During the call, Ergen said, “I think as long as the parties are negotiating, I think things will remain open. I can only say there are negotiations going on at the highest levels between the companies and neither company has come to a resolution on that.” Once Dish, T-Mobile, or both firms come to the conclusion that no deal is going to get done, that is when we probably will see an end to the negotiations.
Dish needs to cover 75% of the U.S. with 5G by June 2025
Ergen also made a point of saying that Dish will not leverage its balance sheet to purchase the low-band spectrum but otherwise did not mention how cash-strapped Dish will pay for the airwaves. During the conference call, Dish also said that it would spend $2 billion in capital expenditures in 2024 and 2025, and that includes paying to meet the FCC’s 5G requirements which call for it to cover 75% of the U.S. with 5G by the end of June 2025. Currently, that figure is at 73%.
Dish is also monitoring the saga involving UScellular whose parent company, Telephone & Data Systems (TDS), said last week that it is ready to explore “strategic alternatives” for the company which has roughly 4.2 million subscribers and operates in rural parts of the U.S. where Dish has yet to complete its buildout. While it sounds like a good fit for Dish, Executive Vice President Tim Cullen says that there hasn’t been enough information released about how TDS plans to get rid of UScellular.
