12-21-01, 05:01 AM
Sometimes I think Charlie is reaching for straws about the E* D* merger.
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It didn't take long for EchoStar and its chairman, Charlie Ergen, to come up with a response regarding the $72 billion merger of cable companies AT&T Broadband and Comcast, in which the No. 1 cable company will join forces with the third biggest MSO.
Ergen said the merger of the two cable operations showed the need for regulators to approve the merger of his company with satellite TV rival DirecTV.
"This proposed merger is about more than the reported 22 million subscribers for AT&T and Comcast. When you include AT&T's 25 percent interest in Time Warner cable systems and other attributable subscribers, that number jumps to over 40 million subscribers," Ergen said in a statement.
"This further consolidation among cable companies illustrates why the pending merger of EchoStar and Hughes Electronics is essential. Simply put, the EchoStar/Hughes merger is the best hope to create the efficiencies necessary to compete effectively against these cable behemoths," he added.
EchoStar also addressed concerns among a number of rural lawmakers regarding the pending DBS merger.
In a letter sent to those lawmakers, Ergen and DirecTV's Eddy Hartenstein said a combination of DBS assets would expand services for rural TV viewers, such as local TV, high definition television programming and interactive services. "In addition, the merger will create the economies of scale necessary to offer more competitive prices for programming and to launch a competitively priced high-speed Internet access service in rural America, which helps close the digital divide," the letter said.
The letter said a combined company also would commit to a national pricing structure. "This means customers in rural America can rest assured that they will continue to pay the same monthly rate as customers in big cities where competition with cable companies is more prevalent," the letter said.
From <a href="http://www.skyreport.com" target=none>SkyReport</a> (Used with permission)
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It didn't take long for EchoStar and its chairman, Charlie Ergen, to come up with a response regarding the $72 billion merger of cable companies AT&T Broadband and Comcast, in which the No. 1 cable company will join forces with the third biggest MSO.
Ergen said the merger of the two cable operations showed the need for regulators to approve the merger of his company with satellite TV rival DirecTV.
"This proposed merger is about more than the reported 22 million subscribers for AT&T and Comcast. When you include AT&T's 25 percent interest in Time Warner cable systems and other attributable subscribers, that number jumps to over 40 million subscribers," Ergen said in a statement.
"This further consolidation among cable companies illustrates why the pending merger of EchoStar and Hughes Electronics is essential. Simply put, the EchoStar/Hughes merger is the best hope to create the efficiencies necessary to compete effectively against these cable behemoths," he added.
EchoStar also addressed concerns among a number of rural lawmakers regarding the pending DBS merger.
In a letter sent to those lawmakers, Ergen and DirecTV's Eddy Hartenstein said a combination of DBS assets would expand services for rural TV viewers, such as local TV, high definition television programming and interactive services. "In addition, the merger will create the economies of scale necessary to offer more competitive prices for programming and to launch a competitively priced high-speed Internet access service in rural America, which helps close the digital divide," the letter said.
The letter said a combined company also would commit to a national pricing structure. "This means customers in rural America can rest assured that they will continue to pay the same monthly rate as customers in big cities where competition with cable companies is more prevalent," the letter said.
From <a href="http://www.skyreport.com" target=none>SkyReport</a> (Used with permission)