01-30-02, 04:10 AM
Pegasus Communications is the latest entity to approach the Federal Communications Commission with concerns about the proposed $26 billion merger between EchoStar and DirecTV.
Last week, officials with Pegasus and their Washington, D.C.,-based representatives met with Cable Services Bureau Chief Ken Ferree and members of the FCC's DBS merger review team about the deal. The Pegasus team also recently met with personnel working for commissioners Kathleen Abernathy, Michael Copps and Kevin Martin to discuss the pending transaction.
The Pegasus meetings at the FCC's Portals office included a presentation on Pegasus' business in rural areas, and its claim that the EchoStar/DirecTV merger would create a monopoly in rural and non-cabled areas. If the merger is approved, the Pegasus presentation said, multichannel competition would disappear in those underserved areas.
The Pegasus presentation also outlined concerns about the lock a combined DBS entity would have on satellite broadband. Satellite broadband platforms operating today - DirecWay and StarBand - along with developing Ka-Band platforms from EchoStar and Hughes' Spaceway project would be controlled by a combined entity, Pegasus reminded the commission. It also would control a stake EchoStar has in WildBlue, a developing Ka-Band platform.
Prior to Pegasus' meetings at the FCC, the National Rural Telecommunications Cooperative met with commission officials about its concerns with the pending merger.
In another Pegasus note, the company said it will announce fourth quarter and year-end 2001 results Feb. 19.
From <a href="http://www.skyreport.com" target=none>SkyReport</a> (Used with permission)
Last week, officials with Pegasus and their Washington, D.C.,-based representatives met with Cable Services Bureau Chief Ken Ferree and members of the FCC's DBS merger review team about the deal. The Pegasus team also recently met with personnel working for commissioners Kathleen Abernathy, Michael Copps and Kevin Martin to discuss the pending transaction.
The Pegasus meetings at the FCC's Portals office included a presentation on Pegasus' business in rural areas, and its claim that the EchoStar/DirecTV merger would create a monopoly in rural and non-cabled areas. If the merger is approved, the Pegasus presentation said, multichannel competition would disappear in those underserved areas.
The Pegasus presentation also outlined concerns about the lock a combined DBS entity would have on satellite broadband. Satellite broadband platforms operating today - DirecWay and StarBand - along with developing Ka-Band platforms from EchoStar and Hughes' Spaceway project would be controlled by a combined entity, Pegasus reminded the commission. It also would control a stake EchoStar has in WildBlue, a developing Ka-Band platform.
Prior to Pegasus' meetings at the FCC, the National Rural Telecommunications Cooperative met with commission officials about its concerns with the pending merger.
In another Pegasus note, the company said it will announce fourth quarter and year-end 2001 results Feb. 19.
From <a href="http://www.skyreport.com" target=none>SkyReport</a> (Used with permission)