Wal-Mart is Getting Geekier, Sells Broadband

Wal-Mart is getting a bit geekier. It announced plans today to sell broadband Internet access though its stores and is rumored to be training a Geek Squad-like team of in-house Wal-Mart techies.

Wal-Mart says it will team up with satellite broadband provider Hughes Communications to resell HughesNet satellite Internet access in over 2800 U.S. Wal-Mart stores. Satellite pricing is tiered with packages starting at $60 a month for 700Kbps download speeds up to 2.0Mbps.

Cable and DSL are widely viewed as the best buy per kilobit for customers in residential areas. But satellite broadband may be the only way for people in the middle of nowhere to get fast downloads.

According to a BusinessWeek story Wal-Mart's tech ambitions don't stop with satellite Net access. Wal-Mart is looking to sweeten its bottom line by providing services to customers. As the BusinessWeek article points out, companies such as Best Buy and Circuit City have been able to make extra money by offering installation and repair services for flat panel TVs and computers. Now, it appears, Wal-Mart wants part of that market to.

Can it succeed? Wal-Mart has been trying to be more tech-savvy over the years selling LCD TVs, digital music downloads, and Dell PCs. Satellite Internet access may be a hard sell.

Satellite broadband has struggled to gain much consumer interest. An FCC report (PDF) says that as of June 30, 2006, less than half a million of the total 64 million U.S. broadband subscribers satellite customers. Perhaps that's why Wal-Mart customers who purchase HughesNet service from Wal-Mart will also be able to take advantage of $100 ExpressPay card - good towards Wal-Mart purchases.

Regardless of whether or not Wal-Mart can give satellite broadband boost, here's what I want to know: what the heck would you call the Wal-Mart equivalent of Best Buy?s Geek Squad? Any suggestions?

Comments

I found some excellent white papers on this subject at HughesNet

continental

July 28, 2008

7:13 AM PT