DISH Network Mulls Separate Unit For Spectrum Assets

shares spiked back up after its chief executive

the company is mulling a separate unit for its spectrum assets. The Englewood, Colorado-based satellite TV company has been stockpiling spectrum in recent years and the value of its current holdings has been put at up to $26 billion. Chief Executive Charles W. Ergen has made clear a desire to offer wireless services, and somehow separating the spectrum assets from the languishing pay-TV business would add a new wrinkle to strategy. DISH's plans for its holdings have long been uncertain, although the company is reportedly mulling a bid for Deutsche Telecom's

following an upcoming spectrum auction. DISH is expected to be among the bidders in the airwaves auction slated for November 13 by the Federal Communications Commission, which has set a reserve price of $10.5 billion for spectrum going on the block. Although Ergen has long nurtured hope to enter the wireless space, "we're not suicidal," Ergen said at a widely reported conference in October, leaving the door open to an eventual sale of spectrum assets. Shares of DISH recently traded at $63.35, down less than 1 percent.