Dish’s Ergen Says Push Into Wireless Industry Is ‘Credible’

(Bloomberg) -- Anyone who’s thinking Dish Network Corp. can’t become a serious threat in the wireless industry is mistaken, said the company’s billionaire chairman, a former professional card player who relishes a gamble.

“If they are, they’re betting wrong,” Dish’s Charlie Ergen said in an interview on Friday. “I’ve been in plenty of card games with guys across from me betting wrong.”

Dish, a satellite-TV provider, is coming off a blockbuster agreement with T-Mobile US Inc., Sprint Corp. and the Justice Department that will potentially turn it into a wireless powerhouse. The deal was forged to preserve competition in the mobile-phone industry after the pending merger of T-Mobile and Sprint.

Dish has a trove of wireless airwaves and will acquire the Boost pay-as-you-go service from Sprint, setting the stage for it to build a nationwide network that serves 70% of the U.S. population by 2023.

But Dish has plenty of doubters. And some have suggested that T-Mobile and Sprint only agreed to the arrangement because they thought Dish wouldn’t actually become a true competitor. Ergen said he doesn’t believe that’s the case.

“They know we’re credible,” he said. “We’ll be disruptive and competitive.”

Dish also could enlist partners to help fund the project, though it says it has all the money it needs for the next year or so.

“I wouldn’t restrict it to just equity.The capital markets in general have been very open to us, and I’ve been getting emails all day from interested players,” said Tom Cullen, Dish’s executive vice president overseeing its wireless push. “I don’t want to go into the details, but people like this transaction.”

States’ Fight

Even with the Justice Department’s blessing, Dish’s three-way deal with T-Mobile and Sprint hasn’t won the support of state attorneys general. A group of them are suing to block T-Mobile’s Sprint merger, and they signaled Friday that they aren’t giving up the fight.

The central concern is that the wireless market will be reduced from four to three major players -- with Dish as an untested competitor.

But Dish will have an advantage because it can build its network from the ground up, Ergen said. Another factor: The industry is embracing digital SIM cards, or eSIMs, which make it easier for customers to hop from one carrier to another.

“Dish will bring a different dynamic as a disruptor with a new network that’s built from scratch,” the 66-year-old said. “So I think the American public is probably going to win.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Nabila Ahmed in New York at nahmed54@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Nick Turner at nturner7@bloomberg.net

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