DISH Network has been toying with the idea of offering broadband service for quite some time. Earlier this year, the company announced a partnership with ViaSat to make the dream become a reality. Now, months later, dishNET is actually launching.
The nationwide satellite broadband service will be available beginning October 1, 2012, starting at $39.99 per month.
The high-speed Internet service will be geared towards rural customers in areas that are underserved (or unserved) by wireline broadband. According to DISH Network's announcement, the FCC said back in August that 19 million Americans currently don't have high-speed Internet access -- with about 14.5 million of those living in rural regions.
Of course, existing DISH Network customers might just like the idea of one bill and one customer support crew to bother. If you're an existing DISH customer, you can bundle everything up and get a $10 monthly discount on the web services. That's actually the $39.99 fee, which will get you 5 Mbps download/1 Mbps upload speeds, with a 10GB data cap.
To qualify for that price, you need to have one of DISH's America's Top 120 or higher programming packages and a two-year agreement. Customers can also upgrade to a 10 Mbps/1Mbps plan with 20GB of data for $49.99 per month. However, plans do not include equipment fees, which have yet to be announced.
Other features include five @dishNET.com email accounts with 2GB of storage on each, as well as an online portal for web searches, news, entertainment, weather updates, and more.
"Today, we are launching a revolutionary consumer broadband service that delivers high-speed Internet available in metropolitan areas to rural markets nationwide," said DISH CEO Joseph Clayton. "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."
DISH Network is currently taking installation orders. New and existing DISH TV customers can score a free installation if the dishNET service is bundled with TV programming. If you're ordering the stand-alone service, expect to pay a $99 installation fee. Existing DISH satellite Internet customers can also upgrade to the 5 Mbps or 10 Mbps speeds for $199.99.
Editor's Note: Due to some of the concerns raised in the comments section below, we asked DISH Network to clarify. Apparently, the Fair Access Policy does apply to dishNET. However, a DISH Network rep assured us that users can easily access video clips from YouTube and other streaming services. "With the cap, they couldn't do it all day every day, but it certainly is built to stream online for the typical user," said the rep. However, he also went on to say that dishNET isn't ideal for online multi-player gaming, where you may be playing against someone on the other side of the country or world. "Latency is improved over previous services, but due to the infrastructure, it is still there."
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