From The Denver Post:
BOULDER — Dish Network chairman Charlie Ergen wants to launch a stand-alone wireless business that would offer mobile broadband, text and voice services to compete against telecom giants AT&T and Verizon Wireless.
Ergen, who stepped down as Dish chief executive in June to focus on the mobile strategy, revealed details of that plan Tuesday during a discussion at the Silicon Flatirons Center for Law, Technology, and Entrepreneurship at the University of Colorado at Boulder.
"We have to start the wireless business outside of Dish Network, then we'll fold it in," he said.
He said that, personally, he wants a phone that can be used for talking, texting and surfing the Web at the same time, and with a bill that he can understand.
"I signed up for a plan from one of the carriers — it was $59, but my bill is $164.28 and it's like 18 pages long," he said. "I don't think the wireless business has to be that way. I think you can actually have a phone that works, and I think you can have a bill that you understand."
Ergen handed over day-to-day control of Dish, with about 14 million subscribers the nation's second-largest satellite-TV provider, to concentrate on strategic moves that could reshape the company. Dish's subscriber growth has stalled in recent years amid increasing competition from online services such as Netflix and pay-TV offerings from phone companies.
"There's not a lot of growth. It's down to maybe 1 percent a year," Ergen said. "For us that's a good business, but 10 years from now, that's not going to be a good business."
As such, Dish has spent more than $3 billion acquiring wireless spectrum that it would leverage for a high-speed fourth-generation wireless network. Dish still needs the Federal Communications Commission to ease rules tied to the spectrum before it can move forward.
The company would have to spend another $5 billion-plus to build the network, which would use 4G Long Term Evolution technology and launch in 2014 or 2015.
"We've been saving our money, and we're prepared to go spend it," Ergen said.
Ergen, though, has previously said he would prefer to partner with an existing carrier. Partners could include Sprint Nextel or regional carrier MetroPCS.
"It would be a long shot that we could compete against AT&T and Verizon," Ergen said. "Having said that, it seems like something we want to try to do."
Ergen said even if the company were unsuccessful in launching a mobile-broadband network, the spectrum would still hold value to carriers.
Dish Network aims for smarter phones, simpler bills - The Denver Post Dish Network aims for smarter phones, simpler bills - The Denver Post
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BOULDER — Dish Network chairman Charlie Ergen wants to launch a stand-alone wireless business that would offer mobile broadband, text and voice services to compete against telecom giants AT&T and Verizon Wireless.
Ergen, who stepped down as Dish chief executive in June to focus on the mobile strategy, revealed details of that plan Tuesday during a discussion at the Silicon Flatirons Center for Law, Technology, and Entrepreneurship at the University of Colorado at Boulder.
"We have to start the wireless business outside of Dish Network, then we'll fold it in," he said.
He said that, personally, he wants a phone that can be used for talking, texting and surfing the Web at the same time, and with a bill that he can understand.
"I signed up for a plan from one of the carriers — it was $59, but my bill is $164.28 and it's like 18 pages long," he said. "I don't think the wireless business has to be that way. I think you can actually have a phone that works, and I think you can have a bill that you understand."
Ergen handed over day-to-day control of Dish, with about 14 million subscribers the nation's second-largest satellite-TV provider, to concentrate on strategic moves that could reshape the company. Dish's subscriber growth has stalled in recent years amid increasing competition from online services such as Netflix and pay-TV offerings from phone companies.
"There's not a lot of growth. It's down to maybe 1 percent a year," Ergen said. "For us that's a good business, but 10 years from now, that's not going to be a good business."
As such, Dish has spent more than $3 billion acquiring wireless spectrum that it would leverage for a high-speed fourth-generation wireless network. Dish still needs the Federal Communications Commission to ease rules tied to the spectrum before it can move forward.
The company would have to spend another $5 billion-plus to build the network, which would use 4G Long Term Evolution technology and launch in 2014 or 2015.
"We've been saving our money, and we're prepared to go spend it," Ergen said.
Ergen, though, has previously said he would prefer to partner with an existing carrier. Partners could include Sprint Nextel or regional carrier MetroPCS.
"It would be a long shot that we could compete against AT&T and Verizon," Ergen said. "Having said that, it seems like something we want to try to do."
Ergen said even if the company were unsuccessful in launching a mobile-broadband network, the spectrum would still hold value to carriers.
Dish Network aims for smarter phones, simpler bills - The Denver Post Dish Network aims for smarter phones, simpler bills - The Denver Post
Read The Denver Post's Terms of Use of its content: Terms of Use - The Denver Post
lol 
