Dish’s Charlie Ergen said that the FCC should support his company’s efforts to build out a 5G wireless network because it would aid the United States’ technological position on the global stage.  

Importantly, Ergen’s comments during Dish’s quarterly earnings conference call came in response to questions about an FCC inquiry into Dish’s spectrum build-out efforts, a move that many industry observers believe may signal the agency’s concern that Dish is hoarding spectrum licenses without a clear plan to put them into commercial use.  

"The goal that they [at the FCC] have—to help the United States be the No. 1 in 5G—1and the goal that we have at Dish, is exactly the same,” Ergen said. “And so we're very pleased with that. And in a world where the incumbents are going to have hybrid networks, between 4G and 5G, and in a world where China is building stand-alone 5G networks, Japan is going to build a stand-alone 5G network, for the United States to lead in 5G you're going to have to have stand-alone 5G networks. And so we think we're the company that's best positioned to do that."