Charlie Ergen’s plans to build the nation’s fourth wireless network by 2023 are being thrown into doubt due to the coronavirus.

Ergen, the billionaire chairman of satellite-TV company Dish Network, needs to raise about $10 billion to build a 5G network that covers 70 percent of the US population by June 2023, fulfilling his part of a regulatory agreement that allowed Sprint to be acquired by T-Mobile on April 1.

But with the coronavirus wreaking havoc on the economy and drying up lending, Wall Street is predicting Ergen will fall behind — fast.

The latest signs of a delay has opponents of the T-Mobile purchase concerned. “The risk that Dish will build the network falls on consumers,” said Gigi Sohn, Fellow at the Georgetown Law Institute for Technology Law and Policy. “The timeline is going to get pushed back.”

If Dish fails to meet it 2023 deadline, it could face $2 billion in fines and be ordered to return $12 billion in unused government spectrum its been sitting on, according to court documents.

More at New York Post.