AOL and DirecTV would resell EarthLink service
EarthLink has said in a statement that they have signed on AOL and DirecTV Group to resell the services on the municipal Wi-Fi networks they are building in several cities in the United States.
EarthLink services would be retailed to regular customers by these two companies. This deal would help AOL gain new customers on their network where they are losing the market share at a very fast pace.
The deal would also help DirecTV to compete more effectively with cable companies, as they would be providing television services along with internet services.
EarthLink is building a network of Wi-Fi services in New Orleans, Philadelphia and Milpitas and is talking for similar deals in many more cities. Donald Berryman, president of municipal networks for EarthLink spoke about their plans: “We don’t want to be a franchise that has a monopoly on Wi-Fi. It will be a truly open market, price-competitive system, and that was a big selling point for the cities.”