Satellite TV provider Dish Network on Wednesday launched a beta version of its long-awaited Boost Infinite mobile plan, which is now accepting sign-ups on a brand new website. 

The offering is a part of Dish's ongoing effort to transition into a 5G wireless company, and eventually become the fourth largest mobile carrier behind AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile. 

Dish's unlimited wireless plan costs $25 per month, and it's offering a lifetime guarantee locking in that price through the end of the month. Customers can now sign up for the beta version, and a full roll-out is set for the first quarter of 2023. 

"Americans have been forced to pay for complex and expensive wireless service because of the stranglehold the Big 3 have had on the U.S.,” said Stephen Stokols, head of Boost, in a statement. “At only $25 a month with no BS, Boost Infinite has arrived to give Americans [the] ability to save over 50 percent with the best coverage and the simplicity they deserve."

For the moment, the mobile plan will use T-Mobile's 5G network but Dish is steadily building out its own towers. Board Chair and Co-Founder Charlie Ergen said during a recent third quarter earnings call that Dish had built more than 10,000 new towers, which reached over 35 percent of the population, and that the next milestone was to hit 7o percent. 

Dish's move into mobile is years in the making. The company first announced plans to invest $10 billion in launching a wireless, cloud-based network in 2018. Then it purchased Boost Mobile in 2020 following the merger of T-Mobile and Sprint as a way to balance the market. Boost at that time offered mostly prepaid mobile plans, in which customers bought minutes ahead of time. 

Boost Infinite's plan is an example of what's called postpaid, to use an industry term. These are plans where customers pay up, usually on a monthly basis, after they've used their data.  

"The postpaid customer is way more profitable than the prepaid customer," said Ergen.  

The roll-out coincides with a competitive season for mobile carriers. 

Phil Doriot, the vice president of customer success and data analytics at Market Force Information, said consumers are in a plan-switching mood this holiday shopping season. 

"Mobile providers should be on top of their game with wanted devices, desirable promotions, and deals if they want to retain consumer business," he said.