AT&T NSA 'Game Changer' for Dish: MoffettNathanson

The 10-year Dish Network/AT&T network service agreement (see 2107190003) "is a game changer for Dish and a disastrous result for the wireless incumbents," practically assuring viability for Dish's wireless plans and upping the odds of a strategic partnership and future financing, MoffettNathanson's Craig Moffett wrote investors Monday. The mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) agreement now extending well past expiration of the 2026 no-sale prohibition opens the door to a possible sale of Dish's spectrum or its entire business, he said. The AT&T agreement buys Dish breathing room to expand its network beyond the 70% of the U.S. population it has to cover by 2025 by eliminating the danger it faced with its T-Mobile MVNO expiring in 2027, and it raises the chances of Dish to be competitive to the Big Three wireless carriers, Moffett said.