Sonic.net & HDTV
February 23, 2009 – 10:53 am
We’ve recently gotten into the television business. It’s something we’ve done rather quietly so far, as we can really only install a certain amount with our current staff.
Television is something that I see as a natural synergy with broadband access, and it’s a bundling opportunity for customers who want to save a bit of money. This evolution is part of the “Fusion” philosophy; a goal of delivering broadband, landline voice, mobile voice and television, either together or a la carte.
Sonic.net DirecTV allows customers to bundle with their Internet access for a discount, plus manage customer service, installation and repair all through Sonic.net’s great local staff.
The other good news though is High Def. Through our partnership with DirecTV, we’ve got the largest number of HD channels available, currently at 104. A recent Pike & Fischer report compares DirecTV and Verizon FIOS (103 HD channels) to cable and concludes:
Quote: “Comcast, the largest cable operator in the United States, has one of the smallest selections of HD channels, according to the study. Comcast in some markets is offering less than 40 HD channels, although the company’s marketing focuses on its large selection of HD movies, TV shows and other content available on demand.
Cable networks do not have the same capacity as Verizon’s all-fiber infrastructure and DirecTV’s satellite coverage, and thus face more constraints on bandwidth for HD channels.”
So, nice news about HD and Sonic.net DirecTV. We’ve got lots of great HD options!
7 Responses to “Sonic.net & HDTV”
This is an intriguing development. Thank you for making this available to sonic customers. It appears that this bundle provides a discount over the first year, but then reverts to regular DirecTV pricing afterwards. Is this the case?
By Ryan on Feb 23, 2009
Ryan,
The discount when bundled with any access product is $10 monthly. Currently, this is good for 18 months.
-Dane
By Dane Jasper on Feb 23, 2009
PLEASE tell me that we can get DirecTV, landline phone service with voicemail and hi-speed internet from Sonic.net in Kenwood. We are stuck in ComCast hell out here in Kenwood!
By Michael on Mar 4, 2009
Michael,
We can certainly provide television there, but I don’t anticipate broadband or voice in the near term. The reason for this is that Kenwood is a tiny island of Verizon, which creates some challenges. We would need to negotiate interconnection with Verizon, get set up for colocation with them, plus find a way to backhaul fiber out of that area. All of these are big challenges.
-Dane
By Dane Jasper on Mar 4, 2009
Dane, Can sonic provide naked DSL and Directv? I’ve been a sonic.net customer for many years, and I have been a long term Directv HD customer with 2 Directv receivers. AT&T is my current land line provider. I’d would keep my cell phone service for voice. As a current Directv customer can I switch to sonic.net and drop the AT&T land line?
Joe
By Joe on Apr 27, 2009
We can provide naked DSL in areas where our new network is deployed. For product information, see http://www.sonic.net/sales/fusion/broadband/.
As a current DirecTV subscriber, we cannot take over your DTV account; unfortunatly, our Sonic.net DirecTV service can only be offered to new DirecTV subscribers. (You already have a great television product, what you’re missing out on is our customer service, plus the $10/mo for 18 months bundle discount; sorry!)
-Dane
By Dane Jasper on Apr 27, 2009
My roommate recently got DirecTV and a 720p display. There is an on-demand aspect to DirecTV, and it seems to work quite decently when I plug it into my Comcast service LAN. So, DirecTV On Demand and Comcast (Internet) work well together. This is with DirecTV’s DVR that works with HDMI to the 720p display, ethernet to the LAN, and a couple of cables from the satellite dish.
Is this also the case with Sonic’s Fusion and CLEC products? If so, you ought to at least mention its availability and quality of service. It is a feature of note that not all DirecTV customers and Comcast customers would be aware that DirecTV can actually deliver.
The problem is that DirecTV’s On Demand inventory is sparse — it is between arid and what Comcast has. But if you keep an eye on it, you can craft your advertising of it in an honest fasion.
By Brad Allen on Jun 29, 2009