We've heard a couple of times in the past that Dish is interested in building a wireless service, and today a new report has named one of the companies that may be in talks to help Dish fulfill its plan. Sources speaking to the Wall Street Journal claim that Google and Dish have held talks about launching their own wireless service. The discussions are early, the tipsters explain, and could ultimately amount to nothing. It's said that Dish has actually held "exploratory" talks with multiple companies, but it's not known what other firms Dish may have met with.
Dish Chairman Charlie Ergen confirmed that the company is speaking with potential partners about building out a network, and while Ergen didn't name Google specifically, he did say that some of the firms that Dish is considering working with are without a wireless business but "would like to be in the industry." Google opted not to comment on this rumor.
While it's possible that these talks between Google and Dish will fizzle out before going any farther, it's interesting to hear that El Goog is at least taking part in the discussions. Google recently began offering home Internet service to Kansas City residents with Google Fiber, and given that the search company seems to like selling handsets directly to consumers through the Play store, the idea that Google could also be interested in teaming up with another company like Dish on a wireless service is plausible. As usual, we'll update you on this situation as more details come up. What do you all make of this rumor? Do you think Google would be interested in helping to launch a wireless service?
UPDATE: 9to5Google has chimed in on this rumor with some details of its own. According to the site, this Dish-Google tie-up is indeed going to happen, with the service reportedly expected to go live by mid to late 2013. Google will reportedly make its service data-only, meaning that customers will have to go the VoIP route for their voice and SMS needs.
