Dish Network Company Profile


Dish Network Company Profile










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DISH Network
Company Profile

by Brady Hicks

Copyright 2021, Faulkner Information Services. All Rights Reserved.

Docid: 00021310

Publication Date: 2105

Report Type: VENDOR

Preview

DISH Network is a top satellite TV services provider that provides premium TV services to 11.3 million (2020) US subscribers. The
company offers satellite video, online streaming, whole-home DVR, and various
broadband services, and has, at times, attempted to break into the terrestrial
wireless market with little success. This report looks at DISH Network’s
operations as a whole.

Report Contents:

Fast Facts

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Name: DISH Network
Headquarters
9601 South Meridian Boulevard
Englewood, CO 80112
Phone: (888) 656-2461
Web:
http://www.dish.com/
Type: Satellite Television Service Provider
Service Areas: US
Founded: 1980 (EchoSphere), 1996 (DISH
Network)
Number of Employees: 13,500 (2020)
Stock Symbol: DISH (NASDAQ)

Profile

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DISH Network is a satellite TV services provider that – with its subsidiaries
– offers services to nearly 11.3 million (2020) Pay-TV subscribers, including
8.8 million
DISH TV subscribers and 2.5 million Sling TV subscribers.


Related Faulkner Reports
DIRECTV Company
Brief

The company – which has 13,500 employees (2020), worldwide – offers a high-def lineup of more than 200
national channels, as well as HD and DVR technology, satellite-based premium TV
services, online streaming, and broadband services. DISH also periodically
attempts to acquire allocated wireless spectrum blocks to expand its terrestrial
wireless presence.

In general, the pay-TV market in the US is ultra-competitive, with the cable
industry retaining more than 74 million customers1 in total (March 2021),
with Comcast (19 million), AT&T (16.5 million), Charter (15.6 million), and
Verizon (3.9 million) rounding out the top five2.

Figure 1 looks
at DISH’s 202 full-year market performance versus that of other primary pay-TV service providers in
the marketplace.

Figure 1. Pay-TV Provider Data (2020)

Figure 1. Pay-TV Provider Data (2020)

Source: Statista

History & Milestone Events

DISH Network was founded by Charlie Ergen, Candy Ergen,
and Jim DeFranco as “EchoSphere” (later Echostar) in 1980.

The company was officially established as DISH in 1996
when its parent company, Echostar, successfully launched its first commercial
satellite: Echostar I. It
would go on to become a publicly traded Fortune 200 company, and would serve as
the media and entertainment arm of Echostar until the organizations officially split
in 2008. Currently,
Echostar is a provider of set-top devices that run DISH’s household services.

The satellite TV provider sums
its corporate philosophy and culture with the acronym “PAW,” which
it describes as:

“P.A.W. stands for Pride, Adventure and Winning, three core DISH Network
values. When you have pride in your work, you don’t just set standards, you
exceed them. You have the drive to always strive higher. Pride is the attitude
that separates excellence from mediocrity. Adventure is the willingness to take
the road less traveled with skills and confidence that you’ll overcome any
obstacles along the way. Adventure is what fuels the exhilaration of victory. At
DISH Network, there is no substitute for winning. Winning is what happens when
you match a competitive spirit with discipline and vision.”

Significant events in DISH’s history include:

  • 1980 – EchoSphere is founded as a satellite television equipment
    distributor.
  • 1987 – Is granted a FCC license for its direct-broadcast satellite, giving
    it access to the 119º West Longitude orbital slot
    and allowing it to begin installing small receiver dishes in customer homes.
  • 1995 – Is renamed Echostar … Launches its first commercial satellite, the Echostar I.
  • 1996 – Dish Network is founded and broadcasts its first signal to
    customers via the Echostar I satellite … Reaches
    100,000 subscribers four months later.
  • 1998 – Purchases the assets of a satellite broadcasting
    joint venture of News Corporation’s ASkyB and MCI Worldcom for $683
    million. This agreement gives it access to 28 of the 32 transponder
    licenses in the 110° West Longitude orbital slot to double its
    broadcasting capacity in the continental US.
  • 1999 – Acquires additional satellite capacity in the
    61.5° West Longitude … Launches Dish 500, its first 500+ channel
    satellite system.
  • 2000 – Becomes the first satellite TV provider to offer
    high-definition programming.
  • 2001 – Introduces the Pro 501, its first set-top box to
    include a digital video recorder (DVR).
  • 2003 – Rolls out its ninth satellite, Echostar IX, which becomes the first spacecraft running a commercial Ka band payload
    for broadband service over the US.

  • 2004 – Adds support for local channels in all 50
    US states … Reaches its 10 millionth
    customer.
  • 2007 – Acquires Sling Media, which provides
    personal video streaming services over the Internet … Announces its
    intention to incorporate the technology into its set-top
    boxes.
  • 2008 – Spins off its set-top box and technology
    business into a separate corporate entity, EchoStar Corporation, to handle
    infrastructure and technological innovation. Meanwhile, the DISH Network segment
    focuses on programming and services.
  • 2010 – Introduces TV Everywhere, a streaming
    TV service running on the new SlingLoaded ViP 922 DVR and
    Sling Adapter … Unveils its EchoStar XIV satellite to extend its ability to broadcast HD channels.
  • 2011 – Acquires
    bankrupt video-rental company Blockbuster for $322 million, as well
    as DBSD and Terrestar … Makes an offer to acquired video streaming service
    Hulu, but sees it rejected by Hulu’s shareholders … Lobbies the FCC to allow it
    to combine S band spectrum acquired from DBSD and Terrestar with the
    LTE spectrum.
  • 2012 – Rebrands its pay-TV division as DISH
    and unveils a new logo … Introduces The Hopper, a whole-home DVR
    that connects with smaller Joey set-top boxes to offer services
    from the single device.
  • 2013 – Updates the Hopper set-top box with
    Sling technology to allow subscribers to access live TV programming and DVR recordings from anywhere with an Internet
    connection … Counters a buyout offer from Sprint for Clearwire …
    Counters an offer made by Japanese carrier Softbank to acquire a major
    minority stake in Sprint. Neither offer is successful.
  • 2014 – Signs a broadcast agreement with the Walt
    Disney Company to again carry
    channels such as ABC Family, ESPN, and others. This conflict stemmed largely from the Hopper’s ability to skip
    commercials. In response, DISH agrees to limit its set-top boxes from
    stripping commercials out of recorded broadcasts sooner than 72 hours
    after their original air date.
  • 2015 – Sees President, CEO, and Board member
    Joseph Clayton retire despite a 107% year-to-year increase in Q4 profits …
    Has its legal decision upheld by the US District Court for the Central
    District of California, related to the legality of consumers
    using DISH’s Slingbox technology, as well as the AutoHop, PrimeTime Anytime,
    and Transfers features within the Hopper Whole-Home DVR. This verdict is
    DISH’s sixth in a string of legal victories on this matter … Sees the FCC
    deny its AWS-3 wireless spectrum block auction bids over its use of
    “designated entities” to gain a discount as a small business
    bidder.
  • 2016 – Reaches a multi-year contract renewal agreement with
    Viacom that gives it access to the company’s various networks, while also
    bringing live and on-demand content to the Sling TV single- and multi-stream
    services.
  • 2017 – Sees Chairman Charlie Ergen step down as CEO to
    devote more attention to its emerging wireless business, with former
    President and COO Erik Carlson promoted in his place … Acquires
    certain assets and operations from EchoStar, including the EchoStar
    Technologies hardware and software development group.
  • 2018 – Trials the transmission and receipt of a new
    broadcast ATSC 3.0 standard as part of the Spectrum Consortium’s "Next Gen"
    deployment project in Dallas, Texas … Continues to feud with AT&T over HBO
    and Cinemax channel blackouts on its service … expands Alexa integration
    for its Hopper set-top box … Names Suma Nallapati as SVP and CDO, Atilla
    Tinic as SVP and CIO, and Kevin Arrix as Leader for DISH Media Sales group
    … Launches the DISH OnePoint app for controlling multiple TVs …
    Integrates the Google Assistant into its Hopper family of receivers … Sees
    carriage negotiations with Univision stall.

  • 2019
    – Appoints Michael Schwimmer as EVP, International, Business
    Development and Strategy and Dave Antonelli to lead Sling TV Advertising
    Strategy and Revenue … Reaches an agreement with Univision to restore
    carriage of its networks and stations … Appoints new executive leaders in
    Marc Rouanne (Chief Network Officer), Stephen Bye (Chief Commercial
    Officer), Kannan Alagappan (SVP and CTO) and Paul Orban (EVP and CFO) …
    Introduces the DISH Fiber service for providing premium managed Wi-Fi and
    live streaming TV for "multifamily communities" … Integrates Netflix
    within its EVOLVE TV platform for hotels … Launches the OnTech Smart
    Services "direct-to-consumer" brand … Reaches an $800 million stock
    transfer agreement to acquire select EchoStar operations and assets from the
    Broadcast Satellite Service business.
  • 2020 – Partners with network software provider Mavenir to
    deliver cloud-native OpenRAN software … Discloses plans to release a RFI/RFP (request for information / request for proposal) for
    telecommunications transport services as part of its buildout of a
    virtualized, standalone 5G broadband network in the US. Acquires spectrum
    and networking hardware assets from the combined T-Mobile/Sprint, revealing
    early plans to leverage the purchase to launch its own nationwide wireless
    carrier service. … Reaches a multi-year carriage agreement with Nexstar to
    restore their services on its platform … Forges agreements with fiber
    vendors Everstream, Segra, Uniti, and Zayo, giving it access to fronthaul
    and backhaul support for connecting its 5G network to sites covering
    approximately 60 million US citizens … Appoints Dave Mayo as EVP, Network
    Development; Jeff Blum as EVP, External and Legislative Affairs; John
    Swieringa as Group President Retail Wireless; and Michael Schwimmer as Group
    President, SLING TV.
  • 2021 – Enters into a lease agreement with American Tower to lease
    up to 20,000 of its communications sites … Discloses plans to acquire MVNO
    service provider Republic Wireless … Partners with ADT to market, sell,
    and install services for ADT smart home security products.

Strategy

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DISH’s business strategy is to be the “best” provider
of video services in the US by offering strong technology, customer service, and
value. The company promotes pay-TV services as having a better “price-to-value”
relationship than those that are available from other subscription-based TV
service providers. The company promotes its DISH-branded programming packages as
providing subscribers a better price-to-value relationship than the services
offered by subscription TV service provider competitors.

The company operates two primary segments: Pay-TV and Wireless. Furthermore,
DISH’s Wireless segment consists of Retail Wireless and 5G Network Deployment.

The Pay-TV strategy is to be the "best" provider of video services in the US,
by providing products with the best technology, outstanding customer service,
and value. The company promotes its Pay-TV services as offering a "better
price-t-value" relationship than those available from other subscription TV
service providers. In connection with growth in the OTT industry, DISH markets
SLING TV services to consumers who do not subscribe to traditional satellite and
cable pay-TV services.

DISH’s Retail Wireless business unit focuses on offering pre- and post-paid
retail wireless services to subscribers under its Boost Mobile and Ting Mobile
brands, as well as a competitive portfolio of wireless devices. The 5G Network
Deployment strategy is to commercialize wireless spectrum licenses by completing
its 5G network deployment.

Strengths

DISH considers its competitive strengths to include:

  • Quality of technology – DISH offers a wide selection of local and
    national HD programming, and considers itself a technology leader in its
    industry with its DVRs, multiple tuner
    receivers, 1080p Video-on-Demand, external hard drives, and Over-the-Top
    Internet-based TV services.
  • Level of customer
    service     – DISH
    looks to provide good customer service by improving the quality and
    reliability of its initial equipment installations, better educating
    customers about its products and services, and resolving customer issues
    promptly when they arise.
  • Cost value – DISH notes that it has "historically been viewed as
    the low-cost provider in the pay-TV industry in the US" because it seeks to
    offer the lowest prices after its introductory promotions expire.

Weaknesses

DISH continues to remain particularly vulnerable to strong competition from
Comcast, AT&T DIRECTV, and Charter, which have all – via mergers and
acquisitions – continued to expand their resources and market capabilities.
Other risk factors of note are listed in Table 1.

Table 1. Weaknesses
Weakness Description

Competitive and Economic
  • Mounting competition
    from satellite TV providers, cable companies, and telcos.
  • Economic weakness and uncertainty.

  • Partners’ relationships
    with programmers.

Operational and Service Delivery
  • Costly programming
    expenses.

  • Dependence on third-party content providers.

  • Potential inability to
    negotiate retransmission agreements.

  • Costly investments.

  • Changes or instability
    in technology.

  • Limited satellite capacity.
Acquisition and Capital Structure
  • Substantial investments.
  • Interim and final buildout requirements.
  • Unsuccessful investments.
  • Debt.
Financial,
Legal, and Regulatory
  • Limited ability to secure capital funding.

  • “Substantial”
    outstanding debt.
  • Ownership structure being prohibitive to being acquired.

  • “Significant”
    regulatory oversight, as well as applicable regulatory requirements.

Outlook

DISH does not offer a formal forecast of its operations. The company, which
saw its Pay-TV market presence stay the same despite across-the-board declines,
is nonetheless well-poised to continue to compete given its entrenchment in
virtually all forms of streaming.

Product Lines

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DISH markets its services in bundled packages that
include an initial installation, a receiver dish, and one or more set-top boxes
that range from basic models to top-of-the-line Hopper and Joey networked
devices. All DISH packages also include access to local broadcast channels in
one’s area.

Table 2 looks at DISH Network’s top Products and
Services.

Table 2. Products and Services
Product or Service Description
DISH TV Services Video services under the DISH TV brand, streaming access through DISH on
Demand, and the DISH Anywhere mobile app and Web site.
Sling TV Services Streaming services requiring an Internet connection and available on
multiple streaming-capable devices.
OnTech Smart Services and DISH Smart Home Services In-home services for non-DISH TV subscribers.
Additional Technology Physical equipment such as small satellite dishes, digital set-top
receivers, and remote controls; Hopper and Joey whole-home DVR; AirTV
players; Snap devices; and Nest Hello video doorbell.
Broadband Authorized representative arrangements.

Major Competitors

DISH faces competition from established pay-TV providers and broadband service
companies. Pay-TV services include competition from traditional satellite TV
providers, cable companies, and large telecommunications companies such as AT&T,
Comcast, Charter, and Verizon Communications.

The company also faces increasing competition from firms that distribute
video directly to consumers over the Internet, including DIRECTV Now and YouTube, as well as single-programmer offerings. Other
competitors include wireless telecom providers that offer mobile video
offerings, as well as telephone companies delivering video programming services over wireline facilities or in a bundle with other multichannel video programming
distributors, including AT&T and Google Fiber.

Activity

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Mergers, Acquisitions, and Divestitures

DISH Network has
signed an agreement to acquire MVNO (Mobile Virtual Network
Operator) Republic Wireless. The carrier, which currently
operates on the T-Mobile network, brings with it its “supporting
assets” and its 200,000 customer relationships. Both of these
will eventually become part of the nationwide wireless carrier
DISH is in the process of creating. However, DISH Network plans
to continue operating Republic Wireless’ services on an unchanged
basis while it continues building its planned 5G network. Once
the company’s first-party mobile service goes live, it will
transition the Republic Wireless brand and any customers which
remain on the service to its network, at which time it will
operate the brand as a wholesale customer of its own network. The
transaction remains subject to customary closing conditions and
regulatory approvals. Upon closure, the acquired company will be
led by Rob Currie, DISH’s current senior vice president of Ting
Mobile and MVNO platforms. The transaction is expected to reach
completion sometime during the second quarter of 2021.

(03/08/2021)

DISH Network announced a pair of transactions integral to its
ongoing efforts to become a major nationwide cellular carrier.
First, the satellite TV company revealed its acquisition of
assets from Ting Mobile. Beginning August 1, 2020 “most” Ting
Mobile customers were officially acquired by DISH Network, and
are now being served by the new T-Mobile network until DISH
constructs its own infrastructure. These customers and others
will apparently be served on a retail basis by Tucows, a
technology partner that DISH has selected to operate numerous
retail aspects of its wireless business. Tucows will provide
these services via its newly created Mobile Services Enabler
(MSE) solutions business, which offers managed solutions such as
billing, activation, provisioning, and funnel marketing. No terms
for the agreements were disclosed. DISH plans to maintain the
same plans and network structure already provided by Ting Mobile
for the time being.

(08/03/2020)

DISH Network
officially closed on its $1.4 billion acquisition of Boost Mobile
from the new T-Mobile.
With this purchase, DISH now has the tools to follow through on
its long-held goal of becoming a nationwide provider of wireless
services. The new owner plans to continue using the Boost brand
name, and will continue serving the 9 million customers currently
subscribed to Boost services. While Boost did not come equipped
with in-place 5G service, DISH Network noted the existence of
several ongoing contracts that will eventually see it launch its
own nationwide 5G network. In the meantime, the agreement it
signed with T-Mobile includes a provision that gives its
subscribers access to the new T-Mobile’s network for the next
seven years. It should be noted that this divestiture of the
Boost brand was mandated as part of the agreements T-Mobile
negotiated with several federal regulators in order to secure
approval for its acquisition of Sprint. The purpose of the sale
was to seed the possibility of a fourth nationwide carrier
capable of replacing Sprint to reduce the loss in competition
posed by the T-Mobile merger.

(07/01/2020)

Products and Services

DISH Network
signed an agreement with Palo Alto Networks, calling on that
company to provide security for its forthcoming 5G wireless
network. Specific services will include container security,
secure network slicing, real-time threat correlation, and dynamic
security enforcement. The company noted that it was “imperative
that we integrate security into our 5G network from the ground
up.” DISH has been building its planned 5G service infrastructure
since it acquired the assets of Boost Mobile as part of the
T-Mobile/Sprint merger. It still has not provided a specific date
for when the first customers may go live on its planned network.

(04/05/2021)

DISH Network
signed an agreement with Palo Alto Networks, calling on that
company to provide security for its forthcoming 5G wireless
network. Specific services will include container security,
secure network slicing, real-time threat correlation, and dynamic
security enforcement. The company noted that it was “imperative
that we integrate security into our 5G network from the ground
up.” DISH has been building its planned 5G service infrastructure
since it acquired the assets of Boost Mobile as part of the
T-Mobile/Sprint merger. It still has not provided a specific date
for when the first customers may go live on its planned network.

(04/05/2021)

DISH Network
revealed that all MASN and NBC Regional Sports Networks (RSNs)
were removed from its DISH TV and SLING TV services. The move
affects 10 states and Washington, DC. According to the company,
the reason behind the move is what it sees as an unfair
requirement that all users pay for the RSNs when only a small
portion of users actually watch the networks. This is only the
latest of a long, long history of conflicts between DISH Networks
and broadcasters. The satellite and streaming TV company noted
that it has offered to provide the networks to customers on an a
la carte basis, but its proposal has been rejected. It closed its
announcement by assuring subscribers that it “continues to remain
open to working with the RSNs to offer sports content in a way
that provides choice and value to all customers.”

(04/01/2021)

DISH Network‘s
latest announcement in its ongoing march toward launching a
nationwide 5G network is the signing of a long-term master lease
agreement with American Tower Corporation. Under the terms of
the deal, DISH has the opportunity to lease space on up to 20,000
American Tower communications sites. Dave Mayo, DISH’s
Executive Vice President of Network Development said the deal
will give his company “the complete, robust infrastructure
portfolio [it] needs to support [its] nationwide 5G network
deployment.” The nascent mobile carrier has apparently already
devised a plan for the lease spaces as part of its network
rollout. While DISH did not provide a specific timeframe for when
its network might be publicly available, it did note that
payments to American Tower will commence in 2022 and “grow
over time as DISH’s network deployment progresses.”

(03/16/2021)

DISH Network
announced its latest
vendor agreement in its ongoing effort to launch a nationwide
5G network. The new deal will see Intrado Corporation handling
the company’s 911 routing services across its entire wireless
network. DISH noted that it selected the vendor due to its
“longstanding reputation as a trusted provider of world class 911
solutions for both the telecommunications and public safety
industries.” For its part, Intrado touted its position as the 911
routing service provider for 60 percent of all 911 calls in the
US, as well as a vendor for over 250 Originating Services
Providers (OSPs) across the US and Canada. No financial terms
were disclosed.

(03/01/2021)

In its continued path toward launching its planned nationwide
5G network, DISH
Network announced a total of seven new tower agreements.
These deals were signed with Harmoni Towers, Mobilitie, Parallel
Infrastructure, Phoenix Tower International (PTI), Tillman
Infrastructure, Tower Ventures, and Vogue Towers. They will
combine to provide the company with access to more than 4,000
cell towers and other wireless infrastructure assets stretched
across the US. In addition to the physical hardware, these
agreements include the provision of “a variety of services to
help accelerate the installation of 5G radios on the
newly-acquired infrastructure.” DISH Network did not provide
financial information for any of these tower agreements.

(02/16/2021)

DISH Network
revealed that it has selected Aviat as a “key supplier” of 5G
microwave transport for its forthcoming nationwide wireless
network. Under the terms of the deal, the company will deploy
Aviat’s hardware and software solutions to “enable a
high-capacity 5G microwave wireless transport network and will
procure these solutions from the Aviat Store ecommerce platform.”
DISH noted that it chose Aviat due to it offering “the industry’s
only single box multi-band solution, highest system gain radios
for optimum capacity, and radios with integrated software defined
networking capabilities.” No terms for the agreement were
disclosed.

(02/08/2021)

DISH Network
issued a press
release on its latest media blackout. The company revealed
that Nexstar Media Group has blacked out a total of 5.4 million
subscribers. The conflict this time around apparently revolves
around Nexstar’s demand that DISH carry WGN America as part of
its channel package. DISH claims that the network in question has
suffered declining viewer numbers, and that it has “made a fair
offer to keep Nexstar stations available,” but Nexstar rejected
it. The blackout impacts ABC, CBS, FOX, and NBC affiliates in 120
markets across 42 states. A full list of impacted networks
has been posted online. DISH notes that it will continue to
negotiate in good faith to remedy the blackout.

(12/03/2020)

DISH Network
announced that it has signed an agreement
with a quartet of fiber network providers in its ongoing efforts
to create a nationwide 5G wireless carrier network. The vendors
are Everstream, Segra, Uniti, and Zayo, all of which are expected
to provide fronthaul and backhaul services to handle terrestrial
data transmission for DISH’s wireless network. The company
claims this agreement gives it access to “fiber coast-to-coast,
providing it the coverage, speed and bandwidth needed to connect
its forthcoming markets to the nation’s first cloud-native, Open
RAN-based 5G network.” No financial terms for any of the
agreements were disclosed.

(11/30/2020)

DISH Network
signed a long-term agreement with Crown Castle under which it
will lease space on “up to 20,000 communications towers.” The
contract includes both space within physical cell sites, as well
as certain fiber transport services and Crown Castle’s
pre-construction services. DISH notes that the agreement includes
towers across the US, and that it will be used to support its
planned buildout of “the first open, standalone and virtualized
5G network in the US.” While DISH has announced several vendors
in recent months that it plans to work with to build its 5G
network, this is the first actual infrastructure partner revealed
by the nascent wireless carrier. No financial terms for the
agreement were disclosed.

(11/17/2020)

DISH Network
announced a new agreement with Qualcomm under which the
duo will test open and virtualized RAN 5G network solutions. The
experimental products will be based on the new Qualcomm 5G
RAN Platforms, and will eventually be used to help “fast track”
DISH’s own 5G network rollout. DISH Network is still in the
process of leveraging the assets it acquired as a result of the
T-Mobile/Sprint merger to launch its own nationwide mobile
carrier service. This latest agreement is another in a long
series of vendor and partner deals designed to expedite and
enhance this process. No financial terms for the deal were
disclosed.

(11/11/2020)

DISH Network‘s
Sling Media division announced that
all Slingbox products will officially cease working within two
years. The Slingbox platform launched all the way back in 2005
and allowed users to install a Slingbox device to their in-home
cable or antenna-based TV receiver. The unit would then stream
the received media over the Internet to a PC, smartphone, or
other connected device. The system was among the first ways
users could watch TV on the go, which led to it running afoul of
many local sports and broadcasting restrictions. However, the
Slingbox service persevered for several years before it was
joined by competing services as “place-shifting” methods of media
viewing became more commonplace. Unfortunately for those that
still rely on Slingbox hardware, the service’s servers will
officially shut down by November 2022, with some apps losing
support before that time. It should be noted that this shutdown
will have no effect on DISH Network’s SlingTV streaming media
service, which operates via a wholly separate network and
platform.

(11/10/2020)

DISH Network
announced that it has reached a new, multi-year carriage
agreement with the National Football League (NFL) for its NFL
Network and NFL RedZone products. This will officially restore
both networks to the DISH TV and Sling TV products, after they
had been absent for the start of the 2020 NFL season. The
agreement came just in time for the first full Sunday of football
programming during the 2020 season, preventing subscribers from
missing the vast majority of season opener games. No specific
terms for the new carriage agreement were disclosed.

(09/14/2020)

DISH Network is
embroiled in yet another conflict over broadcast rights that has
resulted in a media blackout. The other party this time is Apollo
Global Management, an “international private equity firm” that
owns local channels in a total of 10 markets serviced by the
satellite TV provider. Apparently the duo has “ongoing litigation
about whether DISH’s carriage agreement for the Cox stations was
prematurely terminated when Apollo acquired those stations.” DISH
was originally awarded a temporary restraining order by a Cook
County (Illinois) Circuit Court which prevented Apollo from
blacking out the stations. However, a federal court has now
dissolved that order, allowing Apollo to take the networks off
the air for DISH customers. As usual, DISH claims it has offered
to pay increased rates to avoid any blackouts, but was rebuffed.
A full list of affected stations can be found within DISH Network’s press
release.

(07/23/2020)

Alliances and Joint Ventures

DISH Wireless
selected Oracle to provide a
SBA (service-based architecture) for its 5G core network in the
cloud. This deployment will allow network services to be more
rapidly incorporated into new applications by DISH, and will
support automated, intelligent configurations between network
functions.

(05/17/2021)

DISH Network
announced an alliance with Amazon Web Services (AWS) under which the
latter will serve as the “preferred cloud service provider” for
DISH’s forthcoming 5G network. The deal will see AWS being an
integral part of the software side of the network’s initial
construction, including its public 5G network and any private 5G
installations DISH creates. As part of the announcement, DISH
revealed for the first time that the earliest trial run of its 5G
offerings will take place in Las Vegas, Nevada sometime later
this year. There, AWS will be called on to “connect all of its
hardware and network management resources through the world’s
leading cloud to enable secure, rapid scaling and innovation as
well as on-demand responsiveness to customers’ wireless needs.”
Additional details about the collaboration can be found within
DISH Network’s press
release.

(04/21/2021)

DISH Network
announced a new partnership with home security firm ADT under
which the satellite TV and mobile services provider will “begin
marketing, sales and installation services for ADT smart home
security products.” The alliance will make it possible for DISH’s
20 million customers to acquire ADT products and services via
DISH’s “nationwide network of smart home installation
professionals.” The availability of connected security services
will put DISH network’s product catalog on a closer footing with
the likes of Comcast and other “triple-play” cable and broadband
services providers that offer in-house or allied smart home and
security services.

(02/23/2021)

DISH Network
announced an agreement with Vertical Bridge REIT which will give
it immediate access to that company’s “extensive portfolio of
towers, rooftops, utility transmission structures, billboards,
convenience stores and other sites used for wireless
infrastructure deployment.” The company plans to use this new
portfolio of potential cell sites to expedite the rollout of its
planned nationwide 5G network. DISH claims Vertical Bridge is the
“nation’s largest private owner and operator of communications
infrastructure with a portfolio of over 300,000 sites spread
across all 50 states and Puerto Rico.” No financial terms for the
agreement were disclosed.

(02/01/2021)

DISH Network
announced a new partnership with Intel under which the chip maker
will provide its Intel 5G infrastructure technology during the
buildout of DISH’s virtualized Open Radio Access Network
(O-RAN). Specifically, DISH’s network will be powered by Intel’s
Xeon processor, Ethernet 800 series network adapter, and vRAN
Dedicated Accelerator ACC100. DISH will also rely on Intel’s
FlexRAN software reference architecture for its deployments. This
is the latest in a long series of vendor partnerships DISH
network has announced as it ramps up efforts to leverage the
assets it acquired during the T-Mobile/Sprint merger to launch
itself as a nationwide 5G wireless carrier. The aforementioned
partnership will also extend beyond hardware to include
collaborative work on developing fully virtualized RAN components
such as radio reference designs, fronthaul optimization,
hardware-based security, and server blueprints. No financial
terms for the agreement were disclosed.

(11/02/2020)

DISH Network and
Nokia jointly announced that
DISH’s upcoming 5G network will run on Nokia’s “cloud-native,
standalone Core software products.” According to the duo, the
addition of Nokia’s Core solutions will allow DISH to “build the
most advanced, disruptive, full-automated, cloud-native 5G
network in the US,” while also providing “high-level scale,
performance, and efficiency.” Under the terms of the agreement,
Nokia’s solutions will be called on to manage DISH’s subscriber
data, device network, packet core, voice and data core, and its
integration services. Nokia’s hardware will also power 4G, 5G,
and Voice over Wi-Fi installations across DISH’s network. No
financial terms for the agreement were disclosed.

(09/16/2020)

Verizon Media
is
expanding its omnichannel programmatic platform by
establishing an “advanced” TV partnership with DISH Media. The alliance will
give Verizon’s DSP (demand-side platform) automated access to
DISH’s household addressable ad inventory, providing advertisers
with access to traditional linear channels, pure-play CTV/OTT
(connected TV / over-the-top) media, and other elements to drive
monetization and “meaningful connection” across channels at
scale.

(09/02/2020)

VMware has reached
an agreement with DISH to equip the satellite services provider
with a cloud-based platform to deploy its first 5G, cloud-native
O-RAN (Open Radio Access Network). This network is expected to
combine distributed telco, public, and private cloud environments
to deliver low-latency edge computing, with VMware’s
contribution, in particular, enabling DISH to utilize software to
optimize and accelerate network deployment, enhanced
automation, resiliency, security, and flexibility. VMware will
also provide cloud infrastructure services to support “broader”
DISH IT needs.

(08/03/2020)

Personnel and Organizational

DISH Network
appointed Stephen Stokols as the new executive vice president of
the recently-acquired Boost Mobile. The new head of the mobile
division is the founder and former CEO of FreedomPop, a service
specializing in low-cost and free mobile service options. Stokols
will be responsible for “sales, marketing, go-to-market strategy
and operations of the Boost business.” Speaking on the
appointment, John Swieringa, DISH group president, Retail
Wireless noted that Stokol’s “growth mindset, relentless energy
and history of disruption in the consumer wireless business make
him the right leader to take the helm of Boost Mobile.” The new
lead promised to focus on “bringing new innovations to the
market, increased availability across all channels, and
ultimately, the best consumer value in mobile.” DISH Network
acquired Boost Mobile from Sprint during its merger with
T-Mobile. The divestiture was required by federal regulators as a
measure designed to provide the foundation for a fourth
nationwide wireless carrier that could replace Sprint in the
competitive landscape.

(09/22/2020)

Financials

DISH Network
posted its financial results for the first quarter of its 2021
fiscal year. For the period, the company’s revenue amounted to
$4.5 billion, a notable jump over the $3.22 billion reported one
year ago. This resulted in a surging net income of $630 million
for the quarter, many times the $73 million posted for the same
period in 2020. The resulting earnings per share were $0.99,
compared to the $0.13 per share posted in Q1 2020. On a more
negative note, DISH reported a net loss of 230,000 Pay-TV
subscribers and 161,000 wireless subs during the quarter.
However, this was actually an improvement over the 413,000 and
363,000 lost, respectively, during the year-ago quarter.

(04/29/2021)

DISH Network
posted its financial results for the fourth quarter and the 2020
fiscal year. For the final period, the company’s revenue reached
$4.46 billion, an impressive jump over the $3.24 billion for the
corresponding quarter in 2019. Net income for the period was $733
million, nearly doubling the $389 million posted for the same
quarter of the previous year. For the fiscal year, DISH’s revenue
reached $15.49 billion, another sizeable increase over 2019’s
$12.81 billion total. Net income here was $1.76 billion, compared
to the prior year’s $1.45 billion. On the subscriber front, DISH
reported Q4 pay TV net losses of 133,000 accounts, including
149,000 lost satellite TV customers which were slightly offset by
the 16,000 net additions provided by its SlingTV product.

(02/22/2021)

DISH Network
posted its financial results for the third quarter of the 2020
fiscal year. For the period, the company’s revenue reached $4.53
billion, a sizeable jump from the $3.17 billion posted for the
same quarter in the previous year. Net income for the period was
$505 million, another bump from the $353 million posted one year
ago. This translated to earnings per share of $0.86, compared to
the $0.66 reported for the same year-ago quarter. News was also
good on the subscriber front for DISH Network, with the company
adding 116,000 pay-TV subscribers during the quarter. It finished
the period with 11.42 million pay-TV subs, including 8.96 million
DISH TV accounts and 2.46 million SLING TV customers. One
negative note for the quarter was the loss of 212,000 wireless
subscribers DISH recently acquired as part of the Boost Mobile
business purchased from the combined Sprint and T-Mobile.

(11/09/2020)

DISH Network
posted its financial results for the second quarter of its 2020
fiscal year. For the period, the satellite TV provider reported
revenues of $3.19 billion, a modest decline from the $3.21
billion posted for the same period in 2019. Net income, however,
grew to $452.3 million, after having come in at $317.0 million
for the year-ago quarter. This is due, in large part, due to an
overall income tax benefit of approximately $160 million for the
quarter. The resulting earnings per share were $0.78, compared to
the EPS of $0.60 posted one year ago. News on the customer front
was not good for the company, with it having lost 40,000 DISH TV
subscribers and 56,000 Sling TV subs during the period. While the
DISH TV results are actually an improvement over the 79,000 lost
during Q2 2019, Sling TV saw a dramatic year-over-year
performance drop, when compared to the 48,000 net additions it
managed one year ago. DISH Network closed the quarter with 9.02
million DISH TV subscribers and 2.25 million SLING TV
subscribers.

(08/10/2020)

DISH Network
posted its financial results for the first quarter of its 2020
fiscal year. For the period, the company’s revenue reached $3.22
billion, a minor bump from the $3.19 billion posted for the same
period in the previous year. Net income for the quarter was down
significantly, falling to just $73 million, after having come in
at $340 million one year ago. This, according to the satellite TV
company, was due to “$356 million of impairments related to the
narrowband IoT network deployment and the D1 and T1 satellites.”
The resulting earnings per share for the period were $0.13,
compared to the year-ago quarter’s $0.65. DISH noted that it
discontinued about 250,000 accounts during the period which were
in use by the hospitality and airline industry, due to disuse
brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. It expects to reactivate
these accounts at a later date. As for its other customer
figures, DISH reported a drop of 413,000 net Pay-TV subscribers,
further worsening the 259,000 sub decline reported one year ago.

(05/07/2020)

Regulatory

DISH Network has
accused T-Mobile of anti-competitive
behavior over its planned shut down of a portion of the legacy
Sprint network, Axios
reported. In a letter sent to the Federal Communications
Commission (FCC), the
company claims T-Mobile’s spectrum policies are harmful to
consumers, particularly its planned shutdown of Sprint’s aging 3G
CDMA network. DISH alleges that this shutdown will negatively
impact more than 9 million of its Boost Mobile customers when it
shuts down on January 1, 2022. As a result of its acquisition of
networking and commercial assets during the T-Mobile/Sprint
merger, DISH Network currently still relies on the aforementioned
CDMA infrastructure to provide MVNO (Mobile Virtual Network
Operator) services to those 9 million subscribers. The satellite
TV and mobile service provider protests that it will be unable to
have an adequate replacement online for the discontinued services
by the scheduled shutdown date, saying “A forced migration of
this scale under this accelerated time frame is simply not
possible and will leave potentially millions of Boost subscribers
disenfranchised.” The FCC had not responded to the complaint at
the time of writing.

(04/02/2021)

DISH Network has
accused T-Mobile of anti-competitive
behavior over its planned shut down of a portion of the legacy
Sprint network, Axios
reported. In a letter sent to the Federal Communications
Commission (FCC), the
company claims T-Mobile’s spectrum policies are harmful to
consumers, particularly its planned shutdown of Sprint’s aging 3G
CDMA network. DISH alleges that this shutdown will negatively
impact more than 9 million of its Boost Mobile customers when it
shuts down on January 1, 2022. As a result of its acquisition of
networking and commercial assets during the T-Mobile/Sprint
merger, DISH Network currently still relies on the aforementioned
CDMA infrastructure to provide MVNO (Mobile Virtual Network
Operator) services to those 9 million subscribers. The satellite
TV and mobile service provider protests that it will be unable to
have an adequate replacement online for the discontinued services
by the scheduled shutdown date, saying “A forced migration of
this scale under this accelerated time frame is simply not
possible and will leave potentially millions of Boost subscribers
disenfranchised.” The FCC had not responded to the complaint at
the time of writing.

(04/02/2021)

DISH Network
agreed to extend its loan of 600MHz spectrum licenses to T-Mobile
during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, but with a catch. When
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Ajit Pai requested
that all service providers extend their Keep Americans Connected
pledge until June 30, DISH Network was among those expected to
comply. This was compounded when T-Mobile sent a “Request for Extension of
Special Temporary Authority” to the FCC claiming that DISH’s
spectrum was necessary for it to continue supporting the needs of
customers working and learning from home due to a 57 percent rise
in usage. It concluded that extension of the STA was “therefore
necessary for T-Mobile to continue to meet consumer demands.”
However, according to Fierce Wireless, DISH
replied that it was unwilling to comply with the request, telling
the regulator that the purpose of its grant was to “help T-Mobile
increase capacity during the crisis to serve customers, not to
use DISH’s spectrum as part of a commercial marketing effort.” It
based this complaint on the fact that it believes its 600MHz
spectrum was publicized as part of the carrier’s own offerings,
“in an apparent effort to acquire new subscribers.” That said,
DISH has approved a “day-to-day” extension which will continue
providing the T-Mobile network with access until the US
Department of Justice (DOJ)
weighs in on the issue. DISH noted the day-to-day lease will
expire on June 30, regardless of whether a decision has been
rendered by the DOJ by that time.

(05/27/2020)

References

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1"Number of pay TV households in the United States, from 2013 to
2025." Statista. Accessed May 2021.
2"Pay TV providers ranked by the number of subscribers in the United
States as of December 2020." Statista. Accessed May 2021.

About the Author

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Brady Hicks is an
editor with Faulkner Information Services. He writes about computer and
networking hardware, software, communications networks and equipment, and the
Internet.

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