UPDATE – DISH Network’s (NASDAQ: DISH) promotion of John Swieringa to President and COO of DISH Wireless last week may lead to the spin off of its DBS business and, subsequently, a merger with DirecTV, Jonathan Chaplin, New Street analyst, wrote in an investor note on Friday.
The reorganization means DISH now has two presidents: Erik Carlson, who leads the DBS business and Sling; and Swieringa, who leads wireless. “While there is nothing in the release that suggests a split is imminent, we got excited because we have suspected that a split is coming, and this seems like a small step in that direction,” Chaplin wrote.
The separation makes sense, according to Chaplin, because it would create two different businesses that would attract an investor base that is appropriate to each business. Although it would lose access to the DBS side’s $1.6 billion in revenues, the wireless business could gain funding from strategic investors or by borrowing against the value of its spectrum.
“We wouldn’t be surprised to see Boost and other retail brands spun off from Wireless at some point,” Chaplin wrote. “We have always seen Boost and the wholesale network business as separate businesses.”
By J. Sharpe Smith Inside Towers Technology Editor
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