Echostar has jumped into the broadband arena by striking a co-branded deal with Wild Blue Communications. Technically it's their second go-round with offering satellite broadband; if you recall they once partnered with Israeli company Gilat Satellite Networks to launch StarBand, a deal they ultimately withdrew from.

Wild Blue keeps signing up distribution partners (they recently cut a similar deal with AT&T), despite the fact they're capacity-challenged until they finally get the long-delayed Ka-band "WildBlue1" satellite into space. To deal with capacity issues, last we checked Wild Blue has been imposing rolling caps (7.5/12/17 GB). WildBlue1 was set for launch in the fourth quarter from Guiana Space Center in Kourou, French Guiana - but this is roughly the fifth or sixth promised launch data we can remember.