Will the real MNOs please stand up? Boost Mobile is now the fourth-largest US carrier

Boost Mobile is no longer just a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) that resells wireless communications services leased from a mobile network operator (MNO).

Instead, the company is now very close to meeting a coverage deadline set by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), reports The Verge.

Boost Mobile was once owned by T-Mobile, but the FCC asked the carrier to sell the prepaid mobile service to DISH NETWORK to get the Sprint merger approved. Earlier this year, EchoStar acquired DISH.

In 2020, the FCC set a buildout deadline of June 14, 2023, for DISH to offer 5G broadband services to at least 70 percent of the population. It was also instructed to meet certain nationwide 5G deployment commitments before the deadline.

The company was able to give 70 percent of the US population access to a 5G network with download speeds of around 35 Mbps by that date, but due to some unanticipated circumstances, it requested an extension of certain 2025 deployment milestones.

The company also said that Boost Mobile Network would cover 80 percent of the population by the end of 2024, 30 million more than its 2023 obligation of covering 70% of the population.

Boost Mobile now beleives that it has made enough progress to call itself an MNO, making it the fourth largest carrier after AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon.

Boost’s chief technology officer Eben Albertyn has revealed that the company has switched on more than 20,000 of the 24,000 cell sites that it has committed to deploy by June next year.

Previously, Boost offered services through AT&T and T-Mobile's networks, but now, more than half a million customers have been migrated to its own network. Customers joining the network with a compatible device are served directly through the company's infrastructure.

The development puts Boost on equal standing with the big three, as was envisioned by the FCC. This will hopefully bolster competition in the US and give a new option to consumers unhappy about some unpopular decisions made by the nation's largest carriers in the recent past.

Earlier this year, Boost Mobile also introduced some new promotions, including a risk-free way to try its 5G network, to encourage customers not satisfied with their carrier to switch.

The company has a cost advantage over other carriers due to its approach of building a cloud-native 5G network using Open Radio Access Network (RAN) technology, allowing it to offer plans that are up to 40 percent cheaper than other carriers.