Thursday, June 14, 2007

Clearwire Partners with DIRECTV, EchoStar

Wireless broadband Internet service provider Clearwire Corp. announced Thursday that it has partnered with satellite television leaders DIRECTV and EchoStar Communications Corp.—-the parent company for DISH Network—-to bring high-speed Internet, video and voice to all current and future Clearwire markets. Clearwire, which is building out a wireless Internet service based on the emerging WiMax wireless standard, said that, the agreement should launch later this year and will allow DIRECTV and EchoStar to market Clearwire's high-speed, wireless Internet services as part of a customer bundle. In turn, Clearwire will be able to sell DIRECTV and EchoStar satellite video services to its own customers. DIRECTV is headquartered in El Segundo, Calif., EchoStar Communications is based in Englewood, Colo., and Clearwire operates out of Kirkland, Wash.