AT&T dishing it out to DISH

AT&T has finally decided to partner with DIRECTV for all its satellite services starting Feb 1st 2009. While it is too early to say that its all gloom and doom for DISH Network, it will certainly be a very challenging environment for the company to grow its subscriber base. 15% of the subscribers that were added in 1H 2008 came through AT&T. That number is all the more significant given the fact that DISH experienced a net decline of 25,000 subscribers in the second quarter this year relative to net additions of 170,000 for the same period last year. Folks at DIRECTV are probably patting themselves on the back for their success in having all the three major telcos, AT&T, Verizon and Qwest in their court.