SBC/EchoStar Partnership

[speedy882001]

SBC Communications, EchoStar Forge Strategic Partnership, Will Offer "SBC Dish Network" Television Service

First-of-its-Kind, Co-Branded TV Service to Deliver Seamless Customer Experience, Convenience of Single Point of Contact and Single Bill, Greater Value by Early 2004

Exclusive Partnership Designed To Drive Growth, Broaden Customer Relationships

San Antonio, Texas, July 21, 2003

Linc below is for the details from the SBC internet site.

http://www.sbc.com/press_room/1,,31,00.html?query=20557



I think it will be very interesting to see what they come up with since I currently have services from both companies.

[dbronstein]

They are doing the same thing with Qwest in Colorado and Nebraska.

[Mike Richardson]

So if I have SBC Telephone Company, I could eventually get discounts off of my DISH Network if I bundle the two together?

[Chris Freeland]

So if I have SBC Telephone Company, I could eventually get discounts off of my DISH Network if I bundle the two together?

Yes, but it may require you to sub to a SBC DSL service too, once this dill goes into effect.

[waydwolf]

I recall rumors leaking from E* and DTV repeatedly about offering phone over satellite eventually. This looks remarkably like a plaintive admission of it never happening.

It also looks like they're a dozen steps behind the trend. AT&T bought TCI to get Ma Bell back into the local phone arena only to find that upgrading all the cable networks to modern telephony capable HFC designs cost loads of money amortized way off into an unknown future where economic realities soon intruded. Hence kissing it off to Comcast and instead changing focus to their traditional IXC business and their increasing wireless business.

If anything the DBS providers should be looking to pair with wireless providers, should be welcoming MVDDS and doing all they can to get into it, and pushing XM/Sirius as well. Their forte is SUPPOSED to be wireless, not wired technologies. Putting themselves in bed with the monopoly ILECs, worst run of telecommunications companies is... highly ironic.

[Mike Richardson]

Yes, but it may require you to sub to a SBC DSL service too, once this dill goes into effect.
I'd already have SBC DSL if it was available, but the cheap crapbags used the wrong lines in the ground or something and we'll never be eligible :(. I had to wait months for cable lines to be installed here and then I could get Earthlink Cable internet.

[Ray_Clum]

Gotta question for any distributors for Dish. I dropped Dish when I moved to Indy because they botched the scheduling for my Dish Mover. With the move by SBC to apply to get long distance in Indiana and the signing of the agreement with Dish, I called SBC to ask about the Dish Network service. I specifically told them that I am an ex-Dish Network customer and that I am with DirecTV now. I asked if I would be eligible for any new customer deals through SBC and they said yes. Anyone out there know for sure?

When SBC gets long distance in Indiana, I'm switching back to the All Distance program (from MCI's The Neighborhood), signing up for Cingular Wireless (20% discount), SBC Yahoo! DSL and possibly Dish.

[Robert F. O'Connor]

It seems pretty straightforward:

From SBC's (and Qwest's) point of view, this is a way to counter the bundling offers that cable companies are capable of. Where I live, Comcast offers TV, internet and landline phone service over their cable. Now SBC can offer the same lineup with the same kind of bundling discounts. Cable internet is very compelling (I'm using it right now) and relatively trouble-free. For a lot of people, giving up SBC phone service to get cable internet and cable TV cheaper is an easy choice. I will give up my self-powered blackout-resistant phone when hell freezes over, but you'd also have to pry my cable modem from my cold dead hands after all the horror stories I've heard about DSL. Similarly, I'd switch back to cable TV maybe only after losing the capability for rational thought due to a head injury, so, since I'm a DISH customer, a TV/phone service bundle might ease the pain of the price of my unbundled Comcast cable modem. My community hasn't yet been offered bundling from Comcast as a way to reduce costs, but I know that's coming and it will hurt when it comes.

For DISH, it is exposure via the phone company to millions of people who've only ever heard of DirectTV, plus a giant influx of cash to fund new services and a reduction in marketing costs.

-Robert

[Bobby94928]

I will give up my self-powered blackout-resistant phone when hell freezes over, but you'd also have to pry my cable modem from my cold dead hands after all the horror stories I've heard about DSL.

I've had SBC DSL for about 3 years and I have no horror stories at all. Except for a minor hump in the beginning, recycles due to trying to get too much out of it, it's been a good product. My daughter and I use it all the time together with no difficulty at all.

[Randy_B]

but you'd also have to pry my cable modem from my cold dead hands after all the horror stories I've heard about DSL

We have had SBC Yahoo DSL service for a couple of years now. It has been great the entire time. We had Charter cable modem and AT&T @home before that and they were a problem. With AT&T cable, e-mail servers were down frequently and I had one batch of e-mail that showed up nearly 3 weeks after it was sent. Charter cable kept downgrading us from Silver to Bronze service, they said it was a subscriber database error, yet we were always billed full price for Silver service (they would NOT issue partial credit/pro rate for the period of slower service, because it wasn't done intentionally!!!) and they never once corrected the problem on their own. Everytime, I found the problem by doing a speed test and then having to call them. After 3 instances in 5 months, you'd think they would have fixed their "database error". This exact same thing also happened to 2 co-workers that were Charter cable modem as well. Now we are all SBC DSL.

SBC DSL service has been great. Two months ago they upgraded the service to 1.5Mbps for free and at 29.95 a month for as long as I am a subscriber beats cable's 49.95 a month all to heck. Now with E* bundled service I can get my DSL for 24.95 a month. That is practically the same price as AOL dial up! + SBC bundles in some free premium service (free access to World Book encopledia site, free web bill pay, free games sites for kids . . . .). I am sure the premiums vary by offers, but certainly worth investigating.