Samsung, a South Korean technology giant, has signed a multi-year agreement with Dish, under which it will be selling the latter 5G radios. Dish will deploy these radios in the United States (US) to launch 5G network services in the future. It is worth noting that this will be yet another big deal for Samsung after the one with Verizon in 2020. With Verizon, it was a $6.6 billion deal for Samsung, which set it up as a significant challenger for Ericsson and Nokia. Huawei is still in the telecom equipment business but not in the US market anymore.
It will be a more than billion-dollar agreement for Samsung Networks, Alok Shah, Vice President at Samsung, told Reuters. Samsung will start delivering the radios to Dish later in 2022.
Dish Is Making Its 5G Network With the Latest Equipment and With Multiple Partners
Samsung is not the only company Dish has partnered with to build its own 5G network. The company has partnered with Taiwan's Microelectronics Technology Inc (MTI) and Japan’s Fujitsu to get 5G radios. Further, to lower costs and use the latest technology for its 5G networks, Dish has also tied up with companies such as Amazon, Intel, Mavenir, and Altiostar.
It is worth noting that Dish is yet to launch commercial 5G network services in the US. The company has plans to cover at least 20% of the US population by June 2022, followed by 70% population by mid-2023.
Dish is, however, testing its networks continuously. The company has beta users on its 5G networks to check the performance of the technology. Dish, just like the other telecom companies globally, has faced issues with the supply chain.
Stephen Bye, Chief Commercial Officer of Dish, said that the supply chain issues are going to be there for the next few months. But right now, Dish has all the components for meeting its targets of June 2022.
