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Dish Network co-founder and chairman Charlie Ergen highlighted the company’s commitment to building a 5G wireless network during the Q4 2020 earnings call. He reaffirmed his intention to bring 5G to the next level. online in its first major cities by the end of the third quarter of 2021 – that’s the July-September period – and was optimistic about Dish’s ability to bolster the somewhat dismal global position of the United States in terms of wireless network offerings.
Ergen spent several minutes on today’s call to recap what the company has done so far in its networking efforts. With its acquisition of Boost Mobile last year, it currently offers prepaid service as an MVNO on T-Mobile’s network, but it has also amassed its own spectrum to move into a full-fledged operator. This is a good sign for wireless competition in the United States; With Sprint no longer available as a choice, Dish is positioned to become a fourth major carrier option. And that must somehow meet the conditions for the T-Mobile-Sprint merger.
To that end, Dish made purchases of low, mid, and high band spectrum last year, and it’s estimated to have spent $ 2 billion in the recent C-band auction. With Access to these different types of spectrum, Dish has the pieces of the so-called 5G “diaper cake” that will help it establish fast service with wide coverage.
“This is not our first rodeo,” Ergen said, stressing his confidence in the company’s ability to perform, despite the considerable risks. He didn’t stop there either; Ergen believes Dish can “help the US take the lead in wireless.”
Maybe he’s right. There’s a big challenge for Dish, but the company isn’t facing one of the challenges currently facing major carriers – keeping 4G data flowing while adding 5G. This has led Verizon and AT&T, in particular, to turn to a technology called Dynamic Spectrum Sharing, or DSS, with poor results. Unfortunately, the bar is quite low for the US networks at the moment, which could help Dish get started.
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