Dish Network satellite TV customer Sean Rice pays about $110 per month for TV service and $50 for Comcast’s high-speed Internet service.
Even though the Denver resident said he’s satisfied with the separate services, he’d get both from Echo Star’s Dish Network if the company could offer him a cheaper and more reliable deal than Comcast.
“(My wife and I) make our decisions based on a couple of things – price and service – which I think everybody does,” Rice said. “I’d definitely look at (Dish) high-speed Internet, but Comcast’s Internet has been very reliable.”
It is customers like Rice that EchoStar Communications in Douglas County and El Segundo, Calif.,-based DirecTV want to woo with their joint deal to offer high-speed Internet service via satellite through Greenwood Village-based WildBlue Communications.
The nation’s No. 1 and No. 2 satellite TV companies are teaming up with WildBlue Communications to bundle Internet and TV service, according to an announcement Friday.
All three declined to release financial details of the five-year agreement. EchoStar is a former investor in privately held WildBlue.
WildBlue launched its service a year ago and has 60,000 subscribers. Monthly service ranges from $49.95 to $79.95 for download speeds of up to 1.5 megabits per second. There’s also a $299 equipment charge.
Pricing is yet to be determined for Dish Network and DirecTV packages bundled with WildBlue services.
Comcast, with 700,000 customers in Colorado, offers packages starting at $112 for cable TV, Internet service at 6 megabits per second and phone service, said Comcast Colorado spokeswoman Cindy Parsons.
“We are accustomed to competition and expect there will be a wide variety of promotions from our competitors,” Parsons said. “We compete every day for every customer.”
On May 31, Denver-based Qwest Communications dropped the price of its bundled services. New customers in six states – including Colorado – can pay about $87 per month for local and long distance calling, 1.5-megabits Internet speeds and satellite TV service. The previous price ranged from $92 to $97. Qwest has more 1.7 million high-speed Internet customers across 14 states and resells DirecTV service.
WildBlue targets rural customers who often can’t get high-speed Internet service from providers like Qwest or Comcast, said LaRae Marsik, a WildBlue spokeswoman.
“This is for rural small offices, home offices and consumers who are underserved or unserved by anything other than dial-up,” Marsik said. “It bridges the digital divide.”
This is the second big distribution deal for WildBlue this year. Last month, the company signed an agreement with AT&T.
In January, WildBlue received $218 million in financing, led by Douglas County-based Liberty Media Corp. Liberty holds a 33 percent stake in the company.
The new deal will help Echo Star and DirecTV better compete with cable and telephone companies such as Comcast and Qwest.
Staff writer Kimberly S. Johnson can be reached at 303-820-1088 or kjohnson@denverpost.com.
Staff writer Beth Potter can be reached at 303-820-1503 or bpotter@denverpost.com.
