VoNR is something Dish is working on as it builds a 5G network from the ground up, and it could be a stumbling block in meeting the FCC’s criteria as part of the Sprint merger deal. It lacks its own LTE network to fall back on while figuring out VoNR, and analysts believe the carrier is struggling to achieve smooth handoffs between voice calls on 5G and the LTE networks it utilizes as roaming partners. If it meets the FCC’s goal of covering 20% of the population by the end of the month, it will very certainly be with data entirely from its own network.
