Bellsouth extended its marketing alliance with DirecTV Inc. another five years and also created a new sales channel, Bellsouth announced Feb. 14. Under the marketing agreement, Bellsouth is able to bundle local, long distance, wireless, Internet and digital video services in a single offering.

Under the new agreement, BellSouth is responsible for the sales and ordering functions, and DirecTV is responsible for the installation and ongoing service for BellSouth customers who subscribe to DirecTV service through BellSouth.

As part of the extension, DirecTV residential customer across Bellsouth’s nine-state service area will be able to BellSouth DSL services directly from DirecTV.

“This new agreement builds on our very successful relationship with DirecTV,” David Scobey, president of Bellsouth Retail Markets, said in a statement. “More than 523,000 customers have added DirecTV service to their Bellsouth Answers bundle since 2004, a testament to the success of this relationship and this outstanding video entertainment offering.”