Steve Mehs
10-09-02, 04:35 AM
So what are the remedies EchoStar and DirecTV may propose to skeptical regulators to win approval for their proposed merger?
Again, EchoStar wouldn't go on record about the proposed remedies, or what the company described as "major revisions" to the pending transaction. But there was some speculation concerning those changes, viewed by many as necessary (if not already too late) to get the OK from regulators in Washington, D.C.
William Kidd, satellite analyst at Lehman Brothers, said major concessions could include a new national pricing scheme, allowing competitors wholesale access to programming delivered by a merged company as well as possibly divesting of full-CONUS or non-CONUS slots.
On the divestiture of orbital slots, Kidd said it may be likely that a new upstart would be given a full non-CONUS location rather than a full-CONUS location. "However, given that the deal seems to be on life support, either concession has to be considered at least plausible at this point," he said.
Cablevision has approached the Federal Communications Commission about forcing EchoStar to divest its orbital capacity at 61.5 degrees, a non-full CONUS slot that the two companies share. And SES Americom has recommended to regulators that the merged company provide wholesale access to its local programming.
All sides of the merger debate will appear today at SkyFORUM, being held in the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City. Bob Phillips of the National Rural Telecommunications Cooperative will be interviewed, and EchoStar CEO Charlie Ergen will wrap up the conference with an hour-long discussion.
From SkyReport (http://www.skyreport.com/skyreport/oct2002/100902.shtm#three) (Used with Permission)
Again, EchoStar wouldn't go on record about the proposed remedies, or what the company described as "major revisions" to the pending transaction. But there was some speculation concerning those changes, viewed by many as necessary (if not already too late) to get the OK from regulators in Washington, D.C.
William Kidd, satellite analyst at Lehman Brothers, said major concessions could include a new national pricing scheme, allowing competitors wholesale access to programming delivered by a merged company as well as possibly divesting of full-CONUS or non-CONUS slots.
On the divestiture of orbital slots, Kidd said it may be likely that a new upstart would be given a full non-CONUS location rather than a full-CONUS location. "However, given that the deal seems to be on life support, either concession has to be considered at least plausible at this point," he said.
Cablevision has approached the Federal Communications Commission about forcing EchoStar to divest its orbital capacity at 61.5 degrees, a non-full CONUS slot that the two companies share. And SES Americom has recommended to regulators that the merged company provide wholesale access to its local programming.
All sides of the merger debate will appear today at SkyFORUM, being held in the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City. Bob Phillips of the National Rural Telecommunications Cooperative will be interviewed, and EchoStar CEO Charlie Ergen will wrap up the conference with an hour-long discussion.
From SkyReport (http://www.skyreport.com/skyreport/oct2002/100902.shtm#three) (Used with Permission)