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Colorado satellite companies win stimulus funds

Denver Business Journal - by Greg Avery

Colorado satellite companies WildBlue Communications and EchoStar XI have won nearly $34 million in federal stimulus money to supply satellite Internet access to rural areas.

The federal government awarded Greenwood Village-based WildBlue Communications $19.5 million to supply satellite broadband access to an estimated 110,000 people and 4,800 businesses scattered across the western half of the country. WildBlue is a subsidiary of ViaSat Inc., which is based in Carlsbad, Calif.

Douglas County-based EchoStar XI Operating LLC an off-shoot of the satellite broadcaster won nearly $14.2 million. It plans to offer satellite Internet to rural areas in the eastern half of the United States, covering an estimated 42,478 people and nearly 1,900 businesses.

The White House announced $1.8 billion worth of broadband stimulus awards Wednesday.

The satellite project funding was awarded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Utilities Service broadband stimulus program.

The government dedicated $7.2 billion from the federal stimulus program to expand the reach of high-speed Internet in parts of the United States considered underserved by the technology. Most of those areas are outside metropolitan areas.

The program also sought to boost Internet capacity among U.S. schools, libraries, hospitals and other community institutions.

The satellite broadband stimulus funding is limited to projects serving rural areas where no fiber-optic or cable TV broadband is offered, and mainly in areas where government-assisted wireless Internet providers such as Greenwood Village-based Open Range Communications don’t operate.

WildBlue’s plan to expand services is to offer new customers in eligible areas free hardware and installation for its broadband service, then offer monthly rates at a significant discount to its usual service.

The RUS awards Wednesday also added a competitive wrinkle for the satellite providers. The RUS awarded $58.7 million to Germantown Md.-based Hughes Network Systems for discounted satellite broadband it can offer unserved rural customers nationwide.

That creates the possibility of WildBlue and EchoStar XI facing competition from Hughes for customers wanting services discounted with stimulus funding.