DirecTV said today that it signed a wholesale agreement with Current Group to provide high-speed Internet service over electric-power lines, according to The Wall Street Journal..

The story said DirecTV will bundle Current's broadband and voice over Internet services under the DirecTV brand.

The satellite TV company also recently announced a partnership with Kirkland-based Clearwire to bundle its wireless high-speed Internet access with DirecTV's TV service. In addition, it also resells Internet access from AT&T, Verizon Communications and Qwest Communications.

DirecTV has lined up all these partnerships to better compete with telephone and cable operators that have started to provide the quadruple play -- that means, bundling together TV, phone, wireless phone and Internet access. Obviously, it's not placing any bets on any one technology.

High-speed Internet access is not technically possible over satellite, or at least the way DirecTV provides service today.

Broadband over power lines is a fairly new technology that allows customers to plug a modem device the size of a cellphone into an electric outlet and connect a cable from their computer for Internet access.