During a speaking engagement at a wireless trade show in Orlando, Fla., on Wednesday, Dish Network chairman Charlie Ergen addressed the potential impact of the T-Mobile-MetroPCS merger on his plans to launch a mobile-broadband network.

Ergen said in August that Douglas County-based Dish will likely need to partner with an existing carrier on the multibillion-dollar project.

On Wednesday, he seemed to suggest that any potential partnership with T-Mobile or MetroPCS is out the door, making it more likely that the satellite-TV provider would partner with Sprint Nextel or another carrier on its network build.

"Sometimes when one door closes, a window opens somewhere," Ergen said in response to a question about the T-Mobile deal.

Sprint and Dish were previously viewed as potential merger partners for MetroPCS. With MetroPCS off the table, a Sprint purchase of T-Mobile would make sense, boosting its attractiveness as a Dish partner, said BTIG analyst Walter Piecyk.

"A T-Mobile deal would give the company much more scale and would materially increase the value of Sprint to Charlie Ergen's Dish for a future partnership," Piecyk wrote in a research note.

Ergen acknowledged that Dish will need more spectrum, which could come via a partnership.