With everyone else in the cable/Internet/wireless business gone merger-mad, the only thing that telecom titan Verizon has purchased recently is AOL for a few billion bucks. The company has long been suggested as a prime buyer for satellite TV service Dish, but a top Verizon executive says that’s just not happening.
Dish would make sense for Verizon, whose biggest telecom competitor, AT&T, is currently trying to acquire the only other national satellite TV provider, DirecTV.
Not only would a Verizon/Dish tie-up probably provide the two companies the same benefits as the AT&T/DirecTV deal — increased buying power with content companies, expanded reach for pay-TV services, added revenue to continue building out and expanding both networks — Dish recently acquired a ton of wireless spectrum is doesn’t really have any immediate use for, but which Verizon could find all sorts of ways to deploy.
Alas, the Wall Street Journal reports that when Verizon Chief Financial Officer Fran “Sham Wow” Shammo was asked about Dish, he flatly replied, “My answer is going to be one word: No.”
So it looks like the only marriage in Dish’s foreseeable future is the one that might take place with T-Mobile USA.
The satellite company recently began talking to banks about raising enough cash to acquire the magenta-friendly wireless provider. T-Mobile’s parent company Deutsche Telekom has been trying to unload its U.S. division for years, including AT&T’s failed attempt at buying T-Mo USA in 2011. However, some reports indicate that DT could retain a significant minority ownership stake in the combined companies.
No official announcement has been made on that merger, and some are cautioning that it could still never materialize.
by Chris Morran via Consumerist