Dish in talks to merge with T-Mobile: WSJ

The two sides have agreed that after the merger, T-Mobile Chief Executive John Legere would serve as the CEO and Dish CEO Charlie Ergen would become the combined company's chairman, the Journal said.

However, a purchase price and the structure of the deal are still undecided, the newspaper said, citing people familiar with the matter. (http://on.wsj.com/1KaQWjw)

T-Mobile has a market capitalization of about $31 billion, while Dish has a market capitalization of about $33 billion.

Representatives at Dish and T-Mobile did not immediately respond to emails seeking comments outside regular U.S. business hours.

Both the companies have earlier floated the possibility of a deal. Ergen said earlier this year that he was "impressed" by T-Mobile, while Legere said it made sense for T-Mobile to team up with Dish.

Dish, which was a surprise winner in the record-setting U.S. sale of airwaves for mobile data in January, has amassed a trove of wireless spectrum and recently forayed into streaming TV to offset the loss of pay-TV subscribers. However, what Dish plans to do with the newly acquired spectrum remains unclear.

T-Mobile, being at a competitive disadvantage as it does not own low-band spectrum, has been looking to buy spectrum from smaller rivals, according to media reports.

The company, which bills itself as the "Uncarrier," has turned around years of subscriber losses with cut-price deals, savvy marketing and well-publicized wireless plans in recent quarters. While these initiatives have led to customer gains, they have pressured T-Mobile's margins.

Deutsche Telekom , which owns about 66 percent of T-Mobile US, has been looking for any partner that can improve profitability at its U.S. operations.

Last year, it tried to sell T-Mobile to Sprint Corp but the No. 3 U.S. carrier dropped its bid after regulatory resistance. French low-cost telecoms operator Iliad SA also abandoned its attempt to buy T-Mobile last October.

T-Mobile rival AT&T Inc is close to wrapping up its $49 billion deal for Dish rival DirecTV , while Charter Communications Inc is seeking to remake the U.S. cable television industry by acquiring larger rival Time Warner Cable Inc for $56 billion.

(Reporting by Supriya Kurane in Bengaluru; Editing by Anupama Dwivedi)

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