The Dish Network Corporation, one of the two companies bidding for US telecoms company Sprint Nextel, has decided not to change its $25 billion bid. Dish Network had previously been caught in a ‘bidding war’ for the company with the Japanese telecoms giant SoftBank, which offered $21.6 billion for Sprint.
SoftBank, which previously traded in Japan using the Vodafone brand name, is one of the East Asian country’s largest mobile cellular networks. Its moves to purchase the US-based phone network have been praised by many in the technology sector, with industry analysts claiming that it will speed up US cellular technical progress.
The Japanese communications company has faced stiff competition in its intended acquisition of Sprint, however, from Dish Network. As one of the United States’ top cable television companies, Dish’s large financial resources allowed it to be a major thorn in the side of SoftBank, which was forced to expand its initial offer.
With Dish Network out of the way, SoftBank faces a far smoother road in its efforts to acquire Sprint. The Japanese network won the support of key Sprint shareholders after increasing its bid for the company from $20.5 billion to $21.6 billion in the last week.
The acquisition will mark the company’s move into the United States cellular phone service market, which has seen increasing levels of international interest. SoftBank’s large network of customers in Japan give it ample capital to invest in US technology and infrastructure, with the company planning to upgrade Sprint’s network to LTE.
Despite its withdrawn bid, Dish Network claims that it continues to see value in the potential merger with Sprint. The company now plans to aggressive block Sprint’s own attempts to enter the broadband market by offering to acquire Clearwire Corp, one of several broadband companies that Sprint has shown interest in.
