US satellite service provider DISH Network has announced that it will start accepting bitcoin payments later this year.
The Colorado-based company is one of the biggest content providers in America, with more than 14 million pay-TV subscribers.
DISH plans to start accepting bitcoin payments in the third quarter of 2014, but it has not yet revealed an exact date. Once it does, it will become the biggest company to accept bitcoin to date.
Last year DISH Network Corporation reported revenue of $13.9bn. The company has more than 30,000 employees.
The customer is always right
With 14 million subscribers, DISH has a vast user base and at least some of these users are bitcoiners.
“We always want to deliver choice and convenience for our customers and that includes the method they use to pay their bills,” said Bernie Han, DISH executive vice president and chief operating officer.
“Bitcoin is becoming a preferred way for some people to transact and we want to accommodate those individuals.”
Han noted that bitcoin is becoming a “preferred” payment option for some people and DISH simply wanted to accommodate such individuals, offering an additional payment option to meet their needs.
Coinbase won the deal
Coinbase will serve as the payment processor for the company, exchanging the bitcoin payments to USD at the moment of transaction. Considering the sheer size of DISH Network and the number of subscribers up for grabs, the deal could be a great boon for the payment processor.
Han added that Coinbase will make the payment experience easy for DISH customers, but at the same time it will allow the company to receive immediate credit in dollars “at an attractive cost for DISH.”
DISH says bitcoin payments will be made available to all customers who decide to make one-time payments on mydish.com starting in the third quarter of 2014.