I just found this video on YouTube:
I was waiting for this story to arrive. While one may certainly make a plausible case for a potential shutdown of the RW (and for that matter the Ting Mobile) brand(s), Iâll point out there is nothing in that video other than speculation based on this BestMVNO article. Note, the use of the weasel word likely in the article title.
This ânewsâ has already received attention on RWâs subreddit:
https://www.reddit.com/r/republicwireless/comments/104j9lj/republic_wireless_likely_shutting_down/
DISHâs tepid denial here:
The reality is no one who knows what the future holds is talking and those talking donât know. Weâll just need to wait and see. Meanwhile; keep calm and carry on.
I thought it strange that Dish never promoted Republic Wireless on their Dish TV website even though it was supposed to be a special deal for TV customers. I just checked their Dish TV site now and they are promoting Boost Infinite, Genmobile, and Boost Mobile, but Republic Wireless is no where to be found. 
DISH TVâs website or DISH Wirelessâ website? Indeed, on DISH Wirelessâ website there are three logo tiles for Boost Infinite, Gen Mobile and Boost Mobile respectively. I would point out that previously those logo tiles were Gen Mobile, Boost Mobile and RW by DISH respectively. Prior to that they were Ting Mobile, Boost Mobile and RW respectively. In other words, Ting Mobileâs logo was removed upon the acquisition of Gen Mobile (more than a year ago). RW by DISHâs logo was indeed removed with the launch of Boost Infinite. Whatâs the significance of this; who knows? More than a year after the removal of its logo from DISH Wirelessâ landing page, the Ting Mobile brand is still with us. Perhaps, DISHâs web designers just canât handle the concept of more than three brand logo tiles? 
At the very lower right of DISH TVâs website I see the following:
Those logos represent Sling, Boost Mobile, OnTech (DISHâs smart home offering) and RW by DISH respectively.
Itâs clear, to me, that as of now DISH is not investing in either the RW or Ting Mobile brands. Is that enough to conclude either or both will be shut down imminently? For me, no. As much as some enjoy attempting to read the tea leaves, with DISH I believe attempting to do so is pointless. DISH has demonstrated a rather short attention span. Today, theyâre all in on Boost Infinite. Tomorrow, they may follow through on rumored previous discussions to sell the retail wireless business in its entirety.
I neither encourage or discourage members as to whether or not to stay with RW by DISH. But, Iâm certainly not making any decisions based on a speculative article from Joe Paonessa at BestMVNO with references to âpeople are hearingâ and (conveniently unidentified) âsources sayâ. Time will tellâŚ
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Youâre right. I do see the RW by Dish logo on the Dish.com site now. It is very easy to miss it. Definitely not investing in the brand.
Well no one here would be surprised. Iâve assumed since they took over that that was the goal, eventually. Then they axed the community forums. Also, Iâve been keeping my eye out for a new phone and noticed theyâve almost sold out of all of theirs. Been trying to see what people here and elsewhere like for no-contract cell service.
@rosedoodle said:
Been trying to see what people here and elsewhere like for no-contract cell service.
Wow, I just looked and RW really does have a low supply of phones.
I switched to Boost Infinite three weeks ago and I have experienced good coverage, so I convinced a friend to switch to BI today also.
Good Morning @rosedoodle,
@rosedoodle said:
Well no one here would be surprised.
No; I donât think anyone would, however, there is not as of yet sufficient information to conclude if or when DISH might shut down the RW brand.
@rosedoodle said:
Iâve assumed since they took over that that was the goal, eventually.
I genuinely believe DISHâs original goal was to grow the RW brand. One doesnât bring in a management team and otherwise make the investments made if the intent all along was to shut the brand down. The original strategy was, however, deeply flawed.
@rosedoodle said:
Then they axed the community forums.
Those of us who were Community Ambassadors or Expert Customers were told the timing of Communityâs demise was yet another glitch.
@rosedoodle said:
Also, Iâve been keeping my eye out for a new phone and noticed theyâve almost sold out of all of theirs.
Yeah, and Iâm not confident there will be any restock.
@rosedoodle said:
Been trying to see what people here and elsewhere like for no-contract cell service.
In terms of phone, phone service or both?
If asking about unlocked phones; did you have a particular brand in mind? Do you want to stick with Android? Or, would you consider iPhone?
If asking about alternate phone service, fellow members of this Community have reviewed some in our Reviews category. Additionally, Iâm beta testing MobileX. If in the market for âunlimitedâ, Visible is offering an attractive price for new customers bringing their own phone. Visibleâs reputation for support, however, isnât great. Though we donât yet have a review for them, US Mobile is worth considering. Folks whose judgement I trust are happy with US Mobile.
When considering alternate providers, one wants to determine some things:
- Does the cellular partnerâs network (AT&T, T-Mobile or Verizon) offer quality coverage where one needs it?
- Is the phone one wishes to use or is considering acquiring compatible with the cellular partnerâs network?
- If strong customer support is important, in addition to the experiences of oneâs fellow memberâs here, one might want to look at a providerâ(s) reviews on Trustpilot.
Finally, Iâll just say this. If RW by DISH service is working well for you, I donât think thereâs a need to do anything just yet.
Should the day come DISH decides to shut down the RW brand, I expect they would extend an offer to migrate to one or more of their surviving brands. Of course, this presumes any potential future shutdown is orderly and orderly does seem to be a challenge for DISH. Such an offer would need to account for the promises (particularly discounts previously extended) made to members.
When DISH acquired the RW brand, it acquired the brandâs commitments. If DISH fails to keep those commitments, I do not see myself remaining a customer of any DISH owned brand. In addition to RW, Boost Infinite, Boost Mobile, Gen Mobile and Ting Mobile are all DISH owned brands.
Gen Mobile (limited plans) and Boost (limited and unlimited* plans) are Dish Wireless brands that undercut Republic Wirelessâs pricing. I donât suppose it matters much whether they shut it down, or it just dies a slow death.
For my friend, it did not make sense to stay on the $30 plan for 20 gigs of high-speed data when he could get 30 for $25 from Boost Infinite.
@cbwahlstrom said:
Gen Mobile (limited plans) and Boost (limited and unlimited* plans) are Dish Wireless brands that undercut Republic Wirelessâs pricing. I donât suppose it matters much whether they shut it down, or it just dies a slow death.
Matter to whom? To DISH; I wonât pretend to understand DISHâs go to market strategy (to the extent a strategy exists) for any of its brands. To the consumer; I agree it doesnât but if Iâm shopping alternatives to RW Iâm not limiting myself to DISH brands.
Edited to Add:
Gen Mobile has a $39 activation fee.
My point was that Dish Wireless is undercutting the price of itâs Republic Wireless brand with two (and in the case of minimal data you could argue three) of itâs other brands. Whether they shut it down or not, if itâs not price competitive or feature rich it likely wonât survive. Iâm not even sure why a Dish Satellite subscriber would find it attractive unless thereâs some other promotional/retention pricing available.
Hi @rolandh !
@rosedoodle said:
Been trying to see what people here and elsewhere like for no-contract cell service.In terms of phone, phone service or both?
If asking about unlocked phones; did you have a particular brand in mind? Do you want to stick with Android? Or, would you consider iPhone?
I might finally go with an iPhone, though it depends on a couple of things. What I love the most about this Samsung A32 5g is the batter life. Seems people at work are continually looking for the communal iPhone charger. My phone goes 2-3 days on a charge. Maybe I donât use mine as much.
If asking about alternate phone service, fellow members of this Community have reviewed some in our Reviews category. Additionally, Iâm beta testing MobileX. If in the market for âunlimitedâ, Visible is offering an attractive price for new customers bringing their own phone. Visibleâs reputation for support, however, isnât great. Though we donât yet have a review for them, US Mobile is worth considering. Folks whose judgement I trust are happy with US Mobile.
When considering alternate providers, one wants to determine some things:
- Does the cellular partnerâs network (AT&T, T-Mobile or Verizon) offer quality coverage where one needs it?
- Is the phone one wishes to use or is considering acquiring compatible with the cellular partnerâs network?
- If strong customer support is important, in addition to the experiences of oneâs fellow memberâs here, one might want to look at a providerâ(s) reviews on Trustpilot.
I will check all of this out when I get a minute. Since the switch to DISH my cell service is better than it ever was. At home, at work, everywhere.
Finally, Iâll just say this. If RW by DISH service is working well for you, I donât think thereâs a need to do anything just yet.
Should the day come DISH decides to shut down the RW brand, I expect they would extend an offer to migrate to one or more of their surviving brands. Of course, this presumes any potential future shutdown is orderly and orderly does seem to be a challenge for DISH. Such an offer would need to account for the promises (particularly discounts previously extended) made to members.
When DISH acquired the RW brand, it acquired the brandâs commitments. If DISH fails to keep those commitments, I do not see myself remaining a customer of any DISH owned brand. In addition to RW, Boost Infinite, Boost Mobile, Gen Mobile and Ting Mobile are all DISH owned brands.
I agree. Not going anywhere soon. Totally up to how DISH does business down the road. Iâm paying less than before the switch and getting better coverage. The $50 phone is just fine for my needs, though I shattered the selfie camera when I threw it across the room in frustration during baseball season :# not that I ever use it. The front-facing camera is under par but I do own an actual camera for that. I do like the quality of photos I see from iPhones, I gotta say. Better camera and water resistance would be nice.
DISH just havenât instilled much confidence so Iâm just trying to have an idea for a back up plan in the mean time.
Thanks for your help and all the info!
Presently RW has 4 mid-priced phones for sale. Boost has lots of phones for sale including a Moto g stylus 5G for $9.00. RW appears to have very little going on while Boost is actively promoting. I get the impression Dish is letting RW die which leaves me wondering how the remaining RW users will be terminated.
I did a look at the patents where Republic Wireless previously was listed as the âAssigneeâ. It now appears that Bandwidth.com is now the Assignee. Good to know that this important body of work didnât go into the DISH. 
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If RW does close down, what might that look like?
Sort of like the changeover announcement â a few months notice, etc. I guess.
I wonder why Dish doesnât try to sell it off to someone instead of just letting it die.
Iâm still on RW, and after the initial set up drama, itâs been OK.
I guess I have MVNO inertia right nowâŚ!
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@NancyM said:
I wonder why Dish doesnât try to sell it off to someone instead of just letting it die.
Iâm still on RW, and after the initial set up drama, itâs been OK.
My theory is that Dish will try to get RW subscribers to switch over to Boost Infinite or Boost Mobile. Although, Dish made it a big hassle for my friend to switch over. He just gave up and will wait until Boost is ready to transfer his account. He has a lot of pent up goodwill over the years from Republic Wireless so, like you, he is not eager to switch.
I made the switch and I am glad I did.
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@NancyM said:
If RW does close down, what might that look like?
While itâs plausible DISH might, at some point, shut down the RW brand, presumably the parent entity will continue.
@NancyM said:
Sort of like the changeover announcement â a few months notice, etc. I guess.
RW is prepaid service. Minimally, 30-days notice would be required.
@NancyM said:
I wonder why Dish doesnât try to sell it off to someone instead of just letting it die.
Iâve given up trying to discern DISHâs motivation for the things it does including ever acquiring the RW brand in the first place. Now, having paid for them, I suspect DISH would prefer to keep as many customers as possible even if (and itâs not a certainty) they decide to retire the RW brand.
@NancyM said:
Iâm still on RW, and after the initial set up drama, itâs been OK.
I guess I have MVNO inertia right nowâŚ!
Inertia is not necessarily a bad thing. If something is working, there is no need to make a change.
Of course, at the time you posted, DISH acknowledged what it later determined to be a cyberattack. Any connected enterprise is vulnerable to a cyberattack (Iâm looking at you T-Mobile). To me, the recovery seems slow. Fortunately, my RW service has not been disrupted but Iâ'll be watching closely as more details become available.
I suspect Dish needs subscribers of any kind to keep the FCC happy after the Sprint/T-Mobile merger. We RW holdouts are probably safe until their in-house offering is working. They have a June milestone/deadline:
Republic Wireless isnât really on their radar. Theyâve been destroying the brand. Their pricing model indicates theyâre not interested in serving non-Dish customers.
I would predict the they will get rid of the Republic Wireless brand and roll all the customers into âDish Wirelessâ or Boost by the end of 2024.