‘Desperate’ AT&T May Turn to Dish for Spectrum, Stifel Says

AT&T Inc. may seek to acquire Dish Network Corp., the second-largest U.S. satellite-TV company, to gain wireless spectrum after failing to purchase T-Mobile USA and its airwaves, Stifel Nicolaus & Co. said.

The second-largest U.S. mobile carrier is “desperate for spectrum” after regulatory opposition forced it to abandon the $39 billion T-Mobile bid, said Christopher King, a Stifel Nicolaus analyst in Baltimore. AT&T had to give up spectrum as part of a breakup fee from the deal’s collapse.