EchoStar Communications Corporation Files Suit Against DirecTV To Enforce Fair Competition Standards
EchoStar Communications Corporation (NASDAQ: DISH, DISHP) confirmed today that it has filed suit against DirecTV and Thomson Consumer Electronics (dba RCA) in the Federal District Court of Colorado. EchoStar's DISH Networkô has rapidly been acquiring market share in the direct broadcast satellite (DBS) television industry and alleges in its lawsuit that DirecTV has responded to that success by turning to improper conduct in order to fend off this competition. According to the complaint, DirecTV has demanded that certain retailers stop displaying EchoStar merchandise and has threatened to cause economic damage to retailers if they continued to offer both product lines in head-to-head competition. ""EchoStar is willing to compete with anyone, but customers that walk into Circuit City and Best Buy cannot choose the satellite TV system ranked number one in a customer satisfaction study by J.D. Power and Associates,"" said Jim DeFranco, Executive Vice President of EchoStar. ""We cannot be silent when companies like DirecTV and RCA decide to keep our product out of stores. We want the consumer to choose which product is best."" The suit alleges that DirecTV has acted in violation of federal and state anti-trust laws in order to protect DirecTV's market share. EchoStar is seeking injunctive relief to stop DirecTV's improper activities as well as monetary damages. EchoStar Communications Corporation includes three interrelated business units: - DISH Networkô is EchoStar's state-of-the-art direct broadcast satellite system that is capable of offering over 500 channels of digital video and CD-quality audio programming, fully MPEG-2/DVB compliant hardware and installation. DISH Network was also ranked number one in customer satisfaction among satellite/cable TV subscribers by the J.D. Power and Associates 1999 Cable/Satellite TV Customer Satisfaction Study. - EchoStar Technologies Corporation designs, manufactures and distributes DBS set-top boxes, antennas and other digital equipment for the DISH Network and various international customers that include ExpressVu Canada and the Via Digital system in Spain. ETC provides construction, oversight and project integration services for customers internationally. ETC also oversees EchoStar Data Networks Corporation in Atlanta, a leading supplier of MediaStreamÆ technology for distributing Internet content over satellite networks. - Satellite Services provides the delivery of video, audio and data services to business television customers and other satellite users. These services include satellite uplink, satellite transponder space usage and other services. Satellite Services also administers SKY VISTA, a direct broadcast satellite service offering popular digital satellite television programming to viewers in Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico and the U.S. territories in the Caribbean. DISH Network, which currently serves over 3.4 million customers, is a trademark of EchoStar Communications Corporation. DISH Network is located on the Internet at www.dishnetwork.com.