By Supantha Mukherjee

(Reuters) – Samsung (KS) has entered into a multiyear agreement to sell Dish equipment for its upcoming 5G network. This is the biggest radio deal for Dish since the 2020 Verizon (NYSE) contract.

Samsung established itself as a competitor to the top two telecoms equipment vendors Nokia (NYSE:), and Ericsson(BS:) in America by signing a $6.6billion deal with Verizon. The contract with Dish cements that position.

Alok Shah (Vice President at Samsung), stated to Reuters that this was a more than a billion-dollar agreement for Samsung Networks. “We’ll be delivering Dish our first products later in the year.”

Dish has already partnered with Fujitsu and Microelectronics Technology Inc (Taiwan) to supply 5G radios.

Dish, which is working to create a 5G network with the latest technology using new technologies promises lower prices and to bring in more services. It has also partnered up with smaller companies like Altiostar (NASDAQ:), and Intel (NASDAQ :).

Although Dish is yet to launch a commercial network, the company has promised regulators that it will cover at least 20% of the U.S. populace by June and 70% by the middle of 2023.

Stephen Bye (Dish Chief Commercial Officer) stated in an interview that 20% of the population must be covered by June.

He said, “We have beta customers on our network for some while, testing our network…we just haven’t declared commercial launch. You will see that in coming weeks.”

Dish has had to set up networks in many cities. However, it has faced supply chain problems that have harmed companies worldwide, even in the telecom sector.

Bye stated that supply chain challenges had been difficult for the past 12-18 months, and they would not go away over the next few months. Dish still has the necessary components to meet its June coverage goal.

Dish also tested its 5G network with Samsung Galaxy S22 smartphones and intends to use the phones during the deployment.

Bye stated that they are currently working with device vendors. You can see the Boost site and clearly you’ll see we have strong relationships with a number of vendors.

Boost Mobile, a prepaid wireless phone brand owned by Dish, lists phones from Samsung, Motorola (NYSE:) and Apple (NASDAQ:) on its website https://www.boostmobile.com/phones.