Advanced Television

Echostar

FCC approves Dish/EchoStar licence transfers

The FCC has approved the transfer of control of Dish Network and its subsidiaries to EchoStar Corp. The FCC, and the bureaux under its supervision (the Office of Engineering & Technology, the Space Bureau, the Wireless Telecommunications) allowed the transfer of its broadcast and transmission licences. The FCC order includes those terrestrial licences for Dish’s […]

December 7, 2023By Chris Forrester

EchoStar’s Jupiter 3 being tested

Maxar Space Systems says it has successfully handed over operations of the largest commercial communications satellite ever manufactured in their Palo Alto, California facility, the Jupiter 3 broadband satellite, for EchoStar’s HughesConnects subsidiary. The satellite, already in orbit, includes 14 solar panels on board that when fully deployed could span a 10-storey building. Maxar Space […]

November 17, 2023

DISH Network lays off 500; Akhavan now CEO

Denver-based DISH Network, reeling from a shrinking subscriber base and a collapsing share price, has announced that more than 500 staff are being laid off. “Like most businesses, we continually evaluate and make adjustments to ensure we’re set up for long-term success,” DISH said in a statement. “We made the difficult decision to part ways […]

November 13, 2023By Chris Forrester

Ergen: “DISH failing fast”

Following on from DISH Network’s miserable results on November 6th (and a 38 per cent crash in its already depressed share price to $3.44, a 25-year low) co-founder Charlie Ergen told analysts that the pay-TV broadcaster was failing fast. “Investors are starting to give up,” Ergen admitted. One immediate consequence is that DISH Network’s President […]

November 7, 2023

Dish forecasts decade of growth

A filing to the US Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) by EchoStar, the sister business to Dish Network, has given a detailed forecast of what Dish Network expects its future to look like. The SEC filing comes about because of the plan to – in effect – merge EchoStar with Dish and confirms the financial […]

October 9, 2023By Chris Forrester

FCC fines Dish’s EchoStar over satellite debris

Charlie Ergen’s Dish Network has been fined by the FCC for not placing its EchoStar-7 craft in a correct ‘graveyard’ orbit. This is the first time that the FCC has penalised an operator under its space debris enforcement rules. The FCC says that Dish/EchoStar had “violated” its Communications Act. EchoStar 7 was launched in 2002 […]

October 3, 2023By Chris Forrester

EchoStar unlocks European IoT connectivity

EchoStar’s Mobile division and The Things Industries announced a collaboration to deploy hybrid satellite and LoRa Internet of Things (IoT) solutions to businesses across Europe. The companies have incorporated EchoStar’s satellite IoT capabilities into The Things Stack, a reliable, cloud-based LoRaWAN network server, enabling customers to connect IoT devices for real-time, two-way communications over satellite […]

September 25, 2023By Chris Forrester

Hughes wins US Space Force contract

EchoStar-owned Hughes Network Systems has won a 5-year contract from the US Space Force. Valued at up to $500 million it has a potential 5-year extension option. The contract will benefit OneWeb and EchoStar’s Lyra S-band system. Hughes has a distribution contract in place with OneWeb, itself just days away from merging with Eutelsat. The […]

August 24, 2023By Chris Forrester

Dish Network seeks delays on spectrum purchase

Dish Network wants to delay paying $3.59 billion (3.3bn) it agreed with T-Mobile for 800 MHz licences for its proposed extension to Boost Mobile. The agreement covers a valuable nationwide slice of 13.5 MHz within the 800 MHz band. Dish was an important party to the deal struck when T-Mobile merged with Sprint. A buyer […]

August 21, 2023By Chris Forrester

EchoStar facing Class Action?

EchoStar, in the process of being merged with satellite pay-TV operator Dish Network, could be facing a Class Action of investors who are dissatisfied with the merger plan. Lawyers for the Action are saying the investigation concerns whether the EchoStar board breached its fiduciary duties to shareholders by failing to conduct a fair process prior […]

August 21, 2023By Chris Forrester