Reports from the US say that Charlie Ergen-backed EchoStar is being investigated by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) over alleged compliance issues over federal requirements linked to EchoStar’s building of a nationwide 5G network. The news hurt EchoStar’s share price which crashed 17 per cent (by $4.01) and in the words of lawyers from the […]

EchoStar-owned Hughes Network Systems has reported a 3 per cent fall in revenue and a loss of 30,000 broadband subscribers during the first quarter. It now has 853,000 subscribers. But CEO Hamid Akhavan told analysts that while EchoStar was yet to make any announcements its engineering plans were ready but getting the timing right for […]

Charlie Ergen’s EchoStar satellite operation, despite losing subscribers on its Hughes Network Systems subsidiary, seems committed to launching its own Low Earth Orbiting fleet of satellites. EchoStar Corp CEO Hamid Akhavan has spoken in the past that Direct-To-Device connectivity from satellite to consumers is a huge opportunity. Now, in releasing the company’s full-year results, he […]

Investment bank BNP Paribas hosted a low Earth orbiting ‘expert event’ with Dr Tim Farrar, an acknowledged expert on the satellite sector and Direct-to-Device (D2D) services in particular. Farrar argued that Elon Musk’s SpaceX/Starlink service, although embryonic today, are some “18 months ahead of competitors on D2D and that by the end of the year […]

The planned merger between two US pay-TV satellite broadcasters is definitely off – at least for the moment. A deadline set by DirecTV passed without fresh discussions or progress happening. The blame for the decision falls on Charlie Ergen’s Dish/EchoStar and its bond (debt) holders. Under the complex merger deal, which would have created the […]

EchoStar’s share price has plummeted 13 per cent as news emerged that TPG (the former Texas Pacific Group) has said that the acquisition by DirecTV of EchoStar’s pay-TV assets was at risk because of EchoStar/Dish bond-holders who were holding out over the terms of a debt exchange offer. There are multiple reports that Dish bondholders […]

As heavily rumoured, DirecTV and EchoStar have entered into a definitive agreement under which DIRECTV will acquire EchoStar’s video distribution business DISH DBS, including DISH TV and Sling TV, through a debt exchange transaction. “DirecTV operates in a highly competitive video distribution industry,” said Bill Morrow, Chief Executive Officer, DirecTV. “With greater scale, we expect […]

The long-awaited merger between DirecTV and Dish Network appears imminent and could be announced as early as September 30th, according to a report in the WSJ. If an agreement is reached, the result would be the creation of the largest pay-TV operator in the US. Together, the pair would have some 20 million subscribers. The […]

EchoStar, the Charlie Ergen-backed business that owns the Dish US pay-TV operator, says that negotiations which have taken place over the past weeks with certain debt-holders and which would have led to a financial reconstruction have failed to reach agreement. The negotiations were primarily with members of a group represented by Milbank. Despite this setback, […]