Dish Network Corp (NASDAQ:DISH) is expected to become a major player in the mobile provider market in The US this year provided the merger between T-Mobile Us Inc. (NASDAQ:TMUS) and Sprint Corp (NYSE:S) closes successfully.
Mobile carriers to boost their 4G LTE networks
However, for now, Dish is lending a hand to T-Mobile, AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T), and Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) by allowing them to use some of its spectrum holdings to boost their 4G LTE networks. With a lot of people staying at home to combat the spread of COVID-19, and as a result, usage of voice and data sides is growing.
Dish is giving its unused spectrum to the providers over the next 60 days, with each provider receiving a spectrum to shore its 4G LTE data network and enhance speeds temporarily. For instance, AT&T customers could see an uptick in data performance of up to 20Mbps during the period Dish is lending the spectrum.
600MHz of additional spectrum available for data and voice providers
The FCC granted T-Mobile permission over the weekend to use the available 600MHz additional spectrum from Comcast Corp (NASDAQ: CMCST), NewLevel, and Dish for 60 days. This is a huge boost for T-Mobile, and it will help the providers to serve customers who are making adjustments to stay indoors to minimize the spread of COVID-19.
Since the COVID-19 outbreak, no carrier has experienced any disruptive downtime or outages, and it is good for them to reinforce their networks. With people staying indoors and relying on WiFi, broadband providers have dropped data caps and agreed not to disconnect customers over late bills.
Over the past, Dish has received criticism for hoarding spectrum and failing to put it into use. The company even risked penalties from the FCC for its failure to develop an actual network. This was, however, before the T-Mobile and Sprint deal, and now it is positioning itself to be the next major carrier in the US. T-Mobile has confirmed that it is ready to finalize the merger with Sprint despite the on-going market chaos.
