Why You Can Trust CNET Dish Network's Boost Infinite Begins Selling Wireless Service to Amazon Prime Users
It isn't clear, however, which wireless network -- Dish's own, AT&T or T-Mobile -- the service will be running on.
Dish Network is getting closer to Amazon. On Wednesday, the satellite TV provider -- now also a wireless carrier -- announced a new offer with Amazon that will see its Boost Infinite postpaid service made available on the e-commerce giant's online store.
The new deal will have Dish selling SIM card kits to Amazon Prime users. The kits, which are basically a SIM card and a QR code to activate the service, are available for $25 (currently discounted to $20), but also include a $25 credit to Boost Infinite so long as you activate it within 30 days of ordering.
Boost Infinite, Boost Mobile's answer to traditional wireless service offered by AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile, normally runs $25 per month for unlimited talk, text and data (with 30GB of high-speed data). Dish acquired prepaid carrier Boost Mobile from T-Mobile when the latter purchased Sprint in 2020.
While Amazon sells prepaid SIM cards from a variety of carriers, including Boost Mobile, Cricket, Google Fi Wireless and Mint Mobile, in recent years it has stayed out of selling traditional postpaid wireless plans such as the one Boost Infinite offers. Whereas prepaid users buy their wireless service upfront, postpaid plans -- the more common wireless option in the US -- are when users pay their bills at the end of the month and is the main type of service offered by the major carriers.
In addition to selling on Amazon, Dish also sells Boost Infinite service at the same $25 per month price on its own website. Dish has spent years and billions of dollars acquiring wireless spectrum and is in the process of building out its own 5G network, though it also has deals with AT&T and T-Mobile to use their respective networks for the next few years.
Dish isn't saying which network new Boost Infinite users will be using on its Amazon product page, only that its service "gives you access to superfast 5G on one of America's top networks." The company declined to specify which network when contacted by CNET.
Because its Amazon offering is only available to Prime users, the carrier says that it will automatically prequalify purchasers. The company similarly touts that the $25 price is "locked-in" and won't go up, with no activation fees or other "hidden" charges beyond "state and federal taxes/surcharges."
Boost Infinite allows for up to five lines per account, all at the $25 per month rate, though those looking to add service are told to do so through the company's app or by calling Boost's customer support, not by buying more SIM kits from Amazon.
As for devices, Dish isn't selling any on Amazon at the moment and its storefront currently only features the lone SIM kit. Boost says its service will work with "most phones" made in the last five years, including those dating back to the iPhone XR, Galaxy S20 line and Pixel 5 (as well as Samsung's Z Flip and Z Fold lines). The carrier supports eSIM, which is required on the iPhone 14 line, as those devices lack a physical SIM card slot.
It is, however, worth noting that few devices sold today include the proper support for Dish's new 5G network. Even some recent phones that do, such as the iPhone 14 line that the company recently began selling on its website, have yet to have the support activated.