Dish Network officials have stated that they believe the company will meet the government’s 5G network construction requirements by June and that the company may suspend construction after that. Dish Chairman Charlie Ergen stated on Monday during the company’s quarterly conference call that after June, ‘we can certainly suspend’ capital expenditure (capex).
According to the agreement reached with T-Mobile and the US Department of Justice (DoJ) in 2019, Dish must cover 70% of the US population by June 2023. Analysts predict that Dish will need to build approximately 16000 honeycomb towers to meet this requirement. By June 2025, the company is required to cover 75% of its licensed spectrum area with 5G. Analysts predict that Dish will use approximately 35000 cellular towers to fulfill this obligation.
Ergen stated that Dish may increase network spending at some point in late 2024 or early 2025 to meet the FCC’s final construction requirements for 5G. In a recent filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, Dish revealed that it has started building over 18000 5G base stations.
Dave Mayo, the head of 5G network construction at Dish, stated that the company is advancing its plans and expects to achieve its coverage target by June 2023. John Swieringa, responsible for Dish’s wireless business, stated that the company’s current 5G network covers approximately 70 million Americans and will strive to expand this coverage throughout the year.
According to financial analysts at Raymond James, Dish spent approximately $672 million on building its 5G network in the first quarter. So far, the company has spent approximately $4.4 billion on this work. Company officials have stated that Dish may spend a total of $10 billion to build a nationwide Open RAN 5G network.