DISH Network announced that Crown Castle will lease DISH space on up to 20,000 communication towers.

As part of the agreement, DISH will receive certain fiber transport services and also have the option to utilize Crown Castle for pre-construction services. The agreement encompasses leases on telecom towers located nationwide, helping DISH facilitate its buildout of the first open, standalone and virtualized 5G network in the U.S.

Crown Castle is the first telecom tower partnership DISH has announced. Over the past several months, DISH has made several wireless vendor announcements, including software, core, BSS/OSS, and 5G radios. These agreements provide a clear path toward DISH’s rollout of a nationwide 5G network.

“Crown Castle brings the experience and broad tower portfolio we need, from major markets to more rural areas, to help DISH bring to life the promise of our standalone, nationwide 5G network,” said Dave Mayo, DISH Executive Vice President of Network Development.

“DISH’s 5G network buildout marks an important development for the industry, and we believe our ability to offer towers, small cells and fiber solutions at scale provides us the best opportunity to deliver value as we support their wireless infrastructure needs,” Jay Brown, chief executive officer of Crown Castle.