DISH recently entered into a partnership with AT&T, ending the partnership that the company has had with T-Mobile. The reason for the new alignment is because there have been feuds between the two companies since T-Mobile has taken over various brands, such as Sprint. The partnership brings AT&T and DISH closer to providing faster services and more options regarding mobile and satellite. It could also pave the way for a partnership between DISH and DirecTV.

Looking Ahead
Charlie Ergen, the founder of DISH, wanted to sell to AT&T in 2007. Talks progressed until the final issues needed to be addressed, which is when the partnership fell apart at the time due to some changes that were made at the last minute. AT&T went on to purchase WarnerMedia and DirecTV, spending over $160 billion for the acquisition along with the debt that each company carried at the time.

AT&T has sold roughly 30% of the stake that the company has in television operations. DirecTV is part of this percentage. The operations were sold to TPG, which is a new firm. Shortly after WarnerMedia was acquired, AT&T decided to offer a spin-off so that the company would have another edge in television services.

Competition
Before entering into the partnership with AT&T, DISH wanted to try to offer wireless services for customers so that the company could compete with other companies on the market. When Ergen received support from the government to partner with AT&T, he jumped at the deal. The merger is good news for customers as it puts DISH as the fourth option available after T-Mobile and Sprint partnered together last year.

Crafting a Partnership
The reason DISH decided to partner with AT&T is because the company has needed some kind of wireless network since it doesn’t have its own. The company does have a spectrum available that will be used with the services provided by AT&T. DISH had wanted to utilize the network provided by T-Mobile and made an agreement to do so until T-Mobile decided to shut down some of its operations. This decision is part of the reason why DISH wanted to partner with AT&T. One detail that needs to be worked out is the fact that there’s no CDMA network available to use right now. The partnership has been agreed on for at least 10 years. This is a longer span than the one that DISH had with T-Mobile.

Future Partnerships
Ergen wants to look at partnerships with other companies in the future, especially with DirecTV. There have been rumors that AT&T doesn’t particularly like DISH but that the new deal could boost the revenue for both companies. AT&T had an issue with DISH when the deal was negotiated between the two companies in a negative manner, but that’s been over 10 years ago, giving the company some time to rethink its stance. Since the company is no longer owned by the same person as it was in 2007, the partnership with DISH was negotiated a bit easier. AT&T could benefit from the billions that DISH has provided as well as the satellite system that the company has in place. If both companies can pull together, then they might be able to get DirecTV on board as well so that there are more networks available. Some of the satellites could be retired if the companies merge, and some of the costs associated with duplicate jobs between the companies could also be eliminated, saving each company money.