Not too long ago we wrote about a rumor that parent company to T-Mobile, Deutsch Telekom, wanted the fourth largest cell provider in the United States to merge with MetroPCS. Now oddly enough, the two are joining forces in going up against Dish Network’s attempt of having its own wireless network. The motives behind making life much more difficult for Dish is the fear of falling further behind AT&T and Verizon in the war of spectrum.
Here’s the rundown. Dish holds 40 MHz of S-Band mobile satellite services (MSS) spectrum, and is seeking FCC waivers that would enable it to use the spectrum for a terrestrial LTE-Advanced network. Okay, let me talk in English for a second, both T-Mo and MetroPCS want the satellite company to give up 20 MHz half of its spectrum holdings. Both companies don’t want to see Dish get clearance on the 40 MHz to then only turn around sell all or part of its S-Band frequencies to the big two: AT&T or Verizon.
Honestly, you can’t blame both T-Mobile and MetroPCS for wanting the FCC to get in the middle of this, as it would certainly doom both companies if Dish hoodwinks everyone into believing its sparingly going to use its spectrum. However, it’ll be a long time until we know what Dish’s plans are, as the company said it would not be able to launch its proposed network until 2016 or later.
[via FierceWireless]