ChadBroChillz

Well, I guess we will see who is telling the truth.  I am on the biased side, but I believe Sprint more than Dish, especially with Dish's predatory history. Also their comment against Comcast is BS. Comcast has those rights, because it is in the EHA, which was the point Sprint was mentioning. You need to amend the EHA to include Dish for them to have those rights. Dish would need 66 2/3 vote to amend the EHA.

That what I was thinking the plan is. Dish is already over leveraged in the Sprint deal. Any raise in price would make their offer even less enticing compared to a raised softbank deal.

Clearwire is still cheap by comparison. Dish could put down a price of 10 dollars a share to block Sprint. Depleting the funds that softbank has infused into sprint. A raised offer from Softbank could put even more capital into sprint, while the same would not be true in Clearwire regards.

I still cannot support the Tmobile/Sprint merger, I would hate to see another nationwide network being torn down. I kinda wish Sprint was forced to sell the lease rights to the towers, so we could possibly seen some new competition. I do believe their is enough spectrum between all the carriers to have 5 national competitors. Also once a network does down, it will never come back and the cost for new towers seems to great for new entries into the wireless game. I guess I am really just afraid of us turning into Canada South.

 No, the assumption was that that Dish gets the shares that are not owned by Sprint and the strategic investors.

I do not believe that assumption will hold. If Sprint's bid is rejected, I believe the financing turns into shares for sprint, which would give it 68% of the vote. That would mean 32% of the vote is not controlled by Sprint. Crest is going to oppose every deal to push the price further. Taran Asset Management has already said they are looking at 5-7 dollars per share. I also believe Mount Kellett Group will come out agains Dish's offer, which means Dish could never get the minimum 25% they need.

T-mobile with 51K cell sites and 600MHZ spectrum would/will be a monster competitor for Sprint. 

Competing with 37K is hard enough. 

I think this is one of those cases where bigger is not better. Those cell sites are not coming cheap. Sprint covers the same distance with a quarter less cell sites. ATT/Verizon have around 50k as well, but of course cover massively more than Tmobile. They are going to need to trim some of that fat, if they want to compete. 

Can't Intel and the others wimp out of the deal now that there is an offer for $1 more?

I think it is worth noting that the other two investors are Bright House and Comcast. They would have as much, if not more to lose by Dish winning. Dish getting the ability to bundle services would be a major blow to them. They would rather lose the 1 dollar than have a blow to their main business. The only way I see them flopping is if Dish offered something astronomical like 100 per share. 

Is this total BS?

 

Analysts: SoftBank could 'walk away' from Sprint following Dish's bid for Clearwire Read more: Analysts: SoftBank could 'walk away' from Sprint following Dish's bid for Clearwire

 

http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/analysts-softbank-could-bail-sprint-following-dishs-bid-clearwire/2013-05-31

I am sure their is a possibility, however, I believe it is very small. That possibility would be contingent on Clearwire's offer coming to fruition, which is not likely to happen, because their governance requirements would require Sprint approval, and they probably will not be able to get the 25.1% minimum they need, since Crest and others have already spoken against it. Crest is going to be a thorn in everyone's side. 

In an article, someone suggested that Charlie is only bidding for Clearwire to force Sprint to make a deal with him to host his S-band.

This makes sense to me because Clearwire doesn't have a decent network - right? - so it wouldn't make sense for him to buy Clearwire and then still have to spend more money to get more/better infrastructure.

 

Can Sprint currently veto any Clearwire spectrum sales?

If yes, then a) Charlie truly is wasting everyone's time and the vocal Clearwire minority shareholders are deluded if they think Charlie's offers should somehow pressure Sprint to increase its offer.

 

However, Sprint did increase its offer. Why? Was it more psychological than anything?

That could possibly be his end game, but like Robert said, Dish cannot let a win/win deal happen, because it would mean they left too much on the table. Ergen must feel like the only winner. Charlie's current plans are to just become a minority shareholder that is a nuisance to Sprint until they get their deal. They have become so desperate as to have given up the spectrum purchase. 

According to Fierce Wireless:

 

While Dish said its offer is for all Clearwire shareholders including majority owner Sprint, it is willing to buy out only minority shareholders as long as it can acquire at least 25 percent of Clearwire's voting stock. Dish said it wants the right to pick at least three Clearwire board members and more if it acquires more of Clearwire's shares. Dish also wants the right to approve changes to Clearwire's structure as well as transactions Clearwire enters into with other companies, including Sprint, unless such deals are approved by "an independent and disinterested board committee."

 

Read more: Analysts: SoftBank could 'walk away' from Sprint following Dish's bid for Clearwire - FierceWireless http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/analysts-softbank-could-bail-sprint-following-dishs-bid-clearwire/2013-05-31#ixzz2UtoZ4fz4 

 

I don't know if Dish can get the number of seats it wants or have veto power on the structure.

 

 

Dish has basically two offers on the table. 

They are just disrupting Sprint/Softbank's plans for Clearwire, who has a few shareholders who refuse to sell to Sprint, however they have not stolen Sprint.  We will see what Sprint/Softbank decide to do, however,  Do not expect Softbank to run, because of Ergen's trolling. In both cases, once the FCC approvals the deal, Softbank will have the edge of not needing regulatory approval or Sprint approval and being able to close in weeks, instead of months. 

Clearwire has not been a condition since the merger was announced, however it is still clearly a big part of their plans. Clearwire's 20Mhz TD-LTE network would allow them to compete with the title of fastest network. While most of us could not care less about fastest network, it would go a long way in changing Sprint's image of being the slow network.  I also believe they want NV 2.0 to include 2.5Ghz out of the gate instead of waiting until Dec, however,  I do not believe Softbank will postpone the closing of their deal just to include Clearwire.

Im starting to think that this whole mess could have been minimized if sprint would have simply postponed their initial bid for clear until right before Ergen's offer came to a vote. Had Ergen expected all along that he would get Clear, I do not believe he would have made an offer for sprint. This would have also made the timeframe for him to get a sprint bid together less plausible. Many of us reacted to sprints initial bid for clear as "wrong timing" and in hindsight, very very true. Robert was , if I recall, also very much of that opinion!

 

Sent from my Note II. Its so big.

I still think Sprint has the upper hand because they got their deal done first. If the FCC approves Sprint-Clearwire, then Sprint has a strong argument even at a lower price. They could close any potential deal within weeks of the vote, while Dish would need regulatory approval. 

Looks like Robert can now add the ability to foresee the future to his resume. 

Looks like the vote has been postponed 

Sadly, I do not believe he will be able to use his Softbank iPhone. Softbank uses the iPhone model GSM A129, while sprint uses the CDMA A129. Even if Sprint were to allow the device, it would not have access to their Voice and 3G data network without that CDMA support. Your best bet would probably take it to an apple store and get it unlocked, then selling it. 

I think this all started when Dish and Charlie learned that Sprint was up for sale.  I think prior to the Softbank deal, no one knew that Sprint was up for sale.  Since Charlie is so desperate to enter the mobile video business, he understands he needs spectrum and a wireless carrier that can build out a LTE network that can deploy their S-band spectrum. He understood that the cell phone service is where most of the mobile video traffic is coming from and that most people have a cell phone its a perfect market to enter in.  Of course Charlie Ergen hates Softbank a lot because he is competing against them for a major wireless carrier that can help deploy his vision.

I do not believe that to be true. Sprint was shopping itself around. I remember reading that KDDI was possibly offer the company prior to Softbank, however, they passed on the deal. Sprint had talked to 4 other companies, and I believe Dish was one of them. 

What is the "standstill agreement"?  Is this the thing about some period expires in November where it only needs 50% of the vote instead of 75%?

It is an agreement that prevented Sprint from changing clearwire bylaws for 5 years. The 5 years ends at the end of November this year. It would allow Sprint to change the bylaws with a 66 2/3 % vote, which I believe Masayoshi Son said sprint has control of 68% of the vote. Sprint could reduce the 75% requirement. 

I do not think the current Sprint deal will be enough. I wonder if they do not just wait until the Standstill Agreement ends.  Dish is definitely desperate, which is probably why they are willing to continue this bidding war. It is probably smarter for Sprint to wait it out instead of engaging. 

Crest getting almost as desperate as Charlie. I suppose they feel that they have to try, but these jokers aren't going to get the asking price that they think they deserve.

They reached Dish's level when they tried to get Comcast, Bright House, and Intel's voting rights rejected. 

ata-cid='145790' name='Rawvega' timestamp='1369786496' post='145790']Their purchasing of MetroPCS or something else?

 

Sent from my EVO using Tapatalk 2

The reverse merger is definitely one, but also the fact that the original Metro deal only had a 6 month wait period before they were able to sell their stock. They extended to 18 months to get the deal done, however, it has been reported that they could still weasel out of that term at any time. That makes me hesitate that they are all in.  DT was in talks with dish prior to the sprint offer.

According to this bloomberg article, CFIUS is close to clearing Softbank of all national security concerns. 

Key terms of the agreement include the appointment of a national-security director to the board and provisions that will allow the government to approve non-U.S. vendors, the person said. The agreement also has a provision to remove equipment from Clearwire’s network made by vendors that haven’t won national-security approval, if Sprint concludes a separate transaction to acquire full ownership of Clearwire.

SoftBank has also agreed to separate the operations of a small subsidiary company that would handle classified government work under a related national-security agreement, the person said.

SoftBank has said it’s open to relieving national-security concerns by letting the U.S. government have veto power over one nominee on Sprint’s board. The SoftBank transaction is also under review by the Federal Communications Commission.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-05-28/softbank-said-close-to-national-security-approval-for-sprint.html

I wonder if the the small subsidiary company would be all of SprintLink? 

Crest has hit a new low. Their new strategy is to attempt to get Comast, Intel, and Bright not included in the minority vote that sprint needs to complete the transaction. 

I believe the 180 day clock is nonbinding. I have a bad feeling that we wont have an answer for the FCC for a little while longer

I was referring to the CFIUS. According to a SoftBank SEC filing, it was estimated to be announced today. I am sure the FCC is waiting on the CFIUS before releasing its verdict. I also have very little doubt that the FCC will vote in favor of the deal as long as the CFIUS supports it. 

And the problem is those don't matter. Sprint is not a wireless-only company. It is also the only non-Bell company with significant influence in the government, and has works very closely with various divisions of the US military on a regular basis.

 

Deutsche Telekom was barred from using infrastructure equipment from vendors of certain origin when it bought VoiceStream Wireless Corporation. Vodafone never got a say in anything with Verizon Wireless. There are many things that Vodafone lost the fight on with Verizon Wireless, and CFIUS never imposed anything on Cellco Partnership because Vodafone wasn't the majority owner.

 

The analysts are also missing the point of CFIUS: the government doesn't want to involve itself to that level. It doesn't want oversight over Sprint. It doesn't want to effectively do what it did pre-Bell breakup. The arguments that analysts keep making are invalid because they are based on the false premise that the government wants to control Sprint. It doesn't.

Tomorrow is the supposed day, so we will likely find out then.  I do not think anyone is proposing that the government would control Sprint. They are only proposing that they would prefer to put in stipulations than outright ban the deal.  I still do not believe Softbank is the main target in all of this security concerns. If their main goal is to prevent ZTE or Huawei equipment, then promoting the Softbank deal while putting in terms to not use ZTE/Huawei equipment would be the best option, since they could not put those terms in on a Dish-Sprint deal.

I believe Ergen realizes that if Softbank gets approval, then they are done for. Softbank could close a deal within weeks of the vote, while it would take dish close to a year. I am sure most investors would take the cash now, instead of waiting a year for a few pennies more.