Dish Network added AT&T to its roster of broadband partners, striking a deal with the operator to resell its fiber and other internet offerings.
The pair offered little detail about the arrangement. But Amir Ahmed, EPV of DISH TV said in a brief statement “adding AT&T Internet to our robust lineup of TV and home integration services enhances our ability to provide better overall service, technology and value to our customers.”
Dish provides its own TV service and is working to build out a greenfield 5G wireless network. While it originally had an MVNO agreement with T-Mobile to help serve customers until its own network is ready, Dish inked a 10-year deal last August to make AT&T its primary mobile partner.
A Dish representative declined to comment on the length or terms of its new internet deal, but said AT&T’s service will be offered to new and existing customers who call in and ask about broadband services. “Dish offers internet services from 10+ broadband providers, now including AT&T, and will work with customers to find the best provider in their area for their needs,” the representative stated.
AT&T joins a roster of Dish internet partners which includes fiber providers Frontier Communications, Cox Communications, Windstream’s Kinetic brand, and Centurylink, as well as satellite providers HughesNet and Viasat and cable player WideOpenWest (WOW!). Dish also has a deal in place to offer fixed wireless service from MetroNet.
As of the end of Q1 2022, AT&T passed 17 million locations with fiber and had 6.3 million fiber subscribers. The operator is aiming to reach at least 30 million locations by the end of 2025. It recently rolled out 2-gig and 5-gig service tiers which were available to nearly half of its footprint as of March.
On AT&T’s end, it is unclear how many reseller partners it has. In response to questions from Fierce, an AT&T representative said “We are not making any additional announcements at this time, but we can say we are constantly looking for simple and seamless ways to offer our broadband services to more customers.”
Last year, the operator teamed with Frontier to reach more enterprise customers, arranging to tap into Frontier’s network in areas where AT&T doesn’t have its own and doesn’t plan to build.