SBC Rolls With DISH Network Bundle

[Chris Blount]

Regional phone giant SBC Communications is rolling along with its slate of bundled products, including its offering of EchoStar's DISH Network.

SBC said Wednesday that so far its DISH Network offering has generated ARPU (average revenue per subscriber) above $60, and more than 60 percent of its DISH Network installed base gets at least one premium package, whether it's HBO, Showtime or Starz. In addition, 70 percent of sales include a DVR, the San Antonio-based company said.

Also, nearly 80 percent of SBC customers are bundling the satellite TV service with other key products, such as DSL or wireless, the company said. Penetration of SBC consumer retail lines with at least one service - long distance, wireless or DISH Network - increased to 50 percent at the end of SBC's first quarter.

Wall Street analysts also highlighted SBC's enrollment of 40,000 DISH video customers. "This is despite the fact that SBC has been quite passive in marketing the product, with no TV advertising to date," said John Hill of Schwab SoundView.

http://www.skyreport.com (Used with permission)

[I_Machine]

I've seen a couple TV spots, including one with a shot of a cool black dish.

The radio ads suck..."All dishware, all the time?" ugh

[garypen]

Wall Street analysts also highlighted SBC's enrollment of 40,000 DISH video customers. "This is despite the fact that SBC has been quite passive in marketing the product, with no TV advertising to date," said John Hill of Schwab SoundView.

http://www.skyreport.com (http://www.skyreport.com/) (Used with permission)
They advertise the crap out of it in CA.

[jlhugh]

I wished they would start letting exsiting subscribers put all their bills into one. I wouls love one less bill in the mail every month. Maybe later on they will start doing this.

[Darkman]

Once i had Sexy avatar also around here...

And had to take it down.. cuz some people minded it or something :D

[jlhugh]

Trying to sneek it in.

[garypen]

Is that remote naked?

[Darkman]

not quite - it has some batteries in it...

Or is "internal" content doesn't count? :D

[garypen]

heh heh heh. He said "internal".

[BuckeyeChris]

I wished they would start letting exsiting subscribers put all their bills into one. I wouls love one less bill in the mail every month. Maybe later on they will start doing this.

Have you tried getting your Dish or SBC bill electronically? You can get either one of those and lots of other E-bills for free at www.mycheckfree.com. Many banks and financial institutions also offer free online banking and E-bills; for a list see www.checkfree.com.

I have been a Dish subscriber through SBC since March '04. So far I have been really pleased with the service. My Dish charges are included on my SBC E-bill.

Plus, out of the blue yesterday I received a $50 Visa Gift Card from SBC for being a loyal customer and subscribing to Dish. Sweet! They will have my loyalty for quite some time. :D

[Scott Greczkowski]

This SBC / Dish deal is putting a lot of Satellite Dealers in SBC areas out of business.

Check these photos out to see how low they will go.

[jahern26]

I have been a Dish subscriber through SBC since March '04. So far I have been really pleased with the service. My Dish charges are included on my SBC E-bill.

Plus, out of the blue yesterday I received a $50 Visa Gift Card from SBC for being a loyal customer and subscribing to Dish. Sweet! They will have my loyalty for quite some time. :D

I am an SBC employee, and I know first-hand our company is trying to do everything they can to bundle all of our products, including phone, wireless, DSL, and now DISH, into one simple bill. The added benefit is that customers usually see additional savings by bundling services together. By no means am I a "spokesperson" for the company, but I do strongly believe in what my company is doing to compete with the services that some of our rival cable companies now offer.

Electronic billing is great for both the consumer and the company. Ultimately, it may be the final straw that puts the U.S. Postal Service out of business. Once all bills are electronic, the only thing coming through the mail will be birthday cards and credit card offers.

[sikma]

This SBC / Dish deal is putting a lot of Satellite Dealers in SBC areas out of business.

Check these photos out to see how low they will go.In looking at the first two pictures, my roof will soon look like that if E* keeps adding wing sats. :D

[garypen]

I wish I could transfer my Dish account to SBC. I already have Local phone, LD phone, and DSL bundled together. My monthly bill, which includes many custom calling features and many calls to Japan, is about $75. It's also fairly attractive (for a utility bill) and user friendly, unlike my PG&E bill or Dish's own bill.

[BuckeyeChris]

I am an SBC employee...

Out of fairness in disclosure, I am an employee of CheckFree, the Company that Powers Payment on the Web! ;)

[brothernet]

I wonder if you can get the superstations through sbc.

[BuckeyeChris]

I wonder if you can get the superstations through sbc.

It's Dish TV, SBC doesn't have anything to do with the programming. You get the same stations, inlcuding TBS & WGN for example, as a Dish subscriber through Dish would get. Difference is that SBC has their own billing plan, similar to Dish's, which is included on your SBC bill. Also, you call a different phone number for customer service. You still have access to make account changes like change your package and subscribe to premium channels at dishnetwork.com.

[garypen]

I wonder if SBC also charges that bullship $5 fee for down-grading or side-grading programming?

[Mike Richardson]

I wonder if SBC also charges that bullship $5 fee for down-grading or side-grading programming?

Actually I heard from a few sources that on SBC there is no fee to side-grade. But the fee still exists for downgrading.

[BuckeyeChris]

Actually I heard from a few sources that on SBC there is no fee to side-grade. But the fee still exists for downgrading.

Yes, there is a $5 downgrade fee:

"A $5 Change of Service Fee applies any time you change your monthly programming in a way that reduces your total monthly programming charge. "

Source - http://www05.sbc.com/SWOT/Residential/Dish/1,,0--12-3-0,00.html

I am not sure what a side-grade means. However, I can tell you that I upgraded to the Top 120 Package from the 60 package in seconds online at DishNetwork.com without any fees for making the change.

[garypen]

Side-grade means to change the prgramming so that the total cost remains the same.

I know that at one time Dish would charge $5 if you made a programming change that didn't increase the cost, whether it reduced the cost or merely left it the same didn't matter.

[ovnttexas]

I was wondering if anyone recieved the mailer that has:
DSL for 26.95
Dish 120 for 29.99
phone L&L 45.99

has anyone else seen this flyer? I recieived it and it expired on the 30th of june. SBC is saying that there was no such flyer, but when we ordered the services the Rep quoted the prices back to me just as in the mailer, the wife threw out the mailer and now the bill is more than the mailer advertised.
please email me copy of it if you have it
ovnttexas@hotmail.com

[boba]

I was wondering if anyone recieved the mailer that has:
DSL for 26.95
Dish 120 for 29.99
phone L&L 45.99

has anyone else seen this flyer? I recieived it and it expired on the 30th of june. SBC is saying that there was no such flyer, but when we ordered the services the Rep quoted the prices back to me just as in the mailer, the wife threw out the mailer and now the bill is more than the mailer advertised.
please email me copy of it if you have it
ovnttexas@hotmail.com
I'll bet those prices were quoted without the added fees,taxes, local usage,federal taxes etc. :mad:

[garypen]

As an SBC customer in California, I can confirm that DSL is $26.95, with no additional taxes and fees. Of course, as with phone service in most states, there are taxes and fees on that portion. But, I doubt very much there are any additional taxes and fees on the Dish portion, other than the ones Dish charges. (2nd receiver, DVR, change in service, etc.)

I have been very happy with my SBC local, LD, and DSL services. Good price, good quality, and good customer service. I wish they would let existing Dish customers switch their accounts to SBC, as well. I'd do it in a NY second.