Dish Launches $30 5G Phone Plan in 120 Cities: Here's How to Sign Up

pcmag.com:

Dish launched its "Project Genesis" 5G system in 120 cities yesterday, fulfilling a commitment to the FCC to cover 20% of Americans with its new network by June 14.

Potential customers in Dish's "120+ cities" can now sign up to buy a phone and plan on its Project Genesis website(Opens in a new window). The initial cities include major ones like Raleigh-Durham, NC, and St. Louis, plus smaller places like Eagle, ID, and Utica, NY.

"This is an important step forward in our work to connect Americans to our Smart 5G network, but it's only the beginning," John Swieringa, President and COO of DISH Wireless, said in a press release(Opens in a new window). "We continue to focus on building out more coverage and bringing innovative 5G services and solutions to our customers."

Putting addresses in Utica and Cary, NC, into Dish's address qualifier gave me a shopping cart that I could take to the checkout phase, a good sign. However, I didn't go through with the purchase, so I don't know if they will actually ship phones.

Dish was up against a deadline. It was required to "offer" 5G service to 20% of the US population yesterday, according to commitments it made to the FCC around the Sprint/T-Mobile merger.

Project Genesis currently only has one phone, one hotspot, and two plans. It's a great deal for a phone: $399.99 for a 128GB, small Samsung Galaxy S22 (normally $799.99) or $349.99 for a Netgear Nighthawk M6 Pro hotspot.

Those are your only options. You cannot use a larger Galaxy S22 or an iPhone, and you cannot use any other phone or your existing handset, at least according to Dish's website, though the company says "additional compatible devices will become available throughout the year." One of them will be the Motorola Edge+,