HIGHLIGHTS
- Customers who sign up for the service will be charged $30 each month.
- As part of the T-Mobile and Sprint merger, Dish purchased Boost.
- By June, Dish's cellular network will be available in 120 cities.
After many months of delays, Dish Network debuted its 5G service to users in Las Vegas on Wednesday. The telecom giant is attempting to build up a countrywide network and minimize its dependency on T-Mobile.
The program, codenamed "Project Genesis," was expected to begin in September and help reduce reliance on the T-Mobile network, which powers Dish's Boost prepaid cellphone service.
Dish purchased Boost as part of the T-Mobile and Sprint merger, which was approved by the antitrust authorities in 2020 after the firms agreed to dispose some assets, including some wireless spectrum, in order to establish a new wireless rival.
T-Mobile has subsequently permitted Dish to use its network, but the relationship between the companies deteriorated after T-Mobile revealed intentions to close down its older CDMA cellular network – a service that a considerable percentage of Boost customers still use.
This motivated Dish to develop its own cellular network, which it aims to launch in 120 regions by June.
Customers who sign up for the service will pay $30 a month (approximately Rs. 2,200), and Dish will sell its first smartphone, the Motorola Edge+, pre-loaded with the service for around $900 (approximately Rs. 68,600), according to a statement.
In another recent development, Dish struck a multi-year agreement with Samsung to purchase equipment for its planned 5G network in the United States, marking one of the largest radio transactions for the South Korean company since its massive Verizon contract in 2020.
By obtaining a $6.6 billion (approximately Rs. 50,490 crore) agreement with Verizon, Samsung established itself as a rival to leading telecoms equipment providers Nokia and Ericsson in the United States, and the contract with Dish strengthens its position even more.
"This is a multibillion-dollar deal for Samsung Networks," Alok Shah, vice president at Samsung, told Reuters. "Our first items will be delivered to Dish later this year." Dish already has Microelectronics Technology (MTI) of Taiwan and Fujitsu of Japan as 5G suppliers.
