Dish to launch wireless 5G service in beta at end of September 2021

Dish Network said that its Las Vegas 5G wireless service is in the final phase of construction and will launch in beta by the end of September 2021. The beta launch is an important first step toward its commitment to covering 70 percent of the US population by June 2023, a target that’s looking more ambitious by the day as the company continues to lose wireless customers. Dish lost 161,000 subscribers in Q1 of this year and just reported a net loss of 201,000 wireless subscribers in Q2. The company stands to lose even more of its remaining 8.9 million wireless subscribers as T-Mobile has unveiled a generous promotion aimed at the very customers it was required to sell to Dish as part of the Sprint merger deal. Dish says the Vegas beta will last a minimum of 90 days, during which it plans to gather customer feedback and troubleshoot issues as its technology transitions from the lab to the real world. The majority of network use in Dish's Las Vegas launch will be on its own network, with AT&T and T-Mobile’s networks providing some roaming support.