Dish/Echostar 1st Quarter Report

[Bruce]

Ask your typical congressman and they will tell you they want more competition not less.

I most certainty do not believe this! Look what just has happened in the radio, and TV acquisitions.

The amount of pushback is minimal at best!

But there is competition, both Charter( over 10 Million) and Comcast ( over 8 Million)has went past Boost in subscribers numbers, since Dish took over ( had 9 million, now 7.2 Million).

While I know those are run on Verizon's network, they are still separate companies from the big 3 providers.

Also, what are they doing right to gain subscribers, what is Dish/Boost doing wrong?

 

[MikeD-C05]

But there is competition, both Charter( over 10 Million) and Comcast ( over 8 Million)has went past Boost in subscribers numbers, since Dish took over ( had 9 million, now 7.2 Million).

While I know those are run on Verizon's network, they are still separate companies from the big 3 providers.

Also, what are they doing right to gain subscribers, what is Dish/Boost doing wrong?

I think that Boost has the history of being a pre-paid phone company you have to keep paying on like a track phone for extra minutes etc. Now if they advertised a good cell phone plan like T mobile and other cell phone companies do , they might actually grow their company. Also I see you can sign up for Boost through Walmart. I had to ask google where I could sign on to get that information. I couldn't tell you the last time I saw any Boost commercials on TV. But Consumer Cellular & T mobile commercials I see all the time.

 

[Bruce]

I think that Boost has the history of being a pre-paid phone company you have to keep paying on like a track phone for extra minutes etc. Now if they advertised a good cell phone plan like T mobile and other cell phone companies do , they might actually grow their company. Also I see you can sign up for Boost through Walmart. I had to ask google where I could sign on to get that information. I couldn't tell you the last time I saw any Boost commercials on TV. But Consumer Cellular & T mobile commercials I see all the time.

Which means they need to spend a lot of money on marketing, now are they able / willing to do that?

But even if Boost was able to get up to 10 Million subscribers, at $50 a month, that is only $6 Billion a year gross ( net will be a lot less).

Since EchoStar total liabilities are about $40 Billion, need a lot more subscribers then 10 Million.

 

[dishdude]

I think that Boost has the history of being a pre-paid phone company you have to keep paying on like a track phone for extra minutes etc. Now if they advertised a good cell phone plan like T mobile and other cell phone companies do , they might actually grow their company. Also I see you can sign up for Boost through Walmart. I had to ask google where I could sign on to get that information. I couldn't tell you the last time I saw any Boost commercials on TV. But Consumer Cellular & T mobile commercials I see all the time.

Boost just has a terrible reputation as a prepaid carrier, most people won't even consider them. And why would they? Google Fi is a much better value.

 

[navychop]

Is Google Fi still available / expanding?

 

[Bruce]

Is Google Fi still available / expanding?

Still available, has about 500,000 subscribers, Google must believe it has a future, or would have closed it down already (that opinion is based on Google's history).

 

[HipKat]

Just not expecting that this soon, maybe after a few more quarters, see how business is going, but the FCC fight has seemed to move up the possibility of a Chapter 11 a lot sooner.

I have no idea how much cash Echostar has currently, but if dwindling, half a billion in interest payments might be too painful right now.

What FCC fight?? What is it that Dish has failed to do??

 

[HipKat]

But there is competition, both Charter( over 10 Million) and Comcast ( over 8 Million)has went past Boost in subscribers numbers, since Dish took over ( had 9 million, now 7.2 Million).

While I know those are run on Verizon's network, they are still separate companies from the big 3 providers.

Also, what are they doing right to gain subscribers, what is Dish/Boost doing wrong?

How long has Verizon and Spectrum been offering cell service? Dish is just starting to make their push

 

[HipKat]

Boost just has a terrible reputation as a prepaid carrier, most people won't even consider them. And why would they? Google Fi is a much better value.

Even the Dish trainer who came to our office admitted it would have been easier to offer a new brand instead of rebranding an old name

 

[dishdude]

Even the Dish trainer who came to our office admitted it would have been easier to offer a new brand instead of rebranding an old name

Dish or Sling wireless would have been a smart move, and sell it as a bundle with TV service.

 

[Bruce]

How long has Verizon and Spectrum been offering cell service? Dish is just starting to make their push

Comcast started on April 7, 2017 with 0 subscribers

Charter/Spectrum on September 8, 2018 with 0 subscribers

Dish took over Boost with 9 Million subscribers

Comcast went to 8 Million, Charter 10M, Dish lost 1.8M.

 

[HipKat]

Dish or Sling wireless would have been a smart move, and sell it as a bundle with TV service.

Sling Wireless was exactly the one I suggested

 

[HipKat]

Comcast started on April 7, 2017 with 0 subscribers

Charter/Spectrum on September 8, 2018 with 0 subscribers

Dish took over Boost with 9 Million subscribers

Comcast went to 8 Million, Charter 10M, Dish lost 1.8M.

But, Charter and Spectrum have over 60 million subscribers and you left off when Dish started a passive Boost rollout (2024), and the real push, including marketing, is just starting this month. No, I don't think Dish will come close to the penetration that Verizon, Tmobile and AT&T have (BTW, AT&T is crap in many parts of the country). But I also think you are blaming the baby for not knowing how to drive yet.

When Spectrum and Comcast customers leave those companies, they also lose their wireless service. Not so with Dish/Boost.

Again, I'm not a huge believer in Boost as it's been handled and unsure of it going forward but it IS based on the 5G spectrum that I see guys here accusing Dish of not growing, they HAVE made their FCC requirements and it's hard to accurately judge something that's just really getting out the gate.
Meanwhile, everyday in both offices I manage, guy are, as of last week, delivering Boost phones and Sim cards to new customers and that's the same company-wide

 

[Bruce]

But, Charter and Spectrum have over 60 million subscribers and you left off when Dish started a passive Boost rollout (2024), and the real push, including marketing, is just starting this month. No, I don't think Dish will come close to the penetration that Verizon, Tmobile and AT&T have (BTW, AT&T is crap in many parts of the country). But I also think you are blaming the baby for not knowing how to drive yet.

When Spectrum and Comcast customers leave those companies, they also lose their wireless service. Not so with Dish/Boost.

Again, I'm not a huge believer in Boost as it's been handled and unsure of it going forward but it IS based on the 5G spectrum that I see guys here accusing Dish of not growing, they HAVE made their FCC requirements and it's hard to accurately judge something that's just really getting out the gate.
Meanwhile, everyday in both offices I manage, guy are, as of last week, delivering Boost phones and Sim cards to new customers and that's the same company-wide

It is not just Cell Phones, since Dish started hoarding spectrum ( I believe in 2012), we have heard nothing but they will provide 5G Broadband……where is it.

In that same time frame, Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile have pulled way ahead, even if Dish started to provide it tomorrow , too late, those three have a massive head start.

Then we have the increases in fiber installs, plus Star Link for those extreme hard to reach areas, whom is also killing Echostar's Hughes Internet Satellite Service, since Star Link is picking up all those Business Customers that used to be primarily Hughes and Viasat.

All these other companies are moving forward with their plans, Dish seems stuck in neutral.

 

[ewindowman]

you don't need xfinity service to have xfinity mobile it just cost more monthly. Xfinity works off of Verizon cell towers. I tried it last year and the problems I had was when they would switch services off of Verizon cell to xfinity WiFi hotspots the connection would take awhile or no connection at all. You would have to turn off WiFi to connect . so I switched back to Verizon

 

[llokey]

Comcast started on April 7, 2017 with 0 subscribers

Charter/Spectrum on September 8, 2018 with 0 subscribers

While what you say is true, they had a lot of cable subscribers, video and internet, and sold a package that was extremely cheap. This cheap package relied on their inherent internet for operation. I looked into it (had Spectrum at the time) and decided it was not feasible for anyone who used any amount of data. However, for those who bundled their Cell and Internet, they are now somewhat trapped. I get questions all the time about changing from Spectrum to fiber. When I ask about their Cell service, they flinch and decide to stay with Spectrum because they are afraid that the Cell service would be disrupted.

So bottom line, IMHO you are distorting the overall picture with "basic facts".

btw - I went with Visible, at&t fiber and have Dish. All are separated and I get good deals on all - no trap.

 

[HipKat]

It is not just Cell Phones, since Dish started hoarding spectrum ( I believe in 2012), we have heard nothing but they will provide 5G Broadband……where is it.

In that same time frame, Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile have pulled way ahead, even if Dish started to provide it tomorrow , too late, those three have a massive head start.

All those companies did NOT just pull away. They have been established companies for many years. They are only cell providers.

Then we have the increases in fiber installs, plus Star Link for those extreme hard to reach areas, whom is also killing Echostar's Hughes Internet Satellite Service, since Star Link is picking up all those Business Customers that used to be primarily Hughes and Viasat.

All these other companies are moving forward with their plans, Dish seems stuck in neutral.

Like I said, I'm not saying that this is the end all but they aren't dead in the water, either. They are progressing, slowly, but Boost IS growing. They STILL have an R&D that's coming up with new technology. They have new Sats going up.

 

[Bruce]

Meanwhile, Boost is growing, we're seeing a big push in new customers, new work orders for phone delivery and setups, and soon cross-sales to new and existing Dish customers.

You wrote the same thing last year, yet Boost continued to lose subscribers during that quarter-

Dish has built-in marketing. Every tech is offering Boost sign-ups nationwide and selling the hell out of them in many cases.

Then, in March 2024, another marketing attempt, where you wrote The push-

The push to sign customers up to Boost Infinite is ramping up

Yet yesterday, you wrote the pushing had just started-

No, they haven't. They just started "pushing" it to existing customers by techs at truck rolls.
Now they're taking orders for tech-delivered phones, tablets, watches and sim cards.

Boost stores still don't have Dish signage.
They may have been bought in but they haven't been pushing anything

 

[HipKat]

You wrote the same thing last year, yet Boost continued to lose subscribers during that quarter-

Then, in March 2024, another marketing attempt, where you wrote The push-


Yet yesterday, you wrote the pushing had just started-

No, I said we were starting to offer Boost to current customers on truck rolls

 

[TheKrell]

No, I said we were starting to offer Boost to current customers on truck rolls

And every one of my calls to technical support at every level, even though I told the poor benighted CSR that I was happy with my current provider. Kind of sad, really.