectrum was too close to what was being used for GPS services, and it therefore caused interference when used for an LTE network.

Sprint is currently being courted by two different companies — Japanese carrier SoftBank is still hoping its $20.1 billion bid will clear on July 1st, but satellite TV provider Dish is now attempting a $25.5 billion takeover of the US's third-largest wireless carrier. Now, according to a just-released FCC filing, Dish is getting more aggressive about stopping the SoftBank / Sprint deal from going forward. Dish has asked US regulators to hold their review of the SoftBank deal on the grounds that a Sprint / Dish deal would be better for the country from a national security standpoint. The government was already looking into the SoftBank deal because of concerns about the Japanese carrier using Huawei equipment, which the US believes is a national security risk — Dish is hoping its deal with Sprint will prove to be a safer option.

Security isn't the only trump card Dish is playing — the company also claims its deal will be better from a business perspective. There's the $5 billion difference in the offer Dish is making, plus the company claims that SoftBank's foreign roots means it lacks "existing in-market infrastructure" that Dish has. The company is hoping that the FCC will hold off ruling on the Sprint / SoftBank deal so that Sprint can properly evaluate Dish's offer without "undue interference" — a bit of a bold claim since SoftBank's deal has been on the table since October of last year.

Dish Network has launched a $25.5 billion takeover bid that would see it take control of Sprint. Japanese carrier SoftBank is currently in the process of purchasing Sprint, but Dish's offer could derail the takeover. Today's announcement represents a proposal, rather than a legally-binding offer, but The Wall Street Journal says the company is confident it can raise the funds necessary for such a large purchase. Under the conditions of the bid, Dish's shareholders would gain full control over the merged company.

Although cellular networking is new to Dish, the company has been making moves to get involved in the field. After expressing an interest in partnering with T-Mobile last year, it battled with Sprint for control of Clearwire in January by placing a rival takeover bid in for the carrier. As well as making moves to buy out Clearwire, Dish also gained FCC approval to build its own LTE network.

Clearwire plans to take $80 million in financing from Sprint, the first time the company has pulled from an $800 million arrangement between the two. The announcement confirms a report from The Wall Street Journal yesterday, with the money coming in the form of notes that convert into stock, a tactic that could eventually increase Sprint's stake in Clearwire — even as the carrier attempts to buy the company's remaining shares outright. That plan has been delayed some thanks to Dish Network, which made a surprise bid to the tune of $5.15 billion last month, effectively doubling Sprint's $2.2 billion offer.

However, Dish has publicly stated that it would withdraw its bid should Clearwire dip into the Sprint financing agreement. The satellite provider hasn't hidden its ambitions to break into the mobile industry, so we wouldn't consider the deal dead until Dish declares it to be so. We've reached out to the company for comment. For its part, Clearwire insists that it "will pursue the course of action that it believes is in the best interests of Clearwire’s non-Sprint Class A stockholders." At the same time, the company is maintaining its recommendation that shareholders approve the proposed Sprint transaction.

Clearwire announced on Friday that it will not be taking a financing offer from Sprint (worth up to $800 million) because it is still seriously considering Dish's surprise bid from earlier this month, which was far more money than Sprint put on the table. If Clearwire were to take Sprint's financing offer, Dish has said that it would retract its bid for the company, which at $5.15 billion is far more than the $2.2 billion that Sprint and its parent company Softbank have offered to buy out the remaining shares of Clearwire.

For all intents and purposes, it would make sense for Clearwire to just accept Sprint's offer and move on; as it is, Sprint already owns a significant chunk of the company and has been a partner with Clearwire for a number of years. Sprint used Clearwire's spectrum to power its now defunct WiMAX network and plans to use it to augment its growing LTE network. But for obvious reasons, Clearwire is not ignoring Dish's offer, and it seem that Dish isn't messing around in its play to gain a foothold in the wireless market. Dish has been interested in a wireless network to compete with the likes of AT&T and Verizon for some time, and it already has a wealth of satellite spectrum that it plans to repurpose for an LTE network. Rumors have also been circulating that Google has been involved in talks with Dish to launch a wireless network that would aim to disrupt the status quo.

Rumors have been swirling for months that Google has big wireless plans, possibly including a partnership with Dish, which hasn't been shy about telegraphing its intentions to build a cellular LTE network. Now, the pieces may be falling into place: Google is planning to build a secret wireless network on its Mountain View campus.

According to FCC filings spotted by wireless engineer Steven Crowley, it's a pretty hefty test: Google says it will use up to 50 base stations and 200 "user devices" (perhaps Android smartphones?) during the experimental period. Intriguingly, the temporary wireless network will operate in two narrow slivers of the 2.5GHz frequency band, which just so happens to be the territory of Clearwire — the same Clearwire which Dish is trying to purchase.

The drama surrounding Sprint's LTE roadmap has taken yet another turn, as Dish has made an unsolicited bid to buy Clearwire for $5.15 billion. Clearwire, of course, had already agreed to sell itself to Sprint — the half that Sprint didn't already own, that is — for around $2.2 billion. Sprint was only willing to part with that cash after it was acquired by Japanese carrier SoftBank. The corporate twists and turns have been an ongoing story and Dish's offer is a surprise — although the satellite television company has been expressing strong interest in wireless for some time.

Dish confirmed that it made the offer, Clearwire confirmed that it is considering the offer, and Sprint confirmed that it's none to happy to see Dish try to buy Clearwire out from under it. Sprint said it believes that its own offer is "superior to the highly conditional DISH proposal," since it apparently contains more complicated transactions and maybe even isn't allowed due to contracts Sprint has with Clearwire. Clearwire — which once again, is majority owned by Sprint — reiterated the same talking point, but decided that its "fiduciary duties require it to engage with DISH to discuss" the deal. Ah, the joys of trading around a publicly traded company.

The FCC has finally approved Dish Network’s plans to build out an LTE network using its available wireless spectrum. The satellite company had been lobbying to use its spectrum for some time, and it's now free to do so after extensive negotiations on the terms of the approval. Those included how many potential customers the network would reach, as well as the penalties that Dish would face if it failed to meet its deadlines. Dish is naturally pleased with the development, saying in a statement that the next move for the company will be to "consider its strategic options and the optimal approach to put this spectrum to use for the benefit of consumers."

Bloomberg has already pointed to possible plans for the company, saying that Dish could sell mobile phones in Blockbuster stores or seek a deal with Sprint. Rather than building out its own network, Dish would instead make use of Sprint's existing services as an MVNO in exchange for its unused spectrum. The difficult task of gaining approval for the spectrum may be out of the way, but the next challenge for Dish will be to decide how best to monetize it.

Yesterday, we heard a rumor that Dish was in talks with Blockbuster to sell mobile phones at the movie chain's remaining retail stores, and now Bloomberg is reporting that Sprint has approached Dish about a partnership to get the satellite provider into the cell phone game. Sprint's network would power this rumored service, making Dish just the latest MVNO to run on Sprint's network — Virgin Mobile and Boost Mobile are just two of several who currently utilize Sprint's spectrum to run their services.

In exchange for running its proposed service on Sprint's network, Dish would give Sprint access to its unused mobile airwaves. Sprint would also either share revenue from customers signing up for Dish wireless service, or Dish could just pay a straight fee to the carrier. Such a partnership would be a bit of an about face for the two companies — Sprint has lobbying the FCC to make technical changes to Dish's spectrum holdings because it believes it will interfere with the neighboring spectrum block. While this new partnership is far from confirmed, it might help Sprint and Dish settle their other spectrum-related concerns.

According to a report from Bloomberg, Dish Network plans to start selling phones out of Blockbuster's retail stores as a trial in the company's effort to join the wireless market. Dish has planned to build a mobile network in the US that could come by 2016, and while the company clashed with the FCC on terms earlier this year, two weeks ago FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski officially pledged to back its plans. Blockbuster already sells phones for Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, and Sprint through its "Blockbuster Mobile" website, and Bloomberg reports that phone sales will soon shift to roughly 850 retail locations.

While Dish's streaming hopes won't pan out, it appears that the company planned to sell phones in Blockbuster stores from the start. Bloomberg reports that Dish founder and chairman Charlie Ergen intended to use the video rental company's stores to sell mobile devices that could stream Blockbuster movies. Ergen abandoned that plan, leaving Blockbuster's future as a media rental service in question — but Dish doesn't seem too worried about staying in the media business. Earlier this week, Dish CEO Joseph Clayton told reporters that the premium TV business is mature, and that the company's future "plan a" is wireless.

FCC chairman Julius Genachowski has officially provided his backing to Dish Network's plans to build a mobile network in the US with its satellite spectrum. Dish has been trying to get approval for its network from the FCC for some time, and it still has to gain approval from the other four commissioners on the FCC's board. The company hopes to build a terrestrial cellular network using spectrum that used to be allocated for satellite service.

Genachowksi also backed a similar proposal from LightSquared last year, but that didn't turn out to guarantee approval for the company's plans to build a terrestrial cellular network with former satellite spectrum. LightSquared's plans were quashed because of apparent interference issues its network would have with existing GPS services, and Dish may run into similar troubles. The FCC has suggested that Dish lower the power levels of its network to avoid interference, which the company argues would cripple its capabilities.

Google and Dish Network have purportedly been discussing launching their own wireless service, reports the Wall Street Journal. According to sources, the talks are still in their preliminary stages and are not indicative of a finalized deal. Dish Network has spoken with a number of companies in the search for a wireless partner, but has not specified who it has made contact with. Dish chairman Charlie Ergen previously stated that the company is looking to team up with a partner that currently has wireless towers and a solid data-transmitting infrastructure, but does not already have a wireless network. Dish Network intends to use wireless spectrum that it had acquired in 2008.

The possibility of a Google-owned wireless service further extends what the company has already started with Google Fiber, a gigabit fiber internet service that just launched in Kansas City. In the FCC's wireless auction that closed in 2008, Google was able to initiate a set of open platform provisions regarding how the 700 MHz spectrum could be used. As a result, the FCC enacted a rule that required carriers to allow any device on their 700 MHz LTE networks. But, Verizon and AT&T have been able to skirt past this rule by producing devices that are technically incompatible with eachother's networks. This is a big reason why the Nexus 4 doesn't have LTE support — Google would have to produce separate devices for both Verizon and AT&T. If Google operated a network of its own, it wouldn't have to fight with carriers nearly as much, and it could produce the devices it wants without any drawbacks.

Dish Network is abandoning plans to transform Blockbuster into a Netflix rival, founder and chairman Charlie Ergen told Bloomberg in an interview. Dish bought the movie rental company in April 2011 after its bankruptcy, opened a movie streaming and disc-by-mail service for Dish Network customers, and sold thousands of Blockbuster stores nationwide. The cable company still has additional plans for the Blockbuster brand aside from using it as a nationwide video streaming or disc-by-mail service, but Ergen would not reveal more than the fact that Dish has spoken with other cable networks about a streaming service for live programming, and such a service is "years away." It's unclear what the future holds for Blockbuster, but Ergen told Bloomberg "worst case, we'll take our money after having wasted some time, not much money, and life goes on."

Bloomberg is reporting that Dish Network is currently in talks with several networks with regards to a new package that would let customers watch television channels over the internet without a cable subscription. Citing several sources familiar with the matter, the report claims that the online-only option would offer smaller bundles of channels compared to traditional cable packages, but at a lower price. These channels could then be watched on a computer or tablet.

Dish is reportedly in talks with networks including Viacom, Scripps, and Univision, which could potentially mean that channels like Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, and the Food Network would be available online. Unfortunately, there are currently no details on pricing or when such bundles might be made available. But the fact that Dish is talking to networks at all should be encouraging news for cable cutters, as the networks have traditionally shied away from the idea of offering channels online without a cable subscription — HBO, for instance, has said it has no plans to offer a cable-free version of HBO Go "for now" (though it is offering channels online in Scandinavia).

Earlier this summer, we heard rumors that Dish was planning to launch a satellite-based broadband service aimed at rural areas, and now the company has officially announced its new internet offering. DishNet will be available nationwide as of October 1st, and will offer two main packages: the $39.99 / month package (plus equipment fees) will offer users 5 Mbps down and 1Mbps up, with a 10GB data cap. Stepping up to the $49.99 plan increases the download speeds to 10 Mbps and bumps the data cap to 20GB. However, to get these prices, you'll need to sign a two-year contract and bundle your internet with Dish's "America's top 120" TV programming package (or any other, more expensive TV plan). Installation will be free for both new and existing customer who bundle DishNet with a TV package; otherwise, it'll cost $99.

The new DishNet network will be available nationwide, and is particularly focused on rural areas that don't have access to the speedier cable- or fiber-based internet connections. While those data caps are certainly a downside for those of us used to having hundreds of gigabytes per month at our disposal, it's a common practice for such satellite providers — and for those otherwise lacking access to broadband, it's likely that a service like DishNet represents a major upgrade.

Satellite TV provider Dish Network will introduce a new range of broadband options in late September or early October, according to reports from The Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg Businessweek. Using a satellite maintained by sister company EchoStar, the service will provide download connections of up to 15Mbps to rural areas without reliable access to cable broadband. While only marginally faster than the company's existing ViaSat-powered satellite broadband service, which offers download speeds of up to 12Mbps, the new offering will cover the entire US, allowing it to compete more readily with cable rivals as part of a bundled satellite product.

Citing a person familiar with the situation, Bloomberg reports that Dish's new service will initially be restricted to around 5Mbps to allow the EchoStar 17 satellite — launched at the beginning of last month — to take on a large number of simultaneous connections. According to the same source, the satellite will eventually be capable of serving approximately two million new broadband customers, using a higher frequency than older equipment. Dish is currently negotiating with the FCC over plans to use other parts of its spectrum to launch an LTE mobile network — if approved, this would add yet another string to the company's bow, allowing it to make its bundled products more comprehensive and attractive.