The wireless landscape in the U.S. has changed over the last few years. Verizon remains the largest wireless carrier but if you were a time traveler from say, 2010, you’d be flabbergasted to find T-Mobile in the second place slot ahead of AT&T. Back then, T-Mobile wasn’t the edgy, innovative company it is today. It was the fourth major with an anchor weighing it down and it wasn’t until John Legere took over in 2012 that the firm’s fortunes changed for the better.
Dish plans to launch postpaid 5G carrier Boost Infinite with prices lower than Verizon, T-Mobile, AT&T
With Sprint now owned by T-Mobile, the new number four in town is Dish Network. The latter also owns Boost Mobile which it acquired as part of a plan to placate the FCC so that the regulatory agency would allow the T-Mobile-Sprint merger to sail through. The new Boost Mobile network will go by the name Boost Infinite and as the new website promotes, Boost will provide subscribers with access to three 5G networks belonging to T-Mobile, AT&T, and Dish Network.
Dish Network is looking to become one of the Big 4 carriers in the states
The best part of Boost’s new service is that pricing, according to a source who spoke with TechRadar, is “materially less than the Big 3.” In other words, Boost Infinite will deliver 5G signals to subscribers for prices lower than what Verizon, T-Mobile, and AT&T charge. On the Boost Infinite website, the company promotes “The Power of Three 5G Networks.”
If you head to the Boost Infinite website, you can also request to be sent information about the service when there is something new to report. All you need to do is fill out a form with your name, zip code, email address, and your current cell number (although that last piece of information is optional). You can be sure that Boost will do whatever it takes to catch your attention. There is even speculation that monthly subscribers who do not use the full amount of data that was paid for, will be credited in cryptocurrency for the data that was not used during a particular month.
Keep in mind that Boost Infinite will be a postpaid service which means that you will get a bill that shows the charges that you incurred over the last month. That compares with the prepaid service offered by Boost Mobile. With prepaid, you pay for the services that you anticipate using during the upcoming month and if you use more than expected, you are expected to add the additional funds to your account immediately.
Dish continues to lose wireless subscribers
Dish Wireless has been bathing in red ink and it lost another 210,000 subscribers during the second quarter leaving it with 7.87 million wireless customers. Since the company started offering wireless service two years ago, it has seen 1.1 million wireless customers leave, or 12.3% of the number that it started with. Once it gets Boost Infinite off the ground, the competitive pricing for 5G service might help Dish pull some customers away from Verizon, T-Mobile, and AT&T and help it add net new customers for the first time.
Dish Network co-founder and Chairman Charlie Ergen has long wanted to get involved in the wireless business as a mobile carrier. In the 2017 FCC auction of low-band 600MHz spectrum, Dish spent $6.21 billion and was the second largest bidder after the $7.9 billion spent by T-Mobile.
But Ergen’s ambitions really came to light in 2013 when Dish bid $25.5 billion to buy all of Sprint. The company was involved in a fierce battle with Japan’s SoftBank and it was the latter that won the prize by paying $21.6 billion for 78% of Sprint.
Of course, T-Mobile then closed its acquisition of Sprint on April 1, 2020. And now it is up to Dish to replace Sprint in order to keep the number of major U.S. wireless carriers at four. Regulators believe that this is the perfect number of competitors in the industry to prevent consumers from getting gouged by runaway pricing. And with its emphasis on undercutting its three rivals, Dish really might help consumers stay connected for a decent price.
