WildBlue Communications, a Greenwood Village-based provider of high-speed Internet service by satellite, said it received $218 million in financing Tuesday.
Financing comes in the form of an additional line of credit from its shareholders, led by John Malone’s Liberty Media in Douglas County. Liberty holds a 33 percent stake in WildBlue.
Other shareholders include the National Rural Telecommunications Cooperative and TimesArrow LLC.
WildBlue was founded in 1999 by David Drucker, a former EchoStar executive. EchoStar was a one-time investor in WildBlue.
WildBlue launched its satellite Net service in June and has 25,000 subscribers nationwide.
“The money will not only fund our business plan but prepares for the launch of WildBlue1,” a satellite, said WildBlue chief executive David Leon ard. “Although it’s already constructed and ready to go, it takes a significant amount of capital to launch the satellite.”
The new satellite, scheduled for launch late this year, will allow WildBlue to handle more subscribers. Leonard said the company is aggressively working to add 1,000 to 2,000 subscribers a week, primarily in the Midwest. The company currently leases capacity on a Canadian satellite.
“We think the market is 15 million homes and small offices that don’t have ready access to terrestrial broadband,” Leo n ard said. “We have 700 dealers and are adding 30 to 50 a week.”
WildBlue said it is in “on and off” discussions with satellite- TV providers such as Echo Star’s Dish Network to bundle satellite Internet and video services. So far, satellite-TV providers have teamed up with telecommunications companies to offer high-speed Internet services. AT&T resells Dish Network services bundled with its telephone and Internet services.
“There is a unique value in our technology and theirs,” Leo nard said. “By combining our service with a video operator, we could create a triple- play package – video, Internet and phone service.”
Staff writer Kimberly S. Johnson can be reached at 303-820-1088 or kjohnson@denverpost.com.
