Satellite Pirates Pit EchoStar Against Hughes
Arrrrrghhh! Pirates are stealing gold from the satellite industry's treasure chests, and EchoStar Communications (DISH Quote) is blaming Hughes Electronics (GMH Quote) for letting them aboard.
On EchoStar's Thursday earnings conference call, CEO Charlie Ergen said satellite industry growth was being hurt by widespread theft of Hughes' DirecTV service by people who otherwise would be paying subscription fees to EchoStar or DirecTV. Moreover, Ergen faulted Hughes for inadequate technology and business practices that have made DirecTV a relatively easy target.
DirecTV denies that it's to blame. "Charlie seemed to imply we were lax about our signal integrity efforts, and he's wrong about that," says DirecTV spokesman Robert Mercer.
500,000 Thieves
...Recent Comments
| Dow Jones | S&P 500 | NASDAQ | 10-Year Note | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10,344.84 | 1,095.63 | 2,144.60 | 32.01 |
Oil *
78.55
|
|
UP
34.92
|
UP
4.14
|
UP
6.16
|
DOWN
0.30
|
10 Yr
3.20%
SPDR Gold
115.65
|
|
+0.34%
|
+0.38%
|
+0.29%
|
-0.93%
|
Data delayed 20 minutes |
Connect with TheStreet