What Goes Around... Will Dish and MicroSoft Back Into Another Partnership?

A May 17 article in the Atlanta Business Chronicle says that EarthLink, a nation-wide ISP with almost 5 million subs, may be a take-over target of MSN, which is eager to expand its subscriber base to better compete with AOL.

DishNetwork officials have recently mentioned EarthLink as a possible future partner in providing satellite-based wireless broadband Internet service to DishNetwork subscribers.

EarthLink is considered a likely takeover target because it has not shown a profit siince 2000 when it acquired MindSpring, an Atlanta-based ISP. Adding to EarthLink's woes, its debt is over $1 billion, and Sprint, a key investor, has reduced its financial support.

[Above link is to the Atlanta Business Chronicle home page. To access the full article, sign up for free membership and search on "EarthLink".]