Dish Network and T-Mobile US in merger talks

According to a recent report from the Wall Street Journal, Dish Network Corp and T-Mobile US Inc are in talks over a merger that would combine the second-largest satellite TV operator in the United States with the fourth-largest wireless carrier. People familiar with the matter describe that the talks are at "the formative stage," and claim that there is no guarantee that a deal will be finally done.

An eventual merger would be beneficial for both of the sides, since Dish owns vast amounts of wireless spectrum and T-Mobile could put that spectrum in use for its growing subscriber base and network.

Even though purchase price hasn't been mentioned, the two companies have reportedly agreed that T-Mobile Chief Executive John Legere would be the combined company's CEO and Dish CEO Charlie Ergen would become the chairman.Representatives of both companies haven't yet confirmed or denied the eventual merger.

If the merger becomes true, it will be part of the recent wave of consolidation between TV, broadband and wireless companies.

"Given the increasing consolidation in the market, T-Mobile and Dish were in danger of becoming the lone single-service providers left in the market, with everyone else combining TV, broadband, and wireless," Jan Dawson, an independent technology analyst said. "T-Mobile has a growing subscriber base and network but not enough spectrum, while Dish has lots of spectrum and no network, so their assets are very complementary. This merger would also go some way to overcoming some of T-Mobile's lack of scale compared to its larger competitors, AT&T and Verizon."

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