US DTH giant Dish has announced plans to offer ViaSat’s next generation satellite broadband as part of its own TV bundle from February.
Dish CEO Joe Clayton described the partnership to utilise the recently launched ViaSat-1 bird, which can offer speeds…
US DTH giant Dish has announced plans to offer ViaSat‘s next generation satellite broadband as part of its own TV bundle from February.
Dish CEO Joe Clayton described the partnership to utilise the recently launched ViaSat-1 bird, which can offer speeds of 12 Mbps, as an example of it meeting the growing needs of consumers.
“The market potential for this new internet service is substantial given the nearly eight million to ten million mostly rural American households that are unserved and millions more left with slower broadband alternatives,” said Clayton in a brief press statement on 9 January.
Dish already has access to a satellite broadband offering following sister company EchoStar’s acquisition last year of Hughes Network Systems, whose own Ka-band bird, Jupiter-1, is due to be launched in 2012 and could offer a comparable 12 Mbps product.
But until Dish has access to its own high-capacity spacecraft through Hughes later this year, the group appears to be leveraging on ViaSat-1, bundling the company’s broadband service with its own broadcast offering.
A Dish spokesman said the group plans to continue offering a ViaSat product even after it is able to launch its own service, but details have yet to be announced.
ViaSat CEO Mark Dankberg told SatelliteFinance that it was still not clear whether Dish would stop selling ViaSat’s broadband services once the company’s Hughes subsidiary can offer comparable service, citing “lots of variables” that still need to be determined between now and then.
For ViaSat, the partnership gives it access to Dish’s significant nationwide customer base, which should give a substantial fillip to WildBlue’s subscriber numbers. ViaSat’s services arm sold out of capacity some time ago and the new satellite was seen as vital in kick starting subscriber growth. However, a series of manufacturing and rocket delays prolonged ViaSat-1’s launch subsequently affecting the company’s revenue projections.
In an interview in December, Dankberg told SatelliteFinance, “Certainly it has impacted revenue because there’s a ramp of subscribers that we expected once the satellite goes into service, and that ramp has shifted out in time.”
However, he also stressed at the time that ViaSat had an obvious earnings potential once ViasSat-1 was able to launch commercial services, under its new brand name Exede.
In related news, Dish’s CEO has been cited by journalists saying he had no plans to sell his company or its assets, contrary to reports that such a move could be considered after US telco AT&T withdrew a US$39bn offer for its smaller rival T-Mobile USA. This deal was largely driven by the need to acquire additional spectrum, which Dish has in abundance.
Speaking at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas on 10 January, Clayton reportedly said he expects a decision from regulator FCC on whether his company can proceed with plans for a hybrid satellite and terrestrial mobile and fixed broadband network as soon as by the end of March.
Last year Dish acquired the spectrum assets of TerreStar Networks and DBSD North America both of which had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. But the company needs FCC approval to deploy the US network it is planning.
