AT&T’s Need for Spectrum Signals 77% Premium for Dish: Real M&A

AT&T Inc. is under so much pressure to add wireless spectrum after its failed $39 billion bid for T-Mobile USA that it may be compelled to pay the highest premium in more than a decade to secure Dish Network Corp.

Facing opposition from U.S. regulators, Dallas-based AT&T last month abandoned its deal for T-Mobile USA that would have increased the largest U.S. telephone company’s 4G spectrum capacity 62 percent, helping its higher-speed LTE network compete with Verizon Wireless. Now, AT&T may consider a bid for Dish after the second-largest U.S. satellite-television provider acquired airwaves from the bankruptcies of DBSD North America Inc. and TerreStar Networks Inc. that could give AT&T two to four more years of capacity, said Stifel Nicolaus & Co.