Wednesday

C Spire to Market Dish TV Service

C Spire Wireless said Tuesday it will market Dish Network's satellite television service in all of its 67 retail locations throughout the South. The tie-up marks the "most comprehensive co-marketing effort and retail engagement with a technology partner to date," Wade Smith, C Spire vice president of products and innovation, and Scott Hazlett, Dish vice president of sales, said in a joint reply to questions about the deal. "This partnership represents an important step in the reinvention of television and in fulfilling our unique promise to provide consumers with a converged, integrated video and entertainment experience on their personalized smartphones and tablets," the spokesmen said. C Spire will promote Dish services and its new Hopper DVR at kiosks in its retail stores. The wireless operator will not directly sell Dish products and services, but subscribers who sign up for the satellite television service are eligible for a $100 American Express gift card and will be able to access Dish programming on Android and iOS devices through the provider's TV Everywhere service. Customers need the full Dish setup – satellite dish, Sling adapter and HD receiver – to access the company's programming on their smartphones and tablets. Packages start at less than $50 per month and there is no additional charge to access Dish content on C Spire wireless devices. The companies aren't offering Dish programming and C Spire wireless service as a bundle, but that could change in the future. "Both companies are continuing to study various retail models and may consider a more closely integrated model in the future," the spokesmen said. Dish said has no current plans to sell C Spire's wireless service. However, the companies did not rule it out completely. "At this time there are no plans for Dish to sell C Spire directly, but Dish is always looking for ways to grow in the marketplace and offer consumers advanced technology," the spokesmen said. The arrangement between Dish and C Spire isn't the only wireless-television partnership in recent months. Verizon Wireless recently began selling cable service from Comcast and Time Warner Cable in its retail stores, part of a larger deal inked when the cable operators agreed to sell AWS spectrum to Verizon late last year. This week, Verizon said it would expand its cross-selling with Comcast to Colorado and five other markets.

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