Advanced Television

Echostar

Nilesat chooses Hughes’ Jupiter for Egypt gateway

EchoStar-owned Hughes Network Systems has been selected by Cairo-based Nilesat for a local gateway which will use Nilesat’s 301 satellite. Hughes will supply one of its Jupiter Gateways and installation will begin shortly and be complete by the end of Q3. Commenting on the deal, Sameh Katta, Chairman/CEO of Nilesat, said: “The Nilesat vision is […]

March 19, 2024By Chris Forrester

Hughes Network connectivity for Kazakhstan villages

EchoStar-owned Hughes Network Systems is supplying Kazakhstan with satellite equipment to help connect more than 200 villages throughout the country, and help bridge the ‘digital divide’. Kazakhstan’s Republican Center of Space Communication (RCSC), via the Ministry of Digital Development, is placing the order which calls for Hughes Jupiter System ground platforms. The order is being […]

March 15, 2024By Chris Forrester

EchoStar facing more shareholder allegations

EchoStar – already facing complaints from some shareholders over how owner Charlie Ergen restructured the DISH Network broadcasting business into a new operation – is facing another major legal hurdle which, this time, is the US Senate. Investment fund manager Buxton Helmsley Grp (BHG), which has holdings in EchoStar, has written to US Senators Elizabeth […]

March 12, 2024By Chris Forrester

EchoStar: “We are a going concern”

As Mark Twain said when a newspaper incorrectly published his obituary, “The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated.” The same phrase could be used for last week’s commentaries on EchoStar’s results with more than a few experts suggesting that bankruptcy was more likely than ever. Even EchoStar’s own Form 10K SEC filing admitted that […]

March 4, 2024

Echostar $2bn+ loss on pay-TV decline

Net pay-TV subscribers fell by 314,000 to 8.53 million as Echostar posted a $2.03 billion (€1.87bn) loss for Q4. The company said the loss was primarily attributable to a non-cash goodwill impairment charge of $758 million, and an adjustment to the carrying value of the 800 MHz purchase option totalling approximately $1.6 billion. Revenue fell […]

March 1, 2024

EchoStar planning $3bn bond sale

EchoStar, which now owns Dish Network, and having suffered two reversals in its plans to raise fresh borrowings, is now contemplating raising $3 billion (€2.78bn) by issuing debt which is backed by its spectrum assets. A report from Bloomberg says that EchoStar could issue new notes backed by 20 MHz of its AWS-4 terrestrial spectrum, […]

February 19, 2024By Chris Forrester

EchoStar scraps second debt plan

EchoStar’s highly contentious plans to raise cash by issuing and restructuring its debts, which received significant objections from creditors, has been abandoned. It is the second time in two weeks that Dish Network’s parent EchoStar has scrapped a controversial proposal to restructure debt after creditor backlash. The satellite TV provider announced on February 12th the […]

February 13, 2024By Chris Forrester

Dish Network scraps debt plan

EchoStar, which now includes most of the former Dish Network assets, has scrapped one of its controversial debt swap proposals. Dish, says EchoStar, “in its sole discretion” had decided to abandon the plan. EchoStar has confirmed that its Dish subsidiary has ended an offer announced two weeks ago to swap more than $6 billion (€5.5bn) […]

February 1, 2024By Chris Forrester

Starlink eating HughesNet subs

EchoStar-owned broadband-by-satellite service HughesNet has reportedly lost more than 30 per cent of its subscribers over the past three years with Starlink seemingly picking up the cancellations. Some of the comments suggest that for HughesNet subscribers “in a deep valley with limited potential visibility of Starlink” they will have to stay with HughesNet. Other HughesNet […]

January 25, 2024

Creditors hit Dish with “illegal” allegations

More detail has emerged on the news that a number of Dish Network creditors have written to the company alleging that the Charlie Ergen-backed pay-TV broadcaster engaged in an “illegal” restructuring when it – in effect – merged with EchoStar. They are demanding that the merger be reversed. This is unlikely to happen so the […]

January 23, 2024By Chris Forrester