It built them up and now it will take them down. Boost Mobile, which as Dish Network was one of the world’s foremost Open RAN proponents, building its greenfield network using virtual and cloud Open RAN technology, said today it would be decommissioning mobile sites as it transitions to being a “hybrid operator”.
The operator said in a statement that it is selling its spectrum to AT&T, but retaining its core network. That means it will act as a sort of enhanced MVNO, or “hybrid operator” to use its own terms, keeping its core running while using AT&T’s network for the access part.
The key parts of the Boost statement said: “Through Boost Mobile’s hybrid MNO infrastructure, subscribers will continue to receive service from Boost Mobile’s cloud-native 5G core connected to AT&T’s leading nationwide network. While primary connectivity will be provided by AT&T’s towers, Boost Mobile subscribers will continue to have access to the T-Mobile network. Customers will experience no interruptions to service. As a result of this transaction, elements of Boost Mobile’s radio access network (RAN) will be decommissioned over time.”
AT&T has agreed to buy the company’s 3.45 GHz and 600 MHz spectrum licenses – a total of 50 MHz of nationwide spectrum – for approximately $23 billion. It said it would be the primary network services partner to EchoStar as it continues to serve wireless customers. These licenses cover over 400 markets in total – “significantly strengthening AT&T’s low-band and mid-band spectrum holdings”, the carrier said.
AT&T added that it intends to begin deploying these mid-band licenses, which are compatible with its 5G network, as soon as possible.
The transaction is expected to close in mid-2026, subject to certain closing conditions, including regulatory approvals.
Charlie Ergen, co-founder and chairman, EchoStar, said that while the company had met all its “network buildout milestones”, the sale would meet FCC concerns about its utilisation of spectrum licences.
Three years after launch, Boost has secured only 7 million customers, giving it a sever financial headache. Moreover, the FCC was investigating the extent to which Boost was using the spectrum it had acquired.
FCC Chair Brendan Carr wrote in a recent letter: ‘EchoStar promised—among other things—that its network would cover, by June 14, 2025, at least 70% of the population within each of its licensed geographic areas for its AWS-4 and 700 MHz licenses, and at least 75% of the population within each of its licensed geographic areas for its H Block and 600 MHz licenses.”
But, Carr alleged, the company had instead agreed a deal with the previous administration to let those targets slide, and to soften its rollout commitments.
In May, the FCC also initiated an inquiry into EchoStar’s MSS operations in the 2 GHz (MSS) band, and began another inquiry into its 5G network buildout. Analysts wrote that the agency’s position was designed to put pressure on Echostar to sell its licenses.
“It is widely believed (and we agree) that Carr is hoping that the two public notices he started would cause financial stress to [EchoStar] so that it would have the impact of forcing [EchoStar] to end its efforts to become a fourth wireless network and sell its spectrum,” wrote NewStreet Research Policy Advisor Blair Levin in a client report.
Carr also told reporters “the status quo is just not acceptable. We’re pushing hard to free up spectrum, and you have DISH effectively over the years sitting on a tremendous amount of spectrum that simply isn’t loaded.”
Ergen reputed the allegation in his recent statement.
“I’m enormously proud of the EchoStar team for deploying the world’s first Open RAN network in record time, despite industry skepticism and in the face of the many challenges raised by the COVID-19 pandemic,” he said. “EchoStar and Boost Mobile have met all of the FCC’s network buildout milestones. However, this spectrum sale to AT&T and hybrid MNO agreement are critical steps toward resolving the FCC’s spectrum utilisation concerns.”
Open RAN blow
Despite the political machinations, the impending shutdown is a blow to an Open RAN ecosystem that is already very fragile. The irony of Dish/Boost customers being served by an Ericsson Open RAN network will not be lost to many.
John Swieringa, currently president of technology and COO of Echostar, said on LinkedIn, ” The spectrum sale comes with the bittersweet reality that we will be decommissioning Boost Mobile Network cell sites over time. Although the decommissioning of the Open RAN network will be a major blow for all those who worked on the operators innovative architecture and rollout, Swieringa said the Dish/Boost employees themselves should be proud of their efforts.
“I’m incredibly proud of our employees, partners and vendors for building the world’s first cloud-native Open RAN 5G network in record time from the ground up. The ingenuity and dedication of our people were instrumental in this achievement. We can hold our heads high,” he wrote.
Boost hasn’t provided any timeline on how many sites it will be decommissioning, and when. It initially built its network using vRAN basebands that supported Open RAN interfaces from Altiostar (now Rakuten Symphony RAN) and Mavenir, along with radio units from Fujitsu, before investing more widely in Samsung for radio units and the baseband element. It sited its virtual RAN functions in VMWare and AWS cloud environments, building a cloud-native RAN and core, and claiming many firsts while doing so.
The operator is also committed to a CaaS switch out as it replaced VMWare with Wind River to support its vRAN workloads, as well its core network cloud environment.
Now it will continue to operate that core, but it looks like it will be curtains for the RAN, over time, which will also curtail the ambitions of its providers within the USA’s fourth operator.
