The future of Internet/cable bundles: cheaper or even more expensive?

Dish Network and T Mobile announced last week they were going to combine.  Interesting merger to me and one that seems a lot more likely to survive scrutiny by the government than the proposed Comcast/Time Warner combination that the companies ultimately abandoned when the Federal Trade Commission staff recommended that the merger be blocked. (By way of background, the FTC can block a proposed merger or acquisition or other transactions if it finds that the proposed transaction would have an anticompetitive effect. Typically what happens is that the FTC rank and file staff will conduct a very in depth review of the transaction and then present a written report to the FTC recommending whether to say yes or no to the deal.  If the staff recommends that the transaction be blocked then the parties to the proposed deal may choose to abandon it before it even gets voted on by the five Commisioners, as was the case with the proposed Time Warner/Comcast deal-Comcast walked after the FTC staff recommended the transaction be blocked because it would have anticompetitive effects. Sometimes the FTC will even go to court seeking an order unwinding a transaction after a transaction already has happened, which they successfully did against a group of Idaho healthcare providers last year, causing the court to order that the merger of the healthcare providers be unwound).

One of the most important factors motivating T Mobile to enter into the deal is that Dish Network owns licenses to some very valuable parts of the wireless spectrum that they have to use by 2021. (The government has legal ownership of the spectrum but auctions off the rights to it for certain periods of time, with the requirement that the winner of the auction has to actually "build out" the spectrum to a certain level within a certain time period). Dish currently has no ability to offer wireless service, but their spectrum is an extremely valuable asset that will help T Mobile in building out its own network immensely.

We have strongly considered switching from Verizon to T Mobile several times, although both my wife and I have each been loyal Verizon customers and generally happy with them for years, mostly because they were offering such good promotions. Ultimately we decided not to switch because we were concerned that the T Mobile network was nowhere near as good as Verizon's network.  I actually was able to negotiate out Verizon bill down $65 per month on virtually the same plan (with more data even!) but part, if not the only reason, I was able to negotiate it down was because we were out of contract. (By the way, I have put together a script for negotiating with cable or other utility providers so email email me if you would like a copy). So, we may consider switching again if this merger goes through and T Mobile spruces up its network a bit.

Time will tell both whether the transaction will be approved and, if it does, what effect it might have on what kinds of Internet, cable and wireless options and offerings exist in the future. It could mean that now you have the chance to bundle cable, wireless, and Internet, all with a single company. This may result in cost savings, which I doubt. But it's nonetheless interesting to consider what the future of our Internet and cable bundles is and whether they may include wireless too.

The most important aspect will of course be price and I am skeptical that this merger, or any other one, will actually drive down prices for consumers, regardless of what the companies might argue.