Dish Network’s recent purchase history has the attention of Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos. According to a Wall Street Journal report sources close to the situation state that Dish CEO Charlie Ergen and Bezos met to discuss a potential deal between the two companies.
The details are unknown at this time, but reportedly, both parties met to discuss a partnership related to wireless technology. Dish spent 6.2 billion dollars on wireless airwaves in April which left analysts predicting that the company was working towards a merger with a wireless carrier. Today though, it appears there might be a different strategy in play.
The Bezos and Ergen talk points to the potential for Dish to use those airwaves to provide support for Amazon’s ‘Internet of Things’ (IoT) services and devices. Amazon Web Services for example, has a platform dedicated to IoT that would be a perfect fit for Ergen’s wireless airwaves. It also seems likely that Ergen and Bezos would consider a partnership where the two work together on drone deliveries. Perhaps both, or maybe Prime TV is going to stream on Dish Network in what would probably be the least interesting possibility.
Shake ups in the telecommunications and cable television sectors aren’t a new thing, DirecTV and AT&T completed a merger in 2015. T-mobile and Sprint have engaged in merger talks several times. According to Reuters however, this doesn’t appear to be a merger.
The nature of the consumer market is fickle, and right now Dish and Amazon might not look like a great fit, but that can change. There weren’t many people who predicted Amazon would start buying grocery stores like Whole Foods.
If nothing else, all those satellite dish receivers screwed onto everyone’s roofs could be turned into drone-delivery landing pads. Right? We’ll leave the business side of the merger to the experts, but we look forward to seeing the details of the deal (if any) as they are revealed.
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