Dish must build 40% of its wireless network in 4 years, FCC says

The Federal Communications Commission said Dish Network must cover at least 40 percent of the population in areas covered by its spectrum with a wireless network in the next four years, or face penalties. Further, the FCC said Dish must cover at least 70 percent of that population within seven years.

Dish has said it plans to build an LTE Advanced network with its spectrum. If Dish--or a future licensee of the AWS-4 spectrum--fails to hit the 40 percent mark in four years, it must hit the 70 percent coverage threshold in six, rather than seven years. Further, if Dish fails to hit the 70 percent mark in an any economic area as defined by the FCC, it will automatically lose its right to deploy service there. Another critical detail that emerged from the FCC order was the power limits placed on a portion of Dish's uplink spectrum.