DirecTV is ‘aggressively looking at other’ wireless broadband opt...
DirecTV is “aggressively looking at other” wireless broadband options since dropping out of the AWS auction, CFO Michael Palkovic said at the Merrill Lynch conference late Wed. DirecTV and EchoStar participated “briefly” in the AWS auction under joint venture…
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Wireless DBS, Palkovic said, bailing out in round 15, after having started with nearly $1 billion in AWS bidding credits. “We decided it wasn’t the best place for us to make an investment,” Palkovic said. The auction played out as DirecTV expected, he said: “We stayed in just on the hope that maybe it would play out a little differently and there was an opportunity. There wasn’t.” AWS spectrum isn’t ideal for wireless broadband anyway, according to Palkovic: “It’s better suited for cellular.” A broadband deal has been slower coming than DirecTV “originally estimated,” he said. Expect an announcement “in the next few months,” he said.