Dish Lending Spectrum to Major US Carriers During COVID-19 Quarantine

Potential Temporary Boost in LTE Data Speeds

As of February 2020, DISH entered the market of wireless companies with a court ruling that made them the U.S.’s number 4 major wireless carrier due to the merging of Sprint and T-Mobile. 

A satellite-video provider based in Denver, CO, their impressive amount of spectrum bought up over the years was declared by the presiding judge to be “undeniably well-equipped to enter the market” and DISH, overwhelmingly satisfied with the result of the ongoing case, has committed themselves to building a more modern network using cutting-edge technologies that will bring reliable 5G service to the United States.

Now, with the COVID-19 pandemic sweeping the nation, they’re getting a first opportunity to prove they’re worth their salt.

Lending a Hand to Counteract Skyrocketing Cell Phone Usage

DISH is now lending a hand to major carriers Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile by allowing them to use some of the aforementioned spectrum they’ve collected over the years. The vast amount of closings of schools, offices, shops, and restaurants has more and more people working from home and quarantining themselves to stay safe and healthy – however, it’s obvious now that phone usage both data and voice-related has and will continue to increase due to this.

Over the next 60 days, DISH will be doling out their unused spectrum to companies like AT&T, whose wireless customers have been estimated to potentially receive up to 20Mbps more in data performance during this time. T-Mobile will also be getting a boost in the form of 600MHz additional spectrum from DISH, Comcast, NewLevel, and other companies.

The loaning of spectrum is being done in order to make it easier for people to quarantine safely at home and practice social distancing while still being able to contact those they need to and, hopefully, slow the rate of coronavirus spreading.

Minimizing In-Person Reactions By Sharing Spectrum to Better Serve Customers

As stated previously, this borrowing and loaning of spectrum are going to hopefully help limit unnecessary in-person reactions that may need to happen if cell phone use continues to skyrocket and, therefore, slow down for the many people across the country who are clogging the bandwidth. 

Though none of the major carriers in the US have dealt with outages or major downtime during the pandemic, people are relying more than ever on WiFi for working from home, homeschooling their children, contacting friends and loved ones, and also, staying sane by streaming entertainment like music, shows, and movies. Some carriers have even loosened restrictions on data caps or dropped them altogether to help out customers. Those who don’t have a reliable WiFi connection are using data and hotspots, so boosts of spectrum from companies like DISH will help greatly.

Before DISH became the U.S.’s fourth major carrier, it was often criticized by others for buying up massive amounts of spectrum that the company was not yet utilizing. Now, however, those hoards of spectrum are serving hordes of internet customers who are in need of a reliable internet connection to perform their important tasks while the COVID-19 virus is keeping them homebound.

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