A question we are often asked is how much the carriers charge MVNOs for wireless services. While working through EchoStar’s 10-K we noticed new reporting that seems to show the MVNO fee it paid in 2022 and 2023. In this brief note we unpack the relevant EchoStar reporting and compare the implied MVNO cost per subscriber to our estimates for the Cable MVNO.
In this product we rank the most positive and negative domestic stocks, filter the symbols bymarket-cap and trading volume, and then divide the companies into sectors and groups. We then manually look through charts leadership/changes, bottoms-up/top-down ideas, short-term patterns that may have long-term significance, etc. We believe you will find this product valuable as significant price and relative moves begin in the daily charts.
In this follow-up, we cover: the 2GHz appraisal and implications for spectrum value and liquidity; our updated 3.45GHz valuation; our updated thoughts on taxes in the event of a sale; the impact of the above on our target price; thoughts on EchoStar’s participation in the AWS-3 auction; comments on their direct-to-device aspirations; the fate of Hughes. We also provided updated thoughts on how investors might adjust their odds on the prospects of a spectrum sale, based on comments on the call.
Wireless operating trends were better than expected. Pay-TV financials were strong. The free cash flow burn was huge due to a working capital drag that was likely driven by investments in growth in retail wireless (the Company should get this back). In addition to a detailed review of the print, in this note we cover thoughts on: 1. Whether to operate or to sell 2. The timing of a sale 3. Liquidity 4. Operating results 5. The migration of traffic onto Dish’s own network 6. The dangers of an empt...
In this note we cover the potential timing of all the major spectrum auctions and transactions that could occur during the current administration, the amount of financial capacity the carriers have for purchasing this spectrum, and the intrinsic value of the spectrum. The analysis has important implications for EchoStar and for the three national carriers.
Happy New Year, welcome back and we hope those in Blair’s path found shelter from the storm. 2025 will be the most consequential year in telecom and media policy since the mid-1990’s. In this note, we preview the key policy pivots we see as likely to impact the telecom and media landscape including the macro issues of taxes, tariffs, and deportations; and the sector focused issues affecting ISPs (reorientation of BEAD, USF reform, copper retirement and cybersecurity), wireless players (spectrum...
In this note we show how there is at least $0.7BN of additional value on the table that could help narrow the discount DBS bondholders are being asked to accept in order to get the DTV deal across the goal line. We also run through the differences between the four segments EchoStar reports at earnings and the four filing entities they disclose to the SEC. We also update our estimates for DBS, Dish Networks and Hughes now that their 10-Q’s have been filed.
Moody's Ratings (Moody's) appended a limited default (LD) designation to EchoStar Corporation's (EchoStar) probability of default rating (PDR), revising it to Caa2-PD/LD from Caa2-PD. This follows EchoStar's exchanges of convertible debt at the company's wholly-owned subsidiary, DISH Network Corpora...
In this note we focus on just one thing: the fate of DBS. We will cover what we learned about the mobile business in a follow up, if we can (there wasn’t much). Based on conversations, we believe bondholders will reject the current DBS exchange offer (it expires at 5PM). The DBS merger is contingent on the exchange succeeding, and so this will fail too. We cover the implications for EchoStar, TPG, and bond holders in this note.
We have updated this note for details published in the 10-Q. We have also updated the tables and charts and included them in this version. The biggest change from our initial take relates to ACP losses, which were much higher than expected. The company lost 359k ACP subs, or over 90% of the base they had at the end of 2Q24. This is worse than ACP retention seen at peers.
The operating trends were mostly worse than expected, though we won’t have full visibility until the EchoStar 10-Q is filed (and we won’t have complete visibility until the DBS 10-Q is filed in about a week). Wireless net adds excluding ACP were strong. The cash balance excluding the financing from TPG was lower than we expected, but the new financing closed this morning, which will render any concerns about that moot.
EchoStar has increased its offer to exchange certain DBS notes for new DTV notes by $0.06-$0.065, lowering the discount by about $70MM from $1.568BN to $1.499BN. We have no idea whether this is an output of discussions between bondholders and the company or whether the company is doing this unilaterally. Either way, improving the terms increases the odds of the exchange going through. Our base case remains that the deal is in the best interest of all parties and will ultimately be done.
We have updated our model for the sale of DBS and increased investment in network infrastructure and subscriber growth following the capital raise. We have also updated spectrum values for recent transactions. We are more confident than ever in the value that will be realized if spectrum is sold, though the timing of a sale has likely been pushed out. Dish could build a business that is as valuable as the spectrum, but it is tough to have confidence in this.
US Cellular has sold its cellular licenses in the 850MHz band, as well as a handful of AWS and PCS licenses, to Verizon for $1 billion. The transaction isn’t a surprise; we have been expecting USM to sell all their assets (USM and TDS have been our favorite small ideas). The price was higher than expected. In this note we briefly cover implications for USM, TDS, EchoStar, and spectrum values more broadly.
Unfortunately, this report is not available for the investor type or country you selected.
Report is subscription only.
Thank you, your report is ready.
Thank you, your report is ready.