Dish's remarkable 'internal outage' stretches into a second day

'We apologize for any disruptions you may be having. We are experiencing an internal system issue,' Dish warns on its website. Company officials haven't responded to questions.

Mike Dano, Editorial Director, 5G & Mobile Strategies

February 24, 2023

3 Min Read
Dish's remarkable 'internal outage' stretches into a second day

Dish Network's corporate computer systems appeared to remain entirely offline Friday after the company first issued a warning about the situation during its quarterly conference call with investors Thursday.

"This morning, we experienced an internal outage that's continuing to affect our internal servers and IT telephony. Our Dish and Sling services and our wireless and data networks continue to operate normally, are up and running," said CEO Erik Carlson Thursday morning.

At roughly the same time, some of Dish's social media accounts also began warning customers about the issue. "We are experiencing an internal system issue and our teams are working hard to restore systems as soon as possible," the company wrote on Twitter Thursday.

Also on Thursday, Dish websites including Dish.com and BoostMobile.com were not available.

A day later, the situation seems to remain the same.

"Due to internal system issues some users may experience difficulty with their Boost Mobile accounts, paying their bill, or reaching Boost Care. Please be assured that if your account is affected, your wireless service is not affected by these issues and your service will not end due to non-payment," reads a note on the Boost Mobile homepage.

Figure 1: Dish's Boost Mobile website remains inaccessible. Click here for a larger version of this image. (Source: www.BoostMobile.com screen shot) Dish's Boost Mobile website remains inaccessible. Click here for a larger version of this image.
(Source: www.BoostMobile.com screen shot)

There's a similar warning on Dish.com. "We apologize for any disruptions you may be having. We are experiencing an internal system issue and our teams are working hard to restore systems as soon as possible," reads a message on the company's homepage. "Thank you for your patience."

Calls to Dish's main phone number – the support number for new and existing customers – offers a similar warning in both Spanish and English.

Several Dish officials contacted by Light Reading did not respond to phone calls and emails.

Of course, IT troubles are nothing new. Indeed, T-Mobile earlier this year reported yet another unauthorized hack into its systems. Similarly, Verizon and other mobile network operators have reported occasional service outages around the country. Even massive cloud computing providers like Microsoft have suffered through hours of outages and other troubles.

But the fact that Dish's "internal outage" has passed the 24-hour mark, and that its website and phone system still seem impaired, is noteworthy.

Dish, for its part, is working to leverage its aging satellite TV business to leverage its way into the 5G industry with a new, nationwide wireless network.

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Mike Dano, Editorial Director, 5G & Mobile Strategies, Light Reading | @mikeddano

About the Author

Mike Dano

Editorial Director, 5G & Mobile Strategies, Light Reading

Mike Dano is Light Reading's Editorial Director, 5G & Mobile Strategies. Mike can be reached at [email protected], @mikeddano or on LinkedIn.

Based in Denver, Mike has covered the wireless industry as a journalist for almost two decades, first at RCR Wireless News and then at FierceWireless and recalls once writing a story about the transition from black and white to color screens on cell phones.

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