CenturyTel to DISH up satellite service

CenturyTel became the latest telco, and largest independent, to announce that it will resell direct broadcast satellite service, signing an agreement with EchoStar that will span the carrier’s local networks across 22 states. Additionally, the carrier has agreed to invest $25 million in EchoStar in the form of a convertible note.

Under terms of the deal, CenturyTel will sell DISH Network service through its various sales channels as part of a bundle that now will include voice, high-speed data and video. CenturyTel also will be the primary point of contact for both billing and service for the co-branded CenturyTel | DISH service and customers will receive a single bill.

Though it’s still early in the process, the two companies are pushing to fully integrate billing systems, according to a CenturyTel spokeswoman. The carrier recently completed an upgrade of its billing systems in part to handle multiple service types on the same bill.

"We’ll offer [DISH] as part of the bundle and I know the billing system can handle the bundle," she said.

The rollout will begin in the next quarter and CenturyTel anticipates having a handful of markets up and running by the end of the year. The deal however does not mean an end to its ADSL2 Plus trial in La Crosse, Wis. During the company’s second quarter earnings call, CEO Glenn Post hinted that CenturyTel would pursue a multi-pronged strategy to video depending on the market.

"Our [DISH] launch by the end of the year will be on a very limited basis because we want to do some testing," the spokeswoman said. "It will be a rolling launch going forward though."