Dish Says It Covers 73 Million With 5G
Dish says it now covers approximately 73 million Americans with its 5G airwaves, fulfilling a government commitment to offer 5G service to more than 20% of the US population by mid-June.
The 72,769,696 people Dish is now offering service to through its Project Genesis 5G system is 21.7% of the US population, Dish says in a report(Opens in a new window) it sent to the FCC.
The report focuses on airwaves that most Dish subscribers can't access yet, but Dish confirms to PCMag that the coverage number applies not only to the bands n29, n66, and n70 discussed in the report, but also to band n71 that the carrier is currently using for uplink nationwide.
The report focuses on the band n29, n66, and n70 spectrum because the FCC's initial construction deadlines for those airwaves had expired, and Dish negotiated an extension in 2019 that involved filing this report in mid-2022. (By mid-2023, Dish needs to cover 70% of the population(Opens in a new window) with 5G.)
Dish is not restricting signups based on capacity, only by location, the company says in the report. "If the [customer's] address point is within our service coverage, the customer proceeds with the enrollment process," it says.
That said, Project Genesis isn't being heavily publicized, doesn't have an actual coverage map online, only works on two phone models purchased as part of the service signup, and doesn't work on iPhones yet, all of which lower the number of people who would be willing to sign up.
That's by design. While Dish is required to say that "Project Genesis" is public right now, the company has said it intends to introduce the "Boost Infinite" brand this fall, which will likely be the real consumer rollout for the service.
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