DISH Launches dishNET Broadband

[garys]

DISH Launches dishNET Broadband, Bringing High-Speed Internet to Rural Americans With Slow or No Access

ENGLEWOOD, CO -- (Marketwire) -- 09/27/12 -- DISH (NASDAQ: DISH)

• New high-speed Internet brand offers affordable satellite Internet service nationwide starting at $39.99
• Combine with DISH TV service for bundle pricing, convenient payment, installation and customer service options
• 14.5 million underserved rural residents no longer need to wait for broadband build out

DISH (NASDAQ: DISH), a leading national provider of satellite TV, is expanding the availability of its broadband service with the launch of dishNET, a high-speed Internet service via satellite nationwide. Available Oct. 1, dishNET offers customers the convenience of one bill, one installation, one customer service number and a $10 monthly discount when bundled with DISH's most popular TV programming packages.

Ideal for rural residents underserved, or unserved, by wireline broadband, dishNET offers 4G-level speeds that are about 50 percent faster than the typical residential broadband connections in American homes. The affordable, reliable high-speed Internet service starts at $39.99 per month and is available with next-day installation.

DISH's CEO Joseph Clayton is unveiling dishNET today at the flagship Cowboy Maloney's Electric City retail store in Jackson, Miss., the historic retail launch site of digital satellite TV and satellite radio services.

"Today, we are launching a revolutionary consumer broadband service that delivers high-speed Internet available in metropolitan areas to rural markets nationwide," Clayton said. "With nearly one-in-four rural residents lacking a high-speed connection, reaching these underserved markets is vital. Our mission is to provide broadband at an outstanding value with fast speeds and large data plans."
In Aug. 2012, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) reported 19 million Americans lack access to high-speed Internet, including 14.5 million who live in rural regions. The FCC highlighted that 23.7 percent of rural residents lack broadband access.

The dishNET satellite service offers rural residents download speeds up to 10 Mbps. These speeds are fast enough for typical Internet applications, including social media, telecommuting, music streaming, online video streaming and even Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services.

"Many unserved and underserved markets are years away from a telco or cable broadband build out, but dishNET is available today," said Brian McIntyre, vice president of Broadband at DISH. "These services will have powerful, positive impacts for kids, educators, businesses, farmers and families -- no matter how far out of town they may choose to live."

Living in the Jackson area, the first official dishNET family got a preview of the new service. Jeff Thigpen, father of five and a high school athletic director in Ridgeland, Miss., is now trying dishNET Internet and DISH TV service with the Hopper™ Whole-Home HD DVR.

"We no longer have to worry about tethering a cell phone to our home computer to get on the Internet," said Thigpen. "Since my girls are required to do much of their high school homework online, dishNET will help them move much faster when submitting school work. In fact, one of my daughters says it's as fast as working on the computers at school."

The dishNET brand leverages advanced technology and high-powered satellites launched from Hughes and ViaSat to provide broadband coverage nationwide. DISH will tailor its service to suit a customer's needs, location and budget. All services are sold, installed, billed and supported by DISH under the dishNET brand.

Pricing, Packaging and Availability

In rural and outlying suburban regions nationwide, dishNET satellite broadband starts at $39.99 per month (plus equipment fees) for 5 Mbps download/1 Mbps upload speeds and data plans of 10 GB, when bundled with DISH's popular America's Top 120™ or higher programming packages and with a two-year agreement. Combining dishNET with DISH TV saves $10 per month. Most satellite customers can upgrade to a 10 Mbps /1 Mbps plan available with 20 GB of data for $49.99 per month.




Satellite broadband service includes five @dishNET.com email accounts, each with 2 GB of storage and an easy-to-configure online mail portal that combines web search, news, entertainment and weather updates.

Installation is free for new and existing DISH TV customers when dishNET is bundled with DISH's television programming and $99 when ordered as a stand-alone service. Existing DISH satellite Internet customers can upgrade to the 5 Mbps or 10 Mbps speeds for $199.99.

In addition to satellite Internet service, DISH's own competitive local exchange carrier will also fold its wireline broadband service into the dishNET brand. Urban and suburban residents living in a 14-state region and access high-speed Internet with 7 Mbps starts at $29.95 per month. Upgrade to 12 Mbps service for an additional $5 per month or 20 Mbps for an additional $10 per month. This service is available in Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington and Wyoming.

For more information on package details or to sign up for dishNET and DISH's pay-TV programming call 800-823-4929 or visit
www.dish.com/dishnet

[Jamaica]

Thanks for the update Gary. Has anyone heard what the latency will be? My guess is that the speed will be adequate for normal web viewing and most streaming, but if there is a 1/2 sec latency (which I had read in some older articles), it would make this service unusable for any gaming or real-time web related applications. My understanding is that any realtime data transfer via satellite will always have measureable latency due to the significantly longer path length for a packet to travel to a satellite and back. Can't change the laws of physics (yet).

[flody1]

If they had 250 GB plan or unlimited they would sell services. These small data packages are bad in todays downloadable services, HBO GO etc. I have the fastest internet in my area Frontier 1gb unlimited ( so easy to use 10up/10down=20????

[bartt]

Originally Posted by Jamaica

Thanks for the update Gary. Has anyone heard what the latency will be? My guess is that the speed will be adequate for normal web viewing and most streaming, but if there is a 1/2 sec latency (which I had read in some older articles), it would make this service unusable for any gaming or real-time web related applications. My understanding is that any realtime data transfer via satellite will always have measureable latency due to the significantly longer path length for a packet to travel to a satellite and back. Can't change the laws of physics (yet).

There has to be some latency with a satellite signal. A nano second is a light foot and we're talking about a 45,000 mile round trip with some time in the satellite itself. It will be measurable, it has to be.
The best solution is to reduce the number of trips by installing a router with DNS caching. I use an old DDWRT 54G with tomato flashed on it. Its a nice setup and cheap.
HTH..

[flody1]

Hi. Anyone using the Dishnet? would like to know how it would work for the wife and I ( we like to play FV2 and frontier 1Meg DSL won't let both of us play at the same time ). would Dishnet work for Zynga games like Farmville2 on 2 computers at the same time?? DIRT members do you know??

[Pinoy]

Originally Posted by flody1

Hi. Anyone using the Dishnet? would like to know how it would work for the wife and I ( we like to play FV2 and frontier 1Meg DSL won't let both of us play at the same time ). would Dishnet work for Zynga games like Farmville2 on 2 computers at the same time?? DIRT members do you know??

Assuming it's like typical satellite internet (which isn't much of an assumption) it should be fine for games like that. In games where reaction speed is critical then forget about it the latency will just drive you insane.

[jkkyler]

10gb monthly limit - hell half the steam games I grabbed on last month's sale exceeded that by themself. Kind of like me selling you a new car for $1000 but it only runs on my special gas which I will sell you for only $35 a gallon.

[handyd]

Yes we rural folks still get screwed, how about unlimited and we would have a deal at a decent price. But we have to move to the city for that

[tkurkowski]

Originally Posted by handyd

Yes we rural folks still get screwed, how about unlimited and we would have a deal at a decent price. But we have to move to the city for that

I don't understand - what is it you think cable providers should do?

Ted

[handyd]

Wild Blue, Dish etc offer unlimited internet at a somewhat reasonable price. I live one mile from Media Comm service and they will not even discuss bringing cable/internet to us. Is that too much to ask?

[Rick-F]

Originally Posted by handyd

Wild Blue, Dish etc offer unlimited internet at a somewhat reasonable price. I live one mile from Media Comm service and they will not even discuss bringing cable/internet to us. Is that too much to ask?

A few years ago, I contacted the local cable company about getting cable run to our office in a large industrial park. Existing cable line was 1/4 mile away . . . no problem --if I would pay the $26K construction/installation costs. ALL utilities in are park must be underground, making it pretty expensive.

Two years later (after several of my neighbors agreed to switch their phone service) the cable company made the installation for no cost to us.

[garys]

The companies will do what it takes if it is worth them doing it. 26K for one person, but free for many (it must be a pretty good number of households.