Guess Who is Selling Broadband?

Remember how you were worried about selling against the ILEC's? Well, things just took a turn for the worse. BusinessWeek announced:

Broadband sellers, beware. A new provider is on the scene—and it's a known price cutter. Wal-Mart Stores plans to announce Oct. 9 that it will resell high-speed Internet access from Hughes Communications, the world's largest provider of broadband services via satellite.

Granted, the market for satellite broadband is small, given the widespread availability of digital subscriber line access from phone companies and cable modem services from cable operators. Currently, satellite service tends to be more expensive and it's available mainly in hard-to-reach rural areas. Fewer than 500,000 Americans subscribe to satellite broadband access, according to consultancy Parks Associates. "It's still mainly for people who don't have a choice," says Michael Cai, an analyst at Parks. Only about 10% of Americans have no access to DSL or cable broadband.