Call it a case of “if at first you don’t succeed, try try again”: DISH Network is continuing its efforts to shore up its spectrum position ahead of launching a national mobile data and TV service to rival AT&T and Verizon Wireless. DISH chairman Charlie Ergen has put in a $2 billion “stalking horse” bid for LightSquared’s (News - Alert) airwaves, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the bid.

LightSquared, which is bankrolled by hedge fund maestro Philip Falcone, was looking to launch a nationwide wireless data service itself using a hybrid 4G-satellite technology, but it ran aground on the banks of an FCC (News - Alert) decision to block the network build amid concerns that it would interfere with global positioning systems used by the military. It has since languished in bankruptcy, waiting for a suitor.

DISH’s quest for spectrum has become a tangled web of bids for acquisitions. For one, the satellite company is still looking to buy Sprint (News - Alert) for more than $25 billion. But Sprint also has a $20 billion offer from SoftBank of Japan on the table, and is making moves of its own: Sprint this week increased its bid for the half of Clearwire (News - Alert) that Sprint doesn’t already own by 14 percent. After an initial bid of $2.97 per share last fall, it’s now increasing that to $3.40 per share, valuing the stake at $2.5 billion.

Ironically, Sprint is up against DISH in that effort; DISH has a $3.30 per-share offer in for the Clearwire stake, worth about $2.2 billion. Whoever wins would gain access to about 11.4 billion MHz-POPs, or 24 percent of Clearwire's total spectrum holdings. Clearwire could also sell or lease an additional 2MHz to DISH under the deal.

Last fall DISH received FCC approval to use its 40MHz of Advanced Wireless Services (AWS) spectrum to create a 4G mobile broadband network—and has even filed a trademark application to use "Racecar” as the brand name to launch it under. But DISH still needs help from a partner, like Clearwire or Sprint or Light Squared, to shore up its spectrum profile to support a national launch of voice, data and mobile TV service.

“We want to compete against both the cable guys and the wireless guys,” Ergen said at a recent AllThingsD conference. “Ideally, we’d compete against AT&T and Verizon (News - Alert), and to do that we need more spectrum.”

Unfortunately, Clearwire is not expected to take the bid, and the Sprint acquisition is a hostile transaction with no guarantee of success. LightSquared, as Plan C, could offer DISH’s mobile dreams a lifeline, but the company would still have to get past regulatory approvals and the FCC concerning the GPS question.

If the Englewood, Colo.-based DISH can’t find an appropriate partner to help it with its infrastructure and spectrum needs for wireless, the obvious option would be to sell its spectrum holdings, which are worth billions.

"We would admit we failed and try a new approach,” Ergen said at the conference. “We would hang a 'for sale' sign on the spectrum."