Amazon considers teaming up with Dish

Amazon is exploring a partnership with Dish Network, the satellite TV company, in a bid to enter the wireless business together, The Wall Street Journal reported last week.

The potential tie-up could give Amazon access to a whole new range of capabilities, according to the Journal, from selling cellphone service to Prime members to giving Amazon’s package delivery drones more connectivity in the air. For Dish, a partnership with one of the world’s largest retailers could prove lucrative and give Chief Executive Officer Charlie Ergen something to do with the stockpile of airwaves he’s sitting on.

Dish declined to comment on the matter. Amazon didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Some analysts said a consumer cellphone service was less likely than a partnership to ferry information across networks of smart devices or AI assistants like Amazon Alexa — part of a growing “Internet of Things.”

“It’s been clear for years now that building another consumer-grade wireless network is likely to be prohibitively expensive,” said Jan Dawson, an analyst at Jackdaw Research. “But building a more specialized IoT network with much more limited bandwidth requirements is at least a little more feasible.”

Ergen and Amazon CEO Jeffrey Bezos (who also owns The Washington Post) have grown increasingly close over the past year as they’ve discussed common interests in space and robotics, the Journal said. Bezos manages a separate space exploration company, Blue Origin.

— The Washington Post