ENGLEWOOD, Colo.—Dish executives have provided an important update regarding its 5G and wireless deployment plans, telling investors that the company will have deployed services in more than 25 major metro markets and around 100 smaller cities by the June 2022 deadline.
During the Q4 2021 earnings call, Dish CEO Erik Carlson said that the company will have covered about 20% of the country by June.
Dish’s commitments to the FCC, require it to cover 20% of the U.S. population with 5G by the middle of 2022 and expand to reach 70% by June 2023.
“Our wireless business is poised to take off in 2022," Carlson said during the call. “Our retail wireless business is set to chart a new course and while we lost approximately 245,000 subs in the quarter, our disciplined operational approach continues to pay off as we've driven profitability into that business.”
“Our wireless network team has made significant progress over the past quarter and recent weeks,” Carlson added. “We'll begin opening up access to customers in numerous markets over the coming months. And at a high level, we'll hit our June milestone with 20% of the population covered. We currently have over 25 major metro markets ready to be deployed before the deadline, including around 100 smaller cities across the country….We're excited about the coming months and the deployment plan for the rest of 2022, and we have the necessary capital to execute our plans this year. Las Vegas is already up and running. We've had friends and families using the network. We're about to expand it to additional customers in the coming weeks through Project Genesis.”
“In addition, we're pleased with our results from the 110 Spectrum Auction, where we acquired bands that align well with our current C-band and CBRS holdings,” he said. “We'll bring it all together in 2022. It's shaping up to be just a remarkable year for Dish. We've got a lot to share as we evolve our business operations and our products and services, and make deep inroads in the wireless space. It's going to be a year of execution, and I'm excited about our opportunities. Our best days here are truly ahead of us.”
Meeting its 5G wireless goals is particularly important for Dish given its declining pay TV business. The company ended Q4, 2022 with about 8.55 million wireless subs.
