$Dish Network (DISH.US)$ stock is up Friday amid reports of selling wireless plans for its mobile phone service through $Amazon (AMZN.US)$.
Amazon has been talking with wireless carriers about offering Prime subscribers $10 a month or possibly for free and bolster loyalty among its biggest spending customers.
The company is negotiating with $Verizon (VZ.US)$, $T-Mobile US (TMUS.US)$, and Dish for the lowest possible wholesale prices, Bloomberg reported citing knowledgeable sources.
The discussions have been going on for six to eight weeks and have also included $AT&T (T.US)$ at times.Amazon's deal could act as a breather for the wireless industry in the form of wholesale revenue and traffic to newly expanded 5G networks.
But it could also chip away at the big carriers' customer base left with minimal bargaining power after pouring billions of dollars into super-fast, high-capacity 5G wireless networks. As a result, TMUS, VZ, and T stocks are trading lower Friday.
Analysts say U.S. Prime membership has stagnated since Amazon boosted the annual price from $119 to $139 for privileges like speedy free delivery, video streaming, and access to 100 million songs.
Amazon is vying with Walmart Inc (NYSE:WMT), whose $98-a-year Walmart+ membership proved attractive as a lower-cost alternative offering many of the same perks as Prime and free grocery delivery on orders of at least $35.
Amazon in February raised its free grocery delivery threshold to $150 from $35.
Dish is already working with Amazon, whose AWS division provides cloud computing to run the core network for its wireless service. Dish will also likely start selling its Boost Infinite wireless service on Amazon by July.
Price Actions: DISH is trading higher by 20% at $7.55 on the last check Friday. TMUS shares are trading lower by 7% at $128.86, VZ shares are trading lower by 3.25% at $34.50, and T shares are trading lower by 5% at $14.93.
