Dish wants to eat Verizon’s lunch

{mosads}The company tried to buy Sprint and Clearwire earlier this year, but ultimately lost a bidding war to Japan’s SoftBank. 

“We were hoping [for] 2015 [to launch the cellphone service], but given where we find ourselves today, I think that’s a bit optimistic,” Dodge said.

During his talk, Dodge also slammed TV broadcasters and the legal system that governs how cable and satellite providers must negotiate for the rights to carry local TV networks.

“That’s a system that should be destroyed now,” Dodge said. “It’s not a fair fight and ultimately consumers are the ones in the crosshairs.” 

He argued that cable and satellite providers should be allowed to carry out-of-market TV channels if the local network insists on blacking out when negotiations break down. Broadcasters say that change would undermine their ability to get a fair price for their content.