DISH Wireless has been making big moves within the past few months, and its recent partnership with Tucows and acquisition of Ting Mobile assets shows that the carrier is in it to win it.
On Monday, the company announced that it would acquire subscribers of Ting Mobile from Tucows. As part of the deal, Tucows would provide infrastructure services to DISH for functions like activation, billing, provisioning, and funnel marketing. Ting Mobile had an estimated 271,700 subscribers at the end of the March, most of who will be officially DISH Wireless customers starting August 1st. Current Ting Mobile customers shouldn’t experience too many disruptions or changes to service and can expect to continue using their phones and pay the same rates they’ve always paid.
The deal is on the heels of DISH’s recent $1.4 billion acquisition of Boost Mobile. The sale came out of the merger between T-Mobile and Sprint who had to separate themselves from the Boost Mobile prepaid brand to get approval for the merger by the FCC. As part of the deal, DISH gets access to T-Mobile’s network for seven years as they work to build out their standalone 5G network. DISH is required to have a usable network that covers 70% of the US by 2023 or will be forced to pay a hefty multi-million dollar fine.
DISH’s access to T-Mobile’s network extends to Ting Mobile customers, but it doesn’t mean that they can also Verizon’s network as they have in the past.
DISH COO John Swieringa said, “Our agreement with Tucows will accelerate our digital and operational capabilities in wireless.”
It’s no secret that DISH has been aiming to get into the wireless game for years and with the final merger between T-Mobile and Sprint, their moment has finally come. They’ve spent the better half of decade amassing spectrum to build out a competitive brand that extends past wireless communications, and also into the fixed wireless space. Though DISH is still in the early days of its newest venture, partnering with a company that has experience in managing MVNOs will give them the edge they need to compete against the likes of AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile.
Source: Engadget
