Dish might not have enough money to complete the buildout of its standalone 5G network
Dish was put in this position because the FCC needed to replace Sprint as one of the “big four” U.S. wireless providers if it allowed T-Mobile to buy Sprint. The agency feared that reducing the number of major U.S. carriers by 25% to three would result in higher prices for consumers. In stepped Charles Ergen, chairman of Dish who always dreamed to own a wireless firm. Dish agreed to the FCC deadlines and in return, it was allowed to buy Boost Mobile and create a new wireless giant.
Dish is building an expensive but advanced standalone 5G network
Dish met the first deadline as it covered 20% of the nation with its 5G signals by last June. And after the second deadline is met at the end of this month, the company will have until 2025 to cover 75% of the nation with 5G. The problem is that this task will require Dish to blanket some rural areas with its signals and that will force it to spend billions as it looks to build out its 5G network. And that is money that Dish just does not have. To meet the 2025 deadline, it is estimated that Dish will need to use 35,000 cell towers.
Dish Chairman Ergen reportedly discussed a three-way merger with AT&T and DirecTV
Dish is building a standalone (SA) 5G network which uses a 5G core. This delivers faster data speeds while also helping to fulfill all of the potential that 5G offers. Most 5G networks are built over an LTE core in order to save time and money. In the U.S., only T-Mobile is currently using an SA 5G network.
At the end of this month, the clock will start ticking down toward 2025 and Dish will need to sell off some assets, find a partner, or get an extension. Last month, Ergen said that the bond market was closed to the company so raising additional debt in that manner seems to be out.
