Dish abandons Sprint Bid

Dish Network says it is giving up on the effort to buy Sprint and instead will concentrate on trying to get a minority investment in Clearwire. The not unexpected move might be said to be dictated by the tight time frame for Dish to submit a revised offer by June 18. Dish couldn't comply. 

But many observers would say neither could Dish easily afford to take on the debt burden to buy Sprint, either. And some would say both that effort, and the continuing effort to win a minority stake in Clearwire (even Dish does not believe it can gain full control) are simply "negotiating" ploys to gain influence over Sprint. 

The move clears the way for SoftBank's merger bid with Sprint. SoftBank would own 78 percent of Sprint.

At $21.6 billion, the deal could mark the biggest overseas acquisition ever by a Japanese firm. But to the extent that SoftBank continues to see the Clearwire spectrum as essential to it plans, the drama now focuses on whether Sprint can win control of Clearwire or not.

Some would argue a Softbank-owned Sprint could still proceed with its plans, even if Dish Network were to gain a minority stake in Clearwire. But that would not solve Sprint's original problem, namely periodic differences with Clearwire management over strategy. 

As much sense as that makes for Dish, which badly needs an operating partner and more spectrum to launch its planned Long Term Evolution network, some might wonder how well a poisoned relationship between Sprint and Softbank, on one hand, and Dish, on the other, could work too well. 

Dish Network's position is something like "I don't care whether you like me; just help me build a rival network to yours."