After Sprint, Dish Can't Give Up the Chase

Satellite-television operator Dish Network, having called off its bids for Sprint Nextel and Clearwire, is at a crossroads. It faces a declining business and has been amassing wireless spectrum, which its Chairman Charlie Ergen wants to use to transition into a new business. Doing that requires partnering with a national carrier. Two options remain: bid for yet another carrier or sell itself to one. T-Mobile, the fourth-largest U.S. carrier by subscribers, seems the only remaining logical acquisition target. Yet while T-Mobile's $17.4 billion market capitalization is smaller than Sprint's, it would still be a stretch for Dish. A more immediate windfall could be had by shopping the company around.