Dish Network (NASDAQ: DISH) is aiming to hire a new CMO to help it jump into the wireless business, according to a Yahoo Finance report. The report, citing a Dish document, could indicate that Dish is preparing to launch a new wireless service in the near future, though there is no guarantee the company will do so.
"We are preparing for something big," the document said, according to the report. "This is an incredibly exciting time in our history. We have reinvented ourselves in the past and we are preparing to do it again."
According to the report, the document, which was labeled "confidential," indicates that the new CMO "will be an integral part of the team that changes entertainment forever as Dish enters the wireless business and becomes the only provider that can offer wireless voice, video and data."
This new CMO would report to Dish COO Bernie Han, and will also work closely with CEO Charlie Ergen, the report said. Dish's current CMO is James Moorhead and it's unclear if he will be staying on.
Dish spokesman Bob Toevs declined to comment on the report directly but said "we're always looking for great talent to grow and evolve our business."
Dish already controls 40 MHz of mid-band AWS-4 spectrum in the 2 GHz band and 10 MHz of 1900 PCS H Block spectrum. Dish's designated entity partners won 25 MHz of spectrum in the FCC's recent AWS-3 auction, though the FCC has not yet awarded those companies the spectrum licenses.
Tom Cullen, Dish's executive vice president of corporate development, said during Dish's first-quarter earnings call on Monday that the company has non-disclosure agreements with multiple companies in the wireless industry. Interestingly, Cullen noted that new video-sharing apps like Periscope and Meerkat and the continued rise of mobile video traffic is "opening up conversations with non-traditional players."
Cullen also said that Dish is open to wholesaling its wireless spectrum. "The wholesale discussion is an increasing priority I think in the minds of some players whose business models are more dependent on high-speed, high capacity, low-latency cloud connections," he said, according to a Seeking Alpha transcript of his remarks.
Also on the call, Ergen said that Dish is looking at how to use its spectrum resources in a way that is "meaningful to the American public and the consumer and something that's makes their life better and something they are willing to pay for." He added that Dish could partner with an existing wireless carrier to move forward in the wireless industry, and named T-Mobile and Sprint as potential partners.
For more:
- see this Yahoo Finance article
Related Articles:
Dish's designated entities in AWS-3 auction get knocked by NAACP, CWA and others
Dish's Ergen again praises T-Mobile, says Dish could jump into cloud-based wireless world
FCC still reviewing whether to grant Dish partners $3.3B in AWS-3 discounts
FCC seeks comment on new rules that would block a replay of Dish's AWS-3 auction bidding strategy
FCC to probe changes to its designated entity rules ahead of incentive auction
Sprint, T-Mobile, Dish join forces with others to press FCC on incentive auction rules