[Satellite TODAY 05-21-13] DISH Network is ready to take the next step as it bids to acquire U.S. wireless giant Sprint Nextel. Sprint announced May 20, that it had received from SoftBank a waiver of various provisions of the merger agreement between Sprint and SoftBank. The waiver will permit Sprint and its representatives to furnish non-public information concerning Sprint to DISH.

 

      “We look forward to engaging in full due diligence and continued discussions with Sprint. We remain confident that this process will confirm the superiority of our proposal, the reasoning behind our synergy projections and our vision for a competitively superior DISH-Sprint," DISH Chairman Charlie Ergen said in a statement.