Spectrum is real big business at the moment. At least, it certainly seems to be in the case of Dish Network. Dish did of course, pick up a bunch of spectrum at the last auction and seemed to be the clear winner. However, since then, the company has seen criticism from the other major carriers for the way in which they purchased the spectrum, as well as the FCC bearing down on them. A move which eventually forced Dish’s Designated Entities (DEs) to give up about a third of the spectrum that they had acquired.
Of course, that still leaves them with a bunch of spectrum to make use of and up until recently, it had been thought that a deal between T-Mobile and Dish might be on the cards where T-Mobile would be able to make use of that spectrum. Although, that does not seem to be the case anymore. Following which, attention has now been turning to the likes of Verizon and whether they might be interested in picking up, or more specially, leasing spectrum from Dish. A sentiment that some analysts suggest Verizon needs to do to stay viable in the future landscape.
Well, speaking at an investors conference recently, Fran Shammo, CFO for Verizon Communications, downplayed any notion that the carrier might be interested in leasing spectrum from Dish. In justifying the fact that Verizon would not be interested in what Dish has to offer, Shammo makes the point that Verizon did pick up and pay for a large number of spectrum too at the last auction. Further noting that if they had wanted more spectrum, than they would have bought it at the auction. Adding to this, Shammo also pointed out that the prices were simply too high for the purchase to be one which they would be interested in.
That said, not interested in leasing spectrum from Dish, does not mean that Verizon would not be interested in purchasing the spectrum that Dish was recently forced to surrender. In fact, during the same talk, Shammo noted that Verizon might be willing to re-bid on those licenses when they go up for re-auction. An auction, which T-Mobile recently requested the FCC ban Dish from also re-bidding on the same spectrum.