Back in August Dish Network made it clear that the company was
very seriously interested in launching a wireless network, despite previous executive assurances that the company was accumulating spectrum just for fun. Run from a subsidiary, the company is hoping to launch an LTE-Advanced network
under the brand "Ollo." Dish is planning to use the spectrum they acquired from DBSD North America and TerreStar Networks, but is waiting for FCC approval.
AT&T doesn't want the competition and wouldn't mind gobbling that spectrum up for themselves, and this week has been
pushing for expedited build timeline requirements they know Dish can't meet.
Fierce Wireless directs our attention to a new
FCC filing from Dish that combats AT&T's efforts and holds a little more detail on Dish's plans. In it, Dish makes several new disclosures, among them that the company will be offering retail -- not wholesale -- service, and that they'll be jumping directly to LTE Advanced:
"A new, next-generation LTE Advanced retail network simply cannot be viably built in the S-Band at the pace AT&T suggests...Building a network before LTE Advanced devices are widely available would necessitate the use of an earlier standard, followed by a migration to LTE Advanced once network and consumer devices are available. Such a requirement would needlessly trigger backward compatibility and network modernization issues and costs for Dish's proposed network."
The filing also gives better insight into timelines, the company stating that the LTE Advanced equipment for its S-band spectrum they plan to use likely won't even be available until 2015. So, with LightSquared essentially D.O.A. AT&T could be positioning to crush the only real non-MVNO competitive threat that could surface in the next decade. Or, Dish's Charlie Ergen could just be playing everybody, never had any serious intent on building a wireless network, and is simply positioning itself for the biggest possible spectrum cash buyout with a specific eye on AT&T. Most likely? It's both.
