Back in August word leaked out that Dish was going to start selling a nationwide satellite broadband offering, and today the company confirmed the service is going live next week. According to a Dish press release, the new dishNET service will launch October 1 offering speeds up to 10 Mbps downstream. According to Dish, the service is going to come in two flavors if you sign a two-year contract and bundle TV services:
•5 Mbps downstream, 1 Mbps upstream with a 10 GB monthly usage cap for $40 a month (plus equipment fees).
• 10 Mbps downstream, 1 Mbps upstream with a 20 GB monthly usage cap for $50 a month (plus equipment fees).
Though Dish's press release omits what happens once you reach your cap, Dish informs me that users "can buy a token for additional data or they can upgrade to a higher package." "Once they reach the limit they will be throttled, but will have those options," the company tells Broadband Reports. Both tiers cost $10 more if you don't bundle TV services. Installation is free for new customers, otherwise users pay $99. Existing DISH satellite Internet customers can upgrade to the 5 Mbps or 10 Mbps speeds for $200.
"Today, we are launching a revolutionary consumer broadband service that delivers high-speed Internet available in metropolitan areas to rural markets nationwide," Dish CEO Joseph Clayton said in a statement. "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."
As our
user reviews consistently show, satellite broadband services are traditionally slow, expensive, with high latency and low usage caps. Recent offerings from ViaSat and other have at least solved one of those four major problems, though with a captive customer base with no other options, there's not a lot of incentive for consistent improvement. DirecTV is expected to launch a new satellite broadband of their own sometime in early 2013.
