DirecTV responded to the lawsuit EchoStar filed against the company earlier this week, saying its DBS rival is trying to litigate its way to market-share rather than compete head-on in the rapidly-growing business. DirecTV's attorneys are still reviewing the extensive 59-page document. However, spokesman Bob Marsocci said the EchoStar filing "has no merit whatsoever." "We compete against all types of multichannel services without engaging in any illegal activities," Marsocci said. "We have long-standing relationships with retailers, manufacturers and program providers. All of our deals are sound and legal." EchoStar said in its lawsuit, filed in Denver federal court late Tuesday, that DirecTV is trying to monopolize the DBS business and is keeping EchoStar's DISH Network DBS service out of big retail chains. EchoStar also complained about DirecTV's lock on satellite carriage of sports packages, including the NFL Sunday Ticket. Hughes Network Systems and Thomson Consumer Electronics, manufacturers of DirecTV receiving equipment, also were named as defendants. "Consumers select us based on the quality of the service and product," Marsocci said. "We offer superior service. We do nothing to disparage EchoStar."

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Senate Ag Committee Hears Rural Loan Plans

Washington, D.C. - The Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry c onvened a hearing Thursday on the possibilities for federally guaranteed loans aimed at providing rural Americans with local TV service. In opening remarks, many of the committee members said rural Americans must be included in the digital future before the digital divide widens between urban/suburban areas and remote regions of the country. Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) said his state has the most satellite dishes in America per capita, in fact so many that "our state flower is the satellite dish." Yet, Baucus said, "no Montana television stations are near being considered for carriage under DBS providers' current plans to carry only the top 40 or so markets." As for the rest of the country, Baucus said, "Sixteen state capitals won't be served under current local-into-local plans." Speaking to the Agriculture Committee, Greg Rohde, Assistant Secretary for Communications and Information at the Department of Commerce, said the administration believes rural local-into-local is a very important issue. "Farm states rely heavily on the weather. Local news, local weather, and 'livestock warnings' would be a great benefit in ranch country," Rohde said. Christopher McLean, acting administrator for the Rural Utilities Service (RUS) at the Department of Agriculture (USDA), echoed the theme, saying, "As good as DTH satellite is for rural Americans, it does not connect them to their community." McLean also testified that when fully staffed, his office is "ready to work with Members of Congress to implement a rural loan program." RUS has assisted in closing the technology gap in rural America for many years, especially in electric and telephone services, McLean said. The National Association of Broadcasters and representatives of the National Rural Telecommunications Cooperative and Local-TV-on-Satellite also testified on the loan guarantee program. Most agreed that a rural local TV loan program could also tie in with bringing high speed Internet access and broadband platforms to rural America. A common industry platform, whereby DBS providers would use a single satellite to deliver local stations to rural America instead of duplicating each other's signals, was discussed as a viable method for getting local signals beyond urban and suburban areas. The Senate Banking Committee heard testimony from several of the same witnesses in a hearing earlier in the week. Issues such as Congressional jurisdiction, administration of the loan program, eligibility and oversight, and how much money the government might guarantee are among the issues that need to be resolved in a short amount of time. Senate Banking Committee Chairman Phil Gramm (R-Texas) promised action on this issue before April 1.

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DBS-DARS Drive Satellite Consumer Services

Washington, D.C. - DBS and DARS executives, along with analysts, discussed the current state and the future of the consumer market for satellite-delivered services at this week's Satellite 2000 conference sponsored by Phillips Business Information. Executives from WorldSpace, SES Astra and XM Satellite Radio joined Evie Haskell, managing director of SkyTrends, and Michael Alpert, president of Alpert Associates, in the panel discussion that centered around the booming growth of DBS and DARS. Through its service, WorldSpace, which is already available in Africa and expected to be operational in Asia in 2001, has the potential to reach hundreds of millions of people. Similarly, XM President and CEO Hugh Panero said that satellite delivered radio to the U.S. auto market has the potential to reach lofty numbers as well. Industry analysts, Panero said, "predict that the two DARS providers could have 50 million subscribers by 2007." Dean Olmstead of SES Astra said DARS is a "tough road" in Europe, primarily due to language differences, regulatory hurdles and the fact that "FM works great with 350 free to air stations available through fixed services." SES Astra succeeds in DTH satellite TV, Olmstead said, with more than 7.7 million satellite subscribers in Europe. Remarking on the tremendous growth of the satellite TV industry in the United States, Haskell said, "DTH service has grown by about 400 percent since the end of 1994." Haskell also said that analyst projections for total DBS subscribers are being revised, especially in light of the recently passed legislation authorizing delivery of local stations by satellite. Haskell said analysts are now predicting a total DBS subscriber count of about 23 million by 2007. Panelists agreed that the future for satellite delivered services is strong. To be successful, customer service and quality of service must remain a priority for DBS and DARS companies, Alpert said. He also said that, "interoperability of equipment will be good for the consumer and the industries in the long run."

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EchoStar Opens El Paso Center

EchoStar opened its customer service center in El Paso, Texas, its fourth inbound sales and customer service center serving DISH Network customers nationwide. The 100,000-square-foot facility is expected to provide more than 2,000 jobs and help with the revitalization of a city-designated enterprise zone in the east part of the city. EchoStar currently employs more than 3,200 customer service representatives across the nation. EchoStar's El Paso operation was housed in a temporary training center. The company has already hired approximately 800 full-time sales and customer service representatives for the office. It plans to hire 1,200 more full-time inbound sales and customer service representatives within the next year.

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ON TV: DirecTV Adds Orlando-Seattle