EchoStar Communications

Charles W. Egren founded EchoStar Communications in 1980. The Company and its subsidiaries deliver Direct Broadcast Satellite (DBS) television products and services to customers worldwide.

EchoStar Communications Corporation acquired the license to deliver DBS products in 1987 and is a publicly traded company (NASDAQ: DISH).  As at April 27, 2007, EchoStar Communications Corporation is trading at $ 46.51 per share.

EchoStar provides Direct Broadcast Satellite (DBS) television products and services (satellite delivered digital television) through its DISH NetworkTM to over 12 million customers in the United States of America.

The company’s shares are doing very well compared with companies in the same industry like Comcast and Verizon. As at April 27th, 2007, Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ: CMCSK) is trading at $26.68 per share while Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) is selling its shares at $38.15 a piece.

Comcast Corporation is a cable operator in the United States and offers a variety of consumer entertainment and communication products and services.

Verizon Communications Inc. is a provider of communications services. It has two segments, Wireline and Domestic Wireless, which it operates and manages as strategic business units and organizes by products and services (www.businessweek.com).

These companies all have similar products to Dish Network.

Comcast Communications is a cable giant and was the number one broadband provider in the country in 2005. Cable operators like Comcast have been leaders in supplying speedy Internet connections to consumers. They offer lower prices and higher speeds, thereby gaining a market of about 22 million U.S. households out of a total of 39 million that have broadband.

Verizon (a telecom giant) had to get into the television business because Comcast and the other cable companies were getting a share of the telecom market. In order to boost growth Verizon need it needed to move aggressively into new markets.  Verizon dropped their prices for broadband to as low as $15 a month and cranking up speeds. The company also started offering speeds 10 times as fast as standard cable service.

It targeted TV and broadband and offered extra-fast Net connections and TV services. In addition, Verizon started to offer customers the same bundles of voice and video that the cable players do. They had to do this because the cable industry was taking a share in the voice market. This gave birth to Verizon TV, which offers services like allowing customers to watch one show and, at the same time, record another. Other cable companies did not offer this. Verizon TV also has more channels and more choice of on-demand video than some of its competitors like Dish.

Today, with more than 12 million customers, DISH Network offers the lowest all-digital TV price in America.

References

Rewired And Ready For Combat. (2005). Retrieved April 27, 2007, from http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/05_45/b3958089.htm

http://www.echostar.com

http://www.verizon.com

http://www.comcast.com