Did ATT Just Throw Dish A (small)Lifeline?

[Jon J]

Wish I had my Replay back.

 

[mikew]

Is it too late for a Dish/DirecTV merger? Would be nice for someone to get all of the space assets and make a final run at it.

 

[navychop]

You mean, have AT&T buy Dish? Cause they ain’t letting go of DTV.

Those Ka birds might one day be doing Internet after all.


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[comfortably_numb]

Is it too late for a Dish/DirecTV merger? Would be nice for someone to get all of the space assets and make a final run at it.

That would be the worst merger in the history of mergers

 

[NYDutch]

Is it too late for a Dish/DirecTV merger? Would be nice for someone to get all of the space assets and make a final run at it.

If you mean Dish acquiring the DTV satellite assets from AT&T, then yes, that would be preferable I believe.

 

[mwdxer1]

Uverse provides 6 streams of HD video over an 18Mbps connection, best case scenario.

We do have access to Spectrum streaming TV, if we want to sub. Spectrum does have 100 down, which is plenty to stream about anything. The cost is a bit high at $66 a month, but no caps. The Roku/Chromecast/Fire TV work very well here.

 

[Pere845]

This makes one wonder if we're eventually going to go to a streaming-only world

 

[comfortably_numb]

This makes one wonder if we're eventually going to go to a streaming-only world

Maybe in 20 years. Broadband access must reach all rural areas before that can happen.

 

[NYDutch]

This makes one wonder if we're eventually going to go to a streaming-only world

If the upcoming LEO satellite Internet services live up to their hype, then universal streaming becomes much more viable.

 

[Claude Greiner]

I got customers who can’t even plug in an HDMI cable. I doubt they are going to figure out how to configure a wireless set top box.

As far as Dish being for the rural markets, By the time Directv exits the satellite business the rural markets will have broadband.

IMHO I don’t see this happening until fiber is available everywhere.

Once fiber is deployed everywhere, then all Tv will be IP based

 

[comfortably_numb]

Once fiber is deployed everywhere, then all Tv will be IP based

When do you forsee that happening?

 

[JSheridan]

When do you forsee that happening?

My guess is not for a long, long time if ever. There are large areas around here that don't even have any cell service. Can you even imagine how much it would cost to run fiber everywhere?

 

[eddie willers]

If the upcoming LEO satellite Internet services live up to their hype, then universal streaming becomes much more viable.

Correct. And I'll say 10 years instead of 20.

 

[dishdude]

I suspect we'll end up with some type of wireless instead of fiber, with deployment starting within 10 years.

 

[mikew]

Maybe in 20 years. Broadband access must reach all rural areas before that can happen.

I'm not so optimistic about the future fixing things for broadband. Over the last 20 years, we have seen some major improvements. However...at my home in Las Vegas, my option is a Gigablast connection from Cox (with a 1 TB cap) or a 10 MB connection with CenturyLink. I'm really hoping the 5G fixed wireless options will be better for us. If that doesn't pan out, I expect another 20 years of the same 'ol same 'ol.

 

[Claude Greiner]

I say 10 years most areas are wired for Fiber. The unserved rural areas will eventually see 5G which will bridge the gap.

If you can get a wired pots telephone line, chances are fiber isn’t far away

Just the costs of maintaining the old copper lines alone, make the decision easier to deploy fiber.

 

[ncted]

I got customers who can’t even plug in an HDMI cable. I doubt they are going to figure out how to configure a wireless set top box.

As far as Dish being for the rural markets, By the time Directv exits the satellite business the rural markets will have broadband.

IMHO I don’t see this happening until fiber is available everywhere.

Once fiber is deployed everywhere, then all Tv will be IP based

I would be nice to think that will happen, but it is so hit or miss. Even in NY, where the state paid the telcos to wire up every residence, there are still lots of addresses that can't even get DSL speeds. In NC, where I live, a lot of rural counties are running fiber, but if you live just outside the cities, you're probably out of luck. Just like we still have so many dead zones for cell reception, there will continue to be significant areas without wired Internet. I don't know that LEO satellite is the solution, but it seems like something not involving running cables is going to have to suffice for a significant amount of the rural addresses.

 

[navychop]

Claude, you don’t seem to have faith in the LEO and MEO schemes. Care to elaborate why?

I haven’t seen the economics, but I suspect they’ll need tens of millions of customers rather early in the rollout. But I guess that could be worldwide. Could they get tens of millions of US rural customers to sign up? Keep in mind, they’re used to doing without.

Good point about twisted pair copper. But wasn’t that a subsidized government program, sharing costs across customers nationwide?


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[NYDutch]

The LEO/MEO schemes are generally aimed at worldwide Internet service. That should make the subscriber numbers work pretty well, and I suspect folks like Elon Musk have those numbers pretty well thought out.

 

[Jim S.]

I say 10 years most areas are wired for Fiber. The unserved rural areas will eventually see 5G which will bridge the gap.

If you can get a wired pots telephone line, chances are fiber isn’t far away

Just the costs of maintaining the old copper lines alone, make the decision easier to deploy fiber.

I guess you missed the news last year that not only does Verizon not want to maintain copper anymore, they don't even want to keep deploying fiber (unless you pay them for a business connection, of course.)

I believe AT&T is also lagging in infrastructure buildout, other than cellular.