Dish plots national 5G move

Dish Network opened a registration site for a second 5G service in the US, a nationwide offer separate from the greenfield deployment the company’s wireless unit lit earlier this year.

Named Boost Infinite, the service will compete with 5G services from AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile US. CNET reported Dish Network is planning an unlimited tariff at a competitive price.

Boost Infinite is separate from Project Genesis, the 5G service launched by Dish Wireless in May, which it then extended to cover 20 per cent of the US population a month later.

Dish Network holds an MVNO deal to use AT&T’s 5G network while it constructs its own, and this year revamped an agreement with T-Mobile to bolster its competitiveness in the retail market.

A Dish Network representative stated Boost Infinite and Project Genesis subscribers will have access to the greenfield set-up where it’s available and other operators’ networks elsewhere in the US.

Recon Analytics analyst Roger Entner told Mobile World Live Boost Infinite would have a tough time in the post-paid marketplace, with Dish Network likely requiring more retail outlets, which at a cost of $1 million to £2 million each “becomes very quickly expensive”.

“There will be handset financing which will make life more complicated.”

Dish Network is required to cover 70 per cent of the US population with its 5G network by June 2023, which Entner noted would put additional financial strain on it.

“You only have owner economics when your customers are on your network.”