Dish Network Corporation Chairman Charlie Ergen at an event at the University of Colorado on April 17, 2012. (Karl Gehring/The Denver Post)
Dish Network chairman Charlie Ergen is hopeful he can provide ?real insight? into the satellite-TV provider?s wireless strategy in the next three months.
The Douglas County-based company is awaiting approval from the Federal Communications Commission to build a fourth generation mobile broadband network that will leverage billions of dollars worth of wireless spectrum acquired over the past two years.
?I think we?ll have decisions before the end of the year, and give us 30 days once we get decisions for us to say ?OK, now based on all that data, here?s where we think we?re going to go,? Ergen said Tuesday during Dish?s third-quarter earnings call with analysts. ?I?m hopeful that (during) our next quarter conference call we?ll be able to give you some real insight.?
Some analysts question whether Dish will spend billions more on a network buildout or will simply unload the spectrum for profit. As subscriber growth in Dish?s core pay-TV business has stalled, Ergen has said he wants to launch wireless service to compete against the likes of AT&T and Verizon. Dish lost 19,000 satellite-TV customers during the third quarter.
In response to a question about the satellite-TV business? shrinking margins, Ergen said the company can address that, in part, by raising prices next year. Dish?s two-year price freeze ends in January.
?When you don?t raise your price and you?ve got programming costs that go up, according to industry statistics, (by) 6 to 10 percent a year, your margins are going to contract,? Ergen said.
He said the company will focus on offering improved products, such as its Hopper set-top box, before adding that ?we have the ability to raise prices next year because we didn?t raise prices this year.?
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