Dish has reportedly won a government spectrum auction, and will now have a massive portion of H-Block in their grasp. That’s important because Dish’s current holdings are adjacent to their new-found holdings, and make Dish the fifth largest spectrum holder in the US. Coming off the heels of a few failed bids to acquire spectrum via snapping up mobile carriers, this is great news for Dish.
If you recall, Dish was a huge adversary for Softbank in their deal for Sprint last year. Dish was also attempting to sneak Clearwire away from Sprint, and quite honestly had a better deal for shareholders. Unfortunately, none of that worked out as they had hoped, leading them the way of the auction. This new H-Block holding is said to have been purchased for $1.56 billion.
If they have indeed won the auction, this would make Dish a major spectrum holder, and free to license their spectrum — or use it for service of their own. The H-Block in question is 1900MHz, and while not the widest or most powerful available, it does pack a punch. Some speculated Dish would make a run at T-Mobile, much as they did with Sprint, but that never materialized.
Dish has long toyed with the idea of getting involved in the wireless game, and this deal gives them enough spectrum to be. We can now begin to wonder if Dish will be a carrier, lease their spectrum out, or partner with someone. There was speculation long ago that they would team up with Google, and this spectrum is likely going to refresh those rumors. Whatever they end up doing with it, it’s a big win for Dish.
Source: The New York Post