Dish Network Is A Hot Mess After Major Hack Attack
from the this-is-not-what-competency-looks-like dept
Satellite TV provider Dish Network isn’t having much fun. Despite oodles of direct government assistance during the Trump era, the company’s attempt to pivot from mediocre satellite TV provider to modern streaming service and wireless giant has been a hot mess.
The company lost another 552,000 pay TV subscribers during the last quarter. In part thanks to the continuing trend of cord cutting, but also because the company was hacked so completely a few months back, it took Dish’s systems (including customer support) completely offline for days. It took the better part of a week for the company to even admit it was compromised.
While Dish is supposed to be migrating satellite TV customers to its streaming TV service (Sling TV) and its wireless service (creatively named Dish Wireless), that’s… not really happening. A big chunk of the 552k TV defections (234,000) were from its streaming TV service. The company also lost 343,000 wireless customers. Customers apparently weren’t a fan of fourteen hour hold times:
On a morning analyst call, Dish Network execs said the fallout from a previously-disclosed network outage in February due to a cybersecurity attack fell most heavily on Sling TV, as late fees for monthly invoices were waived after payment systems and call centers went offline.
While the hack will be a useful excuse, things were already a mess at Dish. The company is burning through cash as it struggles to follow through on its pledge to build a functional 5G network and become a major player in the streaming TV and wireless sectors.
Recall: Dish’s 5G plans were used by the Trump administration to feebly justify rubber stamping the competition-eroding Sprint/T-Mobile merger (something the FCC did without reading analysis about the deal’s impact). Trump DOJ “antitrust enforcer” actively and personally worked with Dish and T-Mobile to ensure regulatory approval for a questionable deal (not how antitrust “enforcement” is supposed to work).
Dish is supposed to adhere to continually pushed back FCC requirements to build a useful 5G network, but again, those who’ve actually used the network say it’s a bit of a joke. Coverage is sparse, device selection is a laugh, and even trying to sign up for service is a monumental challenge. When it comes time for the (intentionally) gridlocked FCC to hold Dish accountable, they assuredly won’t.
Telecom industry trade magazines amusingly refuse to candidly call this bumbling pivot attempt out for the obvious mess it is, and still like to pretend this doesn’t end with a likely fire sale of half-built networks and hugely valuable spectrum assets (after stringing regulators along another few years, of course). Which I’d still posit could have very likely been the escape plan for CEO Charlie Ergen all along.
Filed Under: 5g, cord cutting, doj, failed pivots, fcc, streaming tv, video, wireless
Companies: dish network
Comments on “Dish Network Is A Hot Mess After Major Hack Attack”
Can't cancel
Despite 4 phone calls over 3 months,Dish continues to bill me and send collection threats. On each call, Dish agreed to cancel service and send equipment return instructions. Nothing. On the last call, the agent was difficult. He told me that I needed to return the receiver that they mounted on my roof or be charged for it.
Re: return dish
10 years ago? Dish demanded return of their satellite dish when my girlfriend was taking over the account. I had to fight with them to retain the dish so it could be used and not replaced with an unnecessary install.
Installers. Not too knowledgeable. Me- more equipment knowledgeable. Installed my own equipment before Dish. One of Their installers wouldn’t consider a new LNB could be defective.
It was a crock that Dish was going to replace Sprint as the 4th carrier. The government acquiesced to less competition which jacks up prices.
I was unaware that Dish Network was still operational. 😂
Boost Infinite
I signed up for their PostPaid service Boost Infinite in December of 22. I personally have had no lost service or issues, as my phone is currently operating exclusively in AT&Ts network under the Boost Infinite name. But whoever decided using the name Boost as the Post paid Brand was a good idea should be let go. The confusion between Boost Mobile and Boost Infinite on Facebook ad comments alone should be reason enough for a rebrand
We are a fish customer in Joplin, mo., And we still do not have ABC….channel 23. KODE. What a mess
Pffft!
Dish was a hot mess before the hack.
Havent had channel 7 sense october 2022. No credits no comments. Dish sucks
Subscriber loss
Just think how bad the numbers would really be if Dish had not REFUSED to cancel countless accounts. Reps were rude and refused to close accounts even after excessively long wait times. Apparently Dish is trying to manipulate the numbers and put some of those cancellations on the second quarter.
Re: Dishnet
Just went through the dish cancellation nightmare, was finally told account was cancelled but it wasn’t. They took my auto payment shortly after I thought I had cancelled. I hope they go belly-up!
Clapping coming from the peanut gallery
Their number one show by a landslide was Fox News. They have 11 birds in the not air and only a few of them are less than a decade old. How will they afford to replace them? Bravo. Bravo.
It's about where it should be
Dish TV is not THAT bad, unless you expect it to be something besides TV. Having had both DirecTV and Dish at different times, 18 years between them and both purely satellite, not IP, I would definitely give Dish the edge. Technology, quality, cost, you name it.
That said, I switched to Comcast for TV and then went TV-free a couple years ago. No antenna, nothing. Youtube Premium is all I need or have time for, frankly. The older I get, the less time I have for TV especially with ads. Not missing it at all.
On the phone side, they might as well give up. Had to use a Boost phone for a month recently and it as bad as Sprint had been in the same area. Trash-tier. T-Mobile is about the same. Absolutely not an option in that area. Obviously other areas will be different. But there was nothing compelling about the product. Verizon’s Visible wallops Boost sideways.
I left Dish
I left Dish after the Feb disaster. I went to YouTube TV and love it. Half the cost for about the same channels and unlimited DVR. It works even with my crappy internet speed. The UI is differnet, but OK after getting used to it.
I wish I moved long ago.
Boost Infinite
Considering Boost wireless? Take on Boost One. Not Boost Infinite.
Interviews
I interviewed at Dish. Glad they didn’t hire me. I also didn’t take an offer from an oil and gas company right before the pandemic, which also was lucky but of course unrelated.