Dish Network and ViaSat to launch better-than-DSL speed satellite broadband

In its battle for market share in satellite television, Dish Network is jumping to cross the digital divide by bundling a new broadband satellite Internet service with speeds that are faster than most DSL land-line services.

At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Dish CEO Joe Clayton announced a partnership with ViaSat that will allow the company to offer broadband service with download speeds as fast as 12Mbps and upload speeds of up to 3Mbps. Clayton said that the service would be available as part of Dish service bundles, starting at $79.98 a month. The satellite broadband service opens up a potential market of 8 to 10 million customers in rural areas who currently can't get land-line broadband service, Clayton said. The broadband service is through ViaSat's Ka-band WildBlue, which is tied to the ViaSat-1 satellite—as such, it requires the installation of a second antenna.