Dish offering $25 phone plans

Dish Network has started a trial of its anticipated Boost Infinite mobile phone plan with a $25-a-month lifetime price guarantee designed to lure customers away from the dominant wireless carriers.

The company launched the beta version early Wednesday and plans a full nationwide rollout during the first three months of 2023.

The unusually low price could be a “lightning rod” that jolts the industry toward lower rates, Stephen Stokols, Dish’s executive vice president of retail wireless, said in an interview.

Boost Infinite is the Englewood, Colorado-based company’s first postpaid mobile offering and was built to take on larger rivals AT&T, Verizon Communications and T-Mobile U.S.

“Customers are price sensitive and looking for areas to cut recurring expenses like wireless bills,” Stokols said. “This is a significant savings.”

The $25 price doesn’t include fees and taxes or any streaming service perks, and speeds will be slowed after a 30-gigabyte cap.

Customers must sign up online with a credit card or electronic payment.

There will be a “soft check” of the customer’s credit quality as opposed to a lengthy credit application.

Dish is using network-sharing agreements with AT&T and T-Mobile to give Boost Infinite customers nationwide service on almost any mobile phone.

It is relying on those competitors while it builds out its own 5G network, which for now can only be accessed with a $900 Motorola Edge+ phone.

Southwest to pay stock dividend

Southwest Airlines said it would reinstate its dividend following a pause of more than two years, becoming the first major U.S. carrier to resume the shareholder payouts after they were suspended during the pandemic as a condition of receiving government aid.

Southwest’s board approved a quarterly dividend of 18 cents a share to be paid on Jan. 31, according to a statement Wednesday.

The airline had notched a string of consecutive quarterly payouts for 43 years that ended in early 2020 as pandemic lockdowns began.

The restriction on dividends tied to U.S. financial aid ended in September of this year.

The resumption “reflects the strong return in demand for air travel and the company’s solid operating and financial results since March 2022,” Chief Executive Officer Bob Jordan said. in the statement

U.S. carriers have expressed confidence that the ongoing rebound in demand from both leisure and business travelers will continue into 2023 despite the possibility of a recession.

From wire reports