Dish Says It Met FCC's 20% 5G Deployment Milestone

Dish Network said Wednesday it’s now offering 5G broadband service to more than 20% of U.S. POPs. Dish faced a Tuesday deadline to satisfy an FCC requirement tied to the company’s AWS-4, PCS H-block and 700 MHz-E block licenses. Chairman Charlie Ergen said last month Dish would hit the target and wouldn’t need an extension from the FCC (see 2205060036). “This marks a major milestone in building the world's most advanced cloud-native 5G Open [radio access] network,” said a news release. Dish said the Samsung Galaxy S22 and NetGear 5G hot spots are being offered to early subscribers. The network launched in Las Vegas in May (see 2205040057). “DISH already offers the Motorola Edge+ for purchase in Las Vegas and will expand the sale of this device to more markets in the coming months,” the company said. “Additional compatible devices will become available throughout the year." New Street’s Jonathan Chaplin told investors Tuesday the only market where Dish has formally launched is Las Vegas. “They announced 26 other major metro markets and another 110 smaller cities and towns that they would cover ahead of the 20% deadline,” he said: “Assuming they cover the urban and suburban region of each [partial economic area], the 27 metro markets capture about 17% of national POPs and the remaining 110 markets should easily cover the 3% required to get to the 20% target.”