Dish Fcc Cdma Boost Mobilefriedaxios – Dish Network has sent a letter to the Federal Communications Commission, complaining that its wireless partner T-Mobile plans to shut down the CDMA network used by millions of Dish’s Boost Mobile users.
In the letter, Dish chief operating officer Bernie Han said “T-Mobile is refusing to continue providing roaming services and access to its nationwide HSPA+ data network for use by our customers on Boost Mobile handsets.”
Han paints a bleak picture for prepaid consumers if T-Mobile goes through with this transition. He noted that the costs of migrating millions of users to other networks and equipment “will result in substantial subscriber disruption” and “widespread customer dissatisfaction.”
Dish has partnered with T-Mobile in the past year to offer wireless service under the name “Dish Wireless.” The wireless service is available starting at $40 per month, but requires a 2-year service contract.
The news of the possible service disruption comes just months after T-Mobile announced it would be shuttering its low-cost AIO Wireless MVNO. The company had received a large number of complaints from users, who were unable to receive phone support and had to wait weeks before receiving their phones.
A number of subscribers were also charged for services they never intentionally signed up for. AIO Wireless had been a joint venture between AT&T and T-Mobile that offered wireless service starting at $40 per month.
Dish has been aggressively marketing its wireless services, hoping to compete with the large national carriers. The company is offering a $10-per-month, 1 GB data plan—which could be a potential target for T-Mobile customers if the carrier decides to change its network strategy.
With T-Mobile rumored to be taking over Sprint Nextel, the company might find that switching from CDMA to a HSPA+ network will help it reach more rural areas and continue its expansion into the prepaid market.
If T-Mobile does close down its CDMA network, it’s likely that the company will seek to replace it with LTE. T-Mobile’s LTE network currently covers 236 million people.
The FCC could reject Dish’s complaint, as it has rejected similar complaints in the past. The FCC also made it clear that it won’t step in to regulate the roaming agreements of wireless carriers.
Indeed, Dish is using the FCC for leverage, hoping that T-Mobile will want to avoid any negative publicity in response to the news. In a recent earnings call, T-Mobile CEO John Legere was asked about the concerns people had about service interruptions when a large carrier acquires another company.
Legere said that he understood the concerns and that T-Mobile would do what it could to make it up to customers. “We’ll continue working hard to provide value to all of our customers,” Legere said.
The networks of AT&T and Verizon Wireless are likely the most vulnerable if T-Mobile does shut down its CDMA network. Sprint has been taking a number of steps to expand its LTE network, which should help prevent any service disruption.
