Echostar wants $1bn in stimulus
September 30, 2009
EchoStar Corp. has gone for broke in seeking funds from the federal government's broadband stimulus program. In its latest proposal, EchoStar has teamed up with ViaSat in a satellite broadband project seeking $483 million in stimulus funds from the Federal Government. The project would build and launch a new satellite which would provide download speeds of up to 8 megabits per second in all or parts of 20 states west of the Mississippi River.
That brings to three the projects which EchoStar has pitched seeking a combined $1.1 billion, from the government's broadband stimulus program. Other projects include EchoBlue Rural, a partnership with WildBlue Communications, and a proposal to provide broadband from existing EchoStar satellites used for the DISH Network.