Dish says it will offer SA 5G coverage to 70% of Americans by June 2023
Dish Network bulked up its new wireless business by acquiring Tucows’ Ting Mobile assets, including its customers, who officially transferred to Dish over the weekend. Dish Network also chose Ting parent company, Tucows, as a technology partner and will use Tucow’s network platform. Dish is the first customer as Tucows pivots to being a Mobile Services Enabler (MSE).
According to John Swieringa, group president, retail wireless and Dish COO, the agreement with Tucows will “accelerate [Dish’s] digital and operational capabilities in wireless,” something that has certainly become a high priority for the company as it continues on its path to becoming the newest facilities-based mobile operator as a result of the T-Mobile US/Sprint merger.
The newly transitioned Ting customers will have access to the new T-Mobile network, just as Dish’s acquired Boost customers did.
As a result of the agreement, Elliot Noss, Tucows’ CEO, commented that Tucows is now free to focus on growing its MSE business, delivering a wide range of functions including billing, activation, provisioning and funnel marketing to mobile providers.
“Dish has acquired a well-loved mobile brand, a loyal customer base and a proven platform. Tucows will now refocus our mobile business on building and maintaining platforms that simplify complex systems while still maintaining strong, consistent cash flows,” Noss stated. “Ting Mobile customers will surely reap the rewards of a better cost structure, and the U.S. mobile industry has an aggressive competitor in Dish, a company well-positioned to disrupt the industry.”
Dish has been been putting together the pieces for its mobile business, including purchasing T-Mobile’s 9 million Boost Mobile customers and increasing hiring efforts in the field with the company looking to staff 2,000 employees at its Littleton, Colorado headquarters. Of course, in order for Dish to be truly competitive in the wireless market, it must take part in the 5G arena. As part the Sprint/T-Mobile merger, Dish secured 800 MHz spectrum from Sprint to add to its existing spectrum holdings, as well as access to existing network sites for build-out purposes.
The company has committed to offering standalone 5G broadband coverage to 70% of Americans by June 2023, with buildout work expected to begin next year. Dish is intent on developing a software-defined 5G network and has entered into a multi-year agreement with network software provider Mavenir to deliver cloud-native OpenRAN software.
