DISH Network (NASDAQ: DISH) has filed its 5G Network Buildout Status Report with the FCC. The company certified that, as of June 14, it offered 5G broadband service to over 73 percent of the U.S. population, or more than 246 million Americans.
The company says this demonstrates that it satisfied the June 14 deployment obligations for the AWS H block, AWS-4, 600 MHz, and Lower 700 MHz E block set by the Commission. In 2019, DISH asked the FCC to extend the construction deadlines associated with its AWS-4, AWS H block and Lower 700 MHz E block licenses and committed to an accelerated deployment of its 600 MHz licenses.
DISH says it’s met the requirements for extensions of the final buildout deadlines. “By offering 5G broadband service to more than 70 percent of the U.S. population, DISH has also met the criteria to receive an additional two years to meet the applicable final buildout deadlines” for those licenses, to June 14, 2025, it told the FCC. DISH says as of June 14, 2023, it was offering 5G broadband service to at least 70 percent of the U.S. population covered by its AWS-4, AWS H block, and 600 MHz licenses and the portion of the U.S. population covered by its Lower 700 MHz E block licenses.
DISH also emphasizes that it complied with its commitment to providing at least 70 percent of the U.S. population with download speeds equal to or greater than 35 Mbps (as will be verified by a drive test). It also says at least 15,000 5G sites have been deployed and at least 30 MHz of DISH’s downlink 5G spectrum is averaged over all DISH 5G sites deployed nationwide.
Left out of its report for confidentiality reasons were specifics about DISH’s coverage areas, a list of its 5G sites and coverage maps. The downlink bandwidth deployed at each site and radio specifications provided to DISH by its vendors were also not publicly disclosed.
By Leslie Stimson, Inside Towers Washington Bureau Chief
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