Keep Up T-Mobile Probe: Dish to CPUC

Dish Network said T-Mobile delaying its CDMA shutdown by three months isn’t reason to deny Dish’s petition asking the California Public Utilities Commission to require the wireless carrier adhere to a three-year migration timeline. “While additional time is welcome, three months is not nearly sufficient to protect Boost consumers in California -- many of whom are low income -- who are expected to still be using the CDMA network beyond March 31,” Dish wrote Wednesday in A.18-07-011. Dish said similar last week after T-Mobile's announcement (see 2110250042). Dish will still have well over a million customers on the CDMA network by the cutoff, Chairman Charlie Ergen said on a quarterly call Thursday. “If T-Mobile has their way, those customers will lose service,” he said. “Based on T-Mobile’s testimony in California, they won’t even be able to make 911 calls.” Dish doesn’t oppose the shutdown, said Ergen. “Technology needs to advance, but you can’t do it on the back of customers.” T-Mobile will have to “live with the fact that they’re anti-consumer,” he said. T-Mobile didn’t comment.