A theme for DISH Network this year is the continued growth in its wireless endeavors. The satellite TV giant turned wireless provider is continuing this trend with its two new executive hires, Craig Sparks and Steve Becker. The hires occurred in June and will work on a team reporting to Executive Vice President Stephen Bye. Welcomed additions to its already growing, experienced executive team.
Sparks, similar to Bye, will be bringing his experience and expertise from his tenure at C Spire with his main objective focusing on customer solution integration and engineering. This will help DISH create custom wireless solutions for an array of specific problems. He will also bring his talents to the sales team where Craig will play an integral role in supporting the technical sales side of the business.
The addition of Steve Becker brings an experienced executive that has assisted on a variety of projects including business development for Sprint, business plans for Cox Business Services, working with startups, and a lot more. All of which will come in handy as he assumes his new position as DISH’s VP of Wholesale Business Development.
DISH’s wireless efforts have been making waves all year long and even well before 2020. Its commitment to building its executive team with hires such as Stephen Bye is continued as evidenced in these hires and it is continuing to collect spectrum licenses as it has in years past. Since purchasing Boost Mobile from Sprint this summer, DISH continues to make headlines for how it expands its wireless division. Everything from embarking on a hiring spree during a pandemic to a series of vendor deals to bolster its capabilities and functions, it is clear that DISH will continue to take the wireless world by storm. The key for DISH, however, may not be in the speed at which these moves take place but more so focusing on the quality of the efforts themselves.
Even analysts, like the founder of Recon Analytics, Roger Entner, agree that DISH’s moves to create a formidable wireless team are beginning to take shape with some competitors continuing to watch the developments that come from the company. “(Charlie Ergen is) assembling a very good team,” said Entner, “Absolutely, he’s filling out his roster with industry veterans. Here you have the opportunity to potentially reshape the industry. If you’re building a network now, you should build a virtualized one and that’s what they’re doing.”
Still, as great as these moves may be, taking too much time could spell disaster for DISH or at the very least, a hefty fine. Part of the requirements for purchasing Boost Mobile included DISH’s commitment to developing a 5G network that covers at least 70% of the U.S. by June 2023. Failure to do so would mean DISH would face a hefty fine that would reach over $2 billion.
Source: Fierce Wireless