- Boost Mobile’s network in New York City was deemed No. 1 in several categories in umlaut’s audit report
- It’s the latest in Boost’s attempts to show how open RAN technology is not only meeting but beating expectations
- As for open RAN naysayers, CTO Eben Albertyn says Boost is proving open RAN works as advertised
Boost Mobile just received an enviable endorsement from one of the industry’s third-party network performance vendors. According to umlaut, Boost Mobile's 5G standalone network is the best and most reliable in New York City.
That’s not a typo, however exaggerated it may sound. And getting umlaut’s designation is no small feat, considering NYC is the largest market in the U.S. — brimming with RF challenges amid dense urban canyons.
The problem is — and this is no dis on Boost’s engineering team — its network is next to empty, so you’d expect it to perform flawlessly. Boost’s predicament is largely blamed on inadequate marketing by the carrier, which has been plagued by parent EchoStar’s financial troubles and perpetual worries about bankruptcy.
The lack of subscribers on Boost’s network is not lost on Boost EVP and Chief Technology Officer Eben Albertyn, who’s work with telcos spans four continents.
“That is exactly what we’re doing. We’re using an empty network with the latest technologies to provide a fantastic experience,” he told Fierce. “That’s the reality that we have. Yes, it’s a new highway. It’s empty, so you have an absolutely stunning experience.”
If there’s one thing Boost has, it’s spectrum. In New York City alone, it’s using 600, 700, 1800 and 2100 MHz spectrum bands, according to Albertyn.
“We can offer people a stunning experience for years to come because we have a lot of spectrum. We’re using the latest network technologies,” Albertyn said. “We have the latest phones on our network. We have no legacy devices” that can slow it down.
Based on the amount of data going through devices, the mix of devices on Boost’s network appears to be roughly 65% iPhone and 35% Android, he said.
“The best value”
If Albertyn sounds like a marketing exec as much as a network engineer, that’s probably due to the aforementioned need to load its network — and fast, given the clock is ticking on EchoStar’s finances.
That doesn’t take away from the fact that Boost passed umlaut’s NYC tests in flying colors — and those tests run the gamut from voice-over-5G calls to data speeds and latencies, including how everyday users experience the network via YouTube and apps like WhatsApp.
But nationwide, Boost serves about 6.98 million subscribers, a tiny fraction of its rivals Verizon, T-Mobile and AT&T that serve well over 100 million each.
It’s no wonder that Albertyn is hammering home the “value” message.
“I think Boost can best be described as the carrier that gives you the best value for the best network,” he said, rattling off the company’s “$25 for life” plan, as well as “Buy a phone, get a year of free service,” and “Bring an iPhone and get an iPhone for free” deal.
Stuck in the prepaid mold
Boost declared last year that it’s ready to play in the prime time, going head-to-head against postpaid behemoths Verizon, T-Mobile and AT&T. But its brand got its start in the prepaid market and that’s where it seems to be stuck, for better or worse.
According to Wave7 Research, Boost has more than 3,000 stores, which are disproportionately located in urban areas. In addition, the brand is sold via 1,300 multi-carrier prepaid dealers where other brands also are sold.
That’s a decent number of retail outlets, and its $25/month unlimited plan is an “excellent offer,” said Wave7 principal Jeff Moore.
However, one significant problem with Boost’s overall strategy has been its presence in the postpaid market, he said. “Boost is a credible competitor to Metro and Cricket, but it is not a credible postpaid competitor to Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile,” Moore told Fierce.
Open RAN advantages
Still, Boost Mobile’s network team remains undeterred, touting their open RAN advantage every chance they get.
One of the advantages of open RAN is the ability to swap out hardware and software if an operator so chooses — whether due to pricing, performance or something else. For example, a lot of people complained about Broadcom’s pricing practices after it acquired VMware.
Albertyn didn’t say that’s why Boost decided to remove VMware and replace it with Wind River’s solution. But open RAN’s architecture allows him to do that. The swap out got underway last fall and he expects it will be completed nationwide by the beginning of this summer — without customer disruption.
“We are demonstrating with open RAN that nobody can hold an architectural gun to your head if we feel that there are things that we would like to do for our customers that are better, technologically or feature-wise,” he said. “We have the ability to do that. That has always been the promise of open RAN.”
He maintains that there’s always been “rhetoric” around open RAN, including by those who say the technology is dead and/or going nowhere.
“The first thing we proved to planet Earth was that open RAN really works. The second thing we proved in New York City is it's the same or better quality than all the other technologies. And the third thing that we're now doing with open RAN is we're proving that open RAN actually does what it says it would do,” he said.
“This is a real network that you can walk up to any second of the day and touch it. I don't know what's more real than that. So if other people have rhetoric where they're saying it's dead, well, you know, everybody is welcome to their opinion. But our network is cold, hard fact,” he said.
The biggest priority for Boost this year? “Help every American understand that there is a new game in town. It’s called Boost Mobile,” he concluded. “It’s the best network with the best value everywhere, so that’s really what we’re going to focus on.”