Amazon is mulling the possibility of offering free or low-cost mobile services to Prime members, according to a new report.
Citing people familiar, Bloomberg News reported the online retail behemoth has been in talks for several weeks with Verizon, T-Mobile, Dish Network and AT&T to negotiate a deal using an existing network to provide the service as part of Prime subscriptions.
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Shares of Verizon, T-Mobile and AT&T all fell in midday trading, while Dish – which Bloomberg reported “has the most to gain from a deal with Amazon” – saw a 20% boost.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| VZ | VERIZON COMMUNICATIONS INC. | 34.60 | -1.11 | -3.12% |
| TMUS | T-MOBILE US INC. | 129.93 | -8.98 | -6.46% |
| T | AT&T INC. | 15.13 | -0.68 | -4.30% |
| DISH | DISH NETWORK CORP. | 7.41 | +1.12 | +17.91% |
A source told the outlet a potential deal would still take several months to get off the ground and could be scrapped entirely.
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An Amazon spokesperson told FOX Business in a statement, “We are always exploring adding even more benefits for Prime members, but don’t have plans to add wireless at this time.”
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AMZN | AMAZON.COM INC. | 122.77 | +2.19 | +1.82% |
The buzz over the possibility of Amazon offering cell services is not new.
Last month, The Wall Street Journal reported the online retailer was working on a deal with Dish to sell phone plans through Amazon, which the outlet said “could give the telecom company’s 5G rollout a lifeline.”
In 2014, Amazon rolled out its own smartphone known as the Fire Phone, which operated on AT&T’s network, but later abandoned it when sales failed to take off.
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