(Bloomberg) — After months of technical delays, Dish Network Corp. introduced the nation’s first cloud-based 5G wireless service, an initial step in a long-range plan to change the satellite TV provider into a mobile broadband company.
Dish is calling it Project Genesis and starting Wednesday, customers in Las Vegas can sign on for an unlimited data, text and calling plan for $30 a month.
The company is also offering a $900 Motorola Edge+ phone to use on the new network. Dish plans to have the service in 120 cities in June.
The launch is a major milestone for co-founder Charlie Ergen, who has spent decades acquiring a trove of airwaves to cover the U.S.
with an advanced network to challenge the incumbent carriers — AT&T Inc., Verizon Communications Inc. and T-Mobile US Inc.
Dish has formed several partnerships with big tech companies, including Amazon.com Inc., Microsoft Corp.
and Dell Technologies Inc., in an effort to build a software-run, cloud-based network. The so-called open, greenfield buildout promises to bypass the traditional reliance on proprietary hardware that rivals use in today’s networks.
Dish is showcasing the Project Genesis network May 10 as part of the company’s analyst day in Las Vegas.
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