Dish chair dares Softbank to raise bid for Sprint

(AP)—The chairman of Dish Network, which is trying to buy Sprint, is daring Sprint's other suitor to raise its bid.

Dish's Charlie Ergen told investors and reporters Thursday that based on the benefits Japan's Softbank Corp. says it would get from buying Sprint Nextel Corp., it should be paying a higher price.

Last week, Softbank's CEO said Dish's $25.5 billion offer for Sprint is based on "incomplete and illusory" numbers, and argued that Softbank's $20.1 billion offer for 70 percent of the company is a better value.

Ergen said Thursday that based on Softbank's presentation, it sees a lot more value in Sprint than it's paying for, and can probably increase its bid.