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DirecTV & Echostar To Offer WiMax
Finally strike broadband deal with Clearwire

Clearwire has announced that they've struck a partnership with DirecTV and Echostar that allows all three companies to ultimately offer a bundle of broadband, TV and voice services. The two satellite providers have been eager to compete in the triple play bundle space and have been eyeing a merger in order to do so.

Despite DirecTV's long history of failed attempts in the broadband business, new owners Liberty Media have consistently stated they've wanted to reenter the market in some way. Previous owner Rupert Murdoch had started negotiations with Clearwire last year after promising to invest a billion dollars in a broadband plan that never materialized.

As of the first of the year, Clearwire had 184,000 fixed WiMax customers. While it may offer DirecTV and Echostar the bundle opportunity they've been looking for, our user reviews of Clearwire service are mixed and their footprint is limited.

No mention of pricing yet -- launch of the services is slated for later this year. Combined with news that Sprint could partner with Clearwire to offset costs of their own deployment, it should be a good day for Clearwire investors.
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ColorBASIC
8-bit Fun
Premium Member
join:2006-12-29
Corona, CA

ColorBASIC

Premium Member

Maybe this will bring VoD to DBS

If WiMax actually ever happens.
CMoore2004
Premium Member
join:2003-02-06
Jonesville, MI

CMoore2004

Premium Member

Re: Maybe this will bring VoD to DBS

WiMax will happen, but the satellites don't have capacity for VoD. And I don't think they're going to start streaming all the videos on-demand via WiMax, either.

ColorBASIC
8-bit Fun
Premium Member
join:2006-12-29
Corona, CA

ColorBASIC

Premium Member

Re: Maybe this will bring VoD to DBS

I was thinking they could support SD VoD with IPTV and WiMax.

I just wish they would support VoD over a 3rd party connection. E* boxes have RJ45 ports and even if not streamed it would be nice to have a Vongo like setup where you can choose a program and then it downloads to the E* DVR.
Nuts65
join:2006-04-27
Forest, OH

Nuts65

Member

Re: Maybe this will bring VoD to DBS

I was thinking along the same lines.
ydoucare
join:2003-03-12
Lafayette, IN

ydoucare to ColorBASIC

Member

to ColorBASIC
said by ColorBASIC:

If WiMax actually ever happens.
Sure it will, Sprint has already announced their plans to have WiMax deployed in some markets by the end of 2006 (I believe Chicago being one).

ColorBASIC
8-bit Fun
Premium Member
join:2006-12-29
Corona, CA

ColorBASIC

Premium Member

Re: Maybe this will bring VoD to DBS

We "hear" about plans all the time but it's like vaporware.

JamesPC
join:2005-10-12
Orange, CA

JamesPC to ydoucare

Member

to ydoucare
Wimax already here in socal.
b10010011
Whats a Posting tag?
join:2004-09-07
united state

1 edit

b10010011

Member

I still do not understand Clearwire

Clearwire seems to only be in areas already served by cable, fiber, or DSL.

The majority of Direct TV and Dish Network subscribers live in rural areas that are not are not served by Clearwire.

So Clearwire main market is people in the city who have some beef with the cable company?

How long is that going to be profitable?
Nuts65
join:2006-04-27
Forest, OH

Nuts65

Member

Re: I still do not understand Clearwire

Perhaps with a partnership with Dish and DirecTV, they can convince Clearwire to move into more rural areas.
kelso2
join:2007-04-06
Ashburn, VA

kelso2 to b10010011

Member

to b10010011
said by b10010011:

So Clearwire main market is people in the city who have some beef with the cable company?
Comcast doesn't want to compete with price. How may folks would jump at a chance for an alternative. Already plenty of Direct TV and Dish Network Dishes in my area. Perhaps a lot of beef going around

Westofhere
join:2005-04-07
West Coast

Westofhere to b10010011

Member

to b10010011
Exactly.
I thought the whole point of Wi-Max was to get bandwidth to places copper can't or won't go.
SipSizzurp
Fo' Shizzle
Premium Member
join:2005-12-28
Houston, TX

SipSizzurp

Premium Member

Re: I still do not understand Clearwire

said by Westofhere:

Exactly.
I thought the whole point of Wi-Max was to get bandwidth to places copper can't or won't go.
Funny that the Clearwire article does not mention the word "WiMax" anywhere. How did "WiMax" make it into this headline ? Can anybody vouch for actually having WiMax service ? So far, it is still a smoke and mirror scam based on a bunch of hype and promises. The best info I can find still has it in alpha testing and that it is not doing well at all !

Kill DRM
@rr.com

Kill DRM to Westofhere

Anon

to Westofhere
said by Westofhere:

Exactly.
I thought the whole point of Wi-Max was to get bandwidth to places copper can't or won't go.
Funny that the Clearwire article does not mention the word "WiMax" anywhere. How did "WiMax" make it into this headline ? Can anybody vouch for actually having WiMax service ? So far WiMax is still a smoke and mirror SCAM based on a bunch of hype and promises. The best info I can find still has it in alpha test mode, and not going well at all.

PolarBear03
The bear formerly known as aaron8301
Premium Member
join:2005-01-03

PolarBear03 to b10010011

Premium Member

to b10010011
said by b10010011:

Clearwire seems to only be in areas already served by cable, fiber, or DSL.

The majority of Direct TV and Dish Network subscribers live in rural areas that are not are not served by Clearwire.

So Clearwire main market is people in the city who have some beef with the cable company?

How long is that going to be profitable?
DING DING DING! Hence why I don't grasp the concept of Clearwire at all.
xrobertcmx
Premium Member
join:2001-06-18
White Plains, MD

xrobertcmx to b10010011

Premium Member

to b10010011
And my street.

Mactron
el Camino Real
Premium Member
join:2001-12-16
PRK

Mactron

Premium Member

Solution ?

"our user reviews of Clearwire service are mixed and their footprint is limited."

I just can't see me going to this any time soon. The reviews here are scary. The current Clearwire available speeds and price can't compete with my DSL. This will probably take a long time and be expensive to deploy. I have a feeling this is a non-starter.
Sorry DTV, I love your DBS service, but count me out on this one.

YogiBear227
@spcsdns.net

YogiBear227

Anon

If Clearwire has REV A EVDO speed then Satellites are hooked

Cause REV A EVDO speed is faster than what the satellite services can deliver currently & that's why DTV & DISH are making this move.

Rev A EVDO is faster than Hughes,Starband or Wildblue right now. RevB EVDO is reportedly 9.3 Mps download & it can compete with ANYTHING out there including DSL. So hold onto your britches people.

These telcom's may have waited too late to deliver to the 50% that live outside the beltway of the metropolis.
Currently my feed is NLOS 5 miles away from a cell tower & I get 4 bar service -71db and 1MB D/L and 600kB U/L. That is as fast if not faster then what satellite delivers.

Jerm
join:2000-04-10
Richland, WA
·Ziply Fiber

Jerm

Member

Clearwire.... ugh

Just lets make sure everyone knows what they are getting into there:

Clearwire is spotty wireless 1.5mbps service that acts very shared and is not really suitable for anything except regular web browsing. They traffic shape the sh*t out of their bandwidth, so you can forget games, p2p (torrents), etc. (unless you like 5kbps downloads and FPS games with pings that spike from 50-250ms... and no this is not a temporary state - it's ALWAYS like this!) Pretty much expect port 80 and ftp traffic to work, that's about it.

I'd take a Verizon 768kbps line over them any day... and that's saying something!
WarmCoke
join:2007-01-31
Boise, ID

WarmCoke

Member

Re: Clearwire.... ugh

And the majority of customers of this service would do just that - regular web browsing. Most adults are not playing World of Warcraft until 3 in the morning every night or downloading full pirated movies 9 times a week.

Clearwire has been working flawlessly in my home for almost 6 months now - no complaints here with download speeds.
Samsonian
join:2007-06-15

Samsonian

Member

Clearwire/Sprint Tie-up?

In light of the earlier article today and recent speculation about a tie-up between Clearwire and Sprint, I have to wonder if that'll be possible given this deal. Clearwire entering into a partnership with DirecTV and Echostar could complicate a deal with Sprint, which has an alliance with the major cable companies.