AT&T inks 10-year wireless partnership with Dish Network worth at least $5 billion
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Dish Network has entered into a “transformative, long-term strategic network services agreement” with Dallas-based AT&T making it the primary network partner for Dish’s mobile customers, according to a regulatory filing.
As part of the agreement, Dish agreed to pay AT&T at least $5 billion for access to its wireless network over the next 10 years. Dish had more than 8 million wireless subscribers at the end of the first quarter of 2021.
Dish is building out a virtualized 5G broadband network, positioning itself as adding necessary competition in the mobile carrier space and improving U.S. wireless operations. The company has spent billions picking up its own spectrum is expected to launch its first 5G network in Las Vegas in the coming months, and will expand its OpenRAN-based 5G network to reach more than 70% of the U.S. population by 2023.
“Teaming with AT&T on this long-term partnership will allow us to better compete in the retail wireless market and quickly respond to changes in our customers’ evolving connectivity needs as we build our own first-of-its kind 5G network,” Dish COO John Swieringa said in a statement.
The deal with AT&T will allow Dish to provide wireless services in the rural areas where it offers satellite TV, the company said.
Dish acquired Boost Mobile in 2020 and has been offering prepaid services on T-Mobile’s network. AT&T will now give Dish access to its network, including providing transport and roaming services. The agreement will cover current Dish brands Boost, Ting and Republic Wireless as well as all future DISH brands.
The agreement doesn’t exclusively limit either company’s own buildout of 5G wireless capabilities in any market it already operates in or expands into in the future.
The partnership establishes a decade-long working relationship between Dish and AT&T — which until recently was the sole owner of Dish rival DirecTV. AT&T struck a $43 billion deal earlier this year to spin off DirecTV into a new company owned by Discovery Inc. and DirecTV shareholders.
Analysts have noted that this wireless agreement between the companies could foreshadow another attempted merger between DirecTV and Dish Network. The companies reportedly last attempted a deal to merge in 2007.
In a statement, AT&T said the deal with Dish was “a testament to the strength of our network,” and validated its recent investment in 5G infrastructure.
AT&T’s 5G network went live nationwide almost a year ago. In Texas, T-Mobile’s 5G network bested competitors AT&T and Verizon in most metrics according to a July report from analysis firm OpenSignal.
The University of Texas at Austin announced last week it would launch the 6GUT research center, an effort aimed at developing the next generation mobile network in collaboration with AT&T, Samsung, Qualcomm, Nvidia and wireless company Interdigital.