T-Mobile Unlikely to Partner With Others

Kevin Smithen at Macquarie Securities recently commented that, in his view, T-Mobile is unlikely to partner with anyone other than Dish Network in the near future. “We see limited operational synergies between Altice/Suddenlink, and a U.S. wireless player and the lack of meaningful FCF [free cash flow], and upcoming spectrum needs at T-Mo might make the asset less attractive to Altice anyway,” Smithen wrote. “For Comcast, an outright purchase of a wireless network is possible, but likely premature at this point; we believe the company is likely to focus on returning capital to shareholders in the near-term. Our most likely scenario is that T-Mo remains independent for the next year or that Dish strikes a deal for ~$40 per share if it can get Deutsche Telekom to take Dish paper.”