Dish is taking names, getting ready to kick 5G ass when its own network debuts

You've heard the expression "kicking ass and taking names," which is an expression that dates back to the Vietnam War. Soldiers going into combat would be asked what they were up to, and that would be the response. Now, it appears that Dish is about to take names as it prepares to kick ass when it comes to offering 5G service.

Axios reports that the "fourth nationwide facilities-based network competitor," (which is a fancy way of saying that Dish is replacing Sprint as the fourth largest wireless provider in the U.S.) is starting to take names of consumers interested in subscribing to Dish's own 5G service once it becomes available in their area. You can sign up by tapping on this link and filling out the prompt with your Zip Code, email address, phone number, and permission to be informed via an SMS message.

While anyone is welcome to sign up on Dish's wait list, at this point the company is committed to launching its own 5G service in one city this year, Las Vegas. Service in Sin City is supposed to start soon. Additional cities this year could be possible.

Right now, Dish is providing customers cellular service as a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) using T-Mobile's network to provide service to its customers. The deal between Dish and T-Mobile will run for seven years as Dish builds out its own standalone 5G network. Ironically, while Dish is relying heavily on T-Mobile at this point, the two are not enjoying each other's company right now.

Dish is upset that Sprint's CDMA network, used by many Dish customers, is being closed down by T-Mobile as soon as January. Meanwhile, as of the end of last year Dish had 9.055 million wireless subscribers. That was after a loss of 212,000 wireless customers in Q3 and  after saying goodbye to another 363,000 subscribers in Q4.

You might recall that Dish purchased Republic Wireless this past March which added 200,000 customers to the Dish customer rolls. And since Republic is also an MVNO that uses T-Mobile's network, the deal still appears to be a good fit.