DISH Network Corporation (NASDAQ:DISH) Q3 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

And so if everything was fair and a level playing field and the best technology won, I would be unbelievably bullish on fixed wireless. The problem is if somebody is getting a subsidy, let’s say, for fiber to run at 10 miles out to a farmhouse for $100,000 and the government is going to pay for that, you’re not going to compete with that even though it’s only $1,000 on fixed wireless, you’re not going to compete with that $100,000 bill because you have to pay the $1,000 as a private company and the government pays a $100,000 subsidy. So until we see that sorted out on government policy, it’s going to be a little bit tricky on the fixed wireless side. And so that gives —

Jimmy Schaeffler: Charlie, do you see any companies out there that are massively improving the capabilities of fixed wireless so that it would get around some of that eventually?

Charles Ergen: Again, all I can say is the government is going to pick winners and losers in that and they’re going to pick winners and losers in technology. And some companies are going to do a great job with some companies. As we know from past government subsidies, we know that some companies will do a great job, and that money will be well spent and electricity was one of those things long-term that happened. The interstate highway system was one of those things. But we’ve also seen a lot of time that money is wasted where perhaps fixed broadband goes where there already is broadband, and maybe we haven’t added new customers to that. And so there’ll be some money that will be wasted there, and we’ll just have to kind of see where that goes.

But it’s hard for our Board to look at a return on investment in fixed wireless when we don’t know if we’re competing against the government subsidy or if we’re competing against the marketplace. And where we compete against the marketplace, we’re very bullish.

Tim Messner: Operator, I understand that was the last question from the media. So thank you, everyone, for joining, and we’ll talk to you again next quarter.

Operator: This concludes today’s call. Thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect.