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Dish Network released a new letter to the Federal Communications Commission this week, as reported Axios, highlighting the urgent situation it faces if T-Mobile goes ahead with the planned shutdown of its CDMA network in January 2022. “We believe T-Mobile’s actions raise significant competition concerns and of public interest, ”the letter reads. It would be a big blow to Dish’s business, but more importantly, millions of Boost Mobile customers would feel the impact.
Boost Mobile, a former Sprint MVNO sold to Dish as part of the T-Mobile acquisition, serves 9 million customers. According to the letter, more than half of them depend on the CDMA service. Its prepaid service is an accessible alternative to contractual plans for low-income customers; no credit check is required nor even a credit card. Customers can pay for phones and services at retailers like Walmart and top them up as needed.
This makes it an attractive service if the costs and contracts of the major carriers’ plans are prohibitive, but it is also what makes migrating these customers to a newer network particularly difficult. Boost customers don’t necessarily even have an email registered with the company, and those who still use slower 3G CDMA devices probably do so not because they prefer it, but because they don’t. can’t afford to buy a new phone. In less than a year, they will be left with the choice between making this purchase or completely losing their current cellular service.
Given the disproportionate effects of the pandemic and the resulting economic fallout, now is probably not the perfect time for these customers to shop for a new phone. Dish also points out that the global chip shortage makes it a particularly difficult time to try and secure a large number of new devices for customers. Overall, the company’s letter to the FCC makes it clear how dire the situation is in its eyes: “A forced migration of this magnitude within this accelerated time frame is simply not possible and will potentially leave millions behind. of Boost subscribers deprived of their rights and without cellular service. January 1, 2022. “
As part of the Sprint merger, T-Mobile agreed to help make Dish the fourth largest wireless operator in the United States, and the sale of the Prepaid Boost business to Dish was a step in that plan. However, at the end of 2020, T-Mobile informed Dish that it would be shutting down the CDMA network that many Boost customers use in early 2022, several years earlier than Dish had planned. It’s a move the company quickly called anti-competitive, both in previous communications and in this latest letter to the FCC.
T-Mobile doesn’t see it the same way. It doesn’t technically violate the deal in doing so, and in the company’s opinion, it gave Dish a lot of notice. Here’s what he had to say in a statement about it:
Everything we’re doing here is exactly in line with the deal DISH made with us a year and a half ago, and we’ve been very proactive and transparent about the timing of this transition with all of our MVNOs, including DISH. We gave DISH advance notice in October 2020 for a transition to January 1, 2022 – far more than the required 6-month contractual agreement. Our agreement with DISH also makes it clear that they are responsible for migrating Boost customers, just as we are responsible for migrating Sprint customers, and we are confident that DISH is already planning to take good care of its affected customers before the date. of transition. Based on the prior notice they received, only a small percentage of Boost customers are expected to need to upgrade their phones by the end of this year, and those customers would generally benefit from incentives and promotions for upgrade their phones.
In fact, the company is taking a sort of victory lap on the anniversary of the acquisition with a new blog post celebrating the 5G network it was able to build with Sprint’s old spectrum. Based on the tone of that latest letter to the FCC, it’s a party vibe that Dish certainly doesn’t share.
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