DISH Network/DirecTV Merger?...Crossposter Bill R
 

How can you say that? For the most part, DBS is only a single decade old.
It
could just as easily die in the same period of time.


That's about as likely as all the cable companies going out of business in
the same time period. -Dave

DISH Network/DirecTV Merger?
 

"George Max" wrote in message ...
On Tue, 18 Jul 2006 10:48:32 -0400, Bill R
wrote:

EchoStar buyout weighed -- DirecTV merger seen
http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_4063441

How do you DISH Network and DirecTV subscribers feel about this?

Didn't DISH try to buy DirectTV a couple of years ago and was shot
down as being anticompetitive? I certainly expect to see the same
ruling the other way too.


Did you read the article? The event proposed in 2002 was a MERGER,
not a purchase. Note that News Corp now owns 38% of DirecTV.

From the Denver Post article...
"In 2002, Ergen attempted a merger with DirecTV, then controlled by Hughes Electronics.
That attempt faltered after it failed to pass antitrust review by the Federal Communications Commission.
Murdoch's News Corp. eventually acquired control of DirecTV."

I don't know what percent of EchoStar is owned by Charlie Ergen,
perhaps this ownership share is what is being offered to DirecTV.

DISH Network/DirecTV Merger?...Crossposter Bill R
 

It is not cable (at least in the near future) that the satellite companies
are worried about. It is the phone companies. In a lot of areas they are
wiring (or planning to wire) the neighborhoods with fiber so they can
offer video services. The roll out has started in some areas and where it
is offered the prices are always cheaper than cable or satellite and the
services (like FiOS) can offer more channels than cable or satellite.

I'll believe it when I see it. I see this fios deal as certain phone
companies being very desperate to branch out into other areas. Cellular and
VOIP have all but doomed the POTS service to extinction, so drastic measures
(like FIOS) are in order. Heck, some new houses are even being built
without POTS lines. That is, the owners are specifying the cabling
installed before the drywall is completed, and specifying that *no*
land-line phone service be installed. (but gobs of cat6 and rg6 lines, is
becoming quite common)

So the phone company pool of potential customers is dwindling even as they
are trying to roll out fios. I think at best services like fios might take
2 or 3 percent of total (cable PLUS dbs) customers someday, far in the
future. -Dave

DISH Network/DirecTV Merger?...Crossposter Bill R
 

On Tue, 18 Jul 2006 13:30:21 -0400, Mike T. wrote:

That is, the owners are specifying the cabling
installed before the drywall is completed, and specifying that *no*
land-line phone service be installed. (but gobs of cat6 and rg6 lines, is
becoming quite common)

So the phone company pool of potential customers is dwindling even as they
are trying to roll out fios. I think at best services like fios might take
2 or 3 percent of total (cable PLUS dbs) customers someday, far in the
future. -Dave

Just so I understand your point correctly, are you implying that FiOS
requires POTS cabling? Otherwise, why would Verizon's pool of potential
FiOS customers be dwindling?


--
cc
A current Dish and FiOS Internet Customer eagerly awaiting FiOS TV

DISH Network/DirecTV Merger?
 

In alt.dbs.directv Mike T. wrote:

It is if you stick to the analog tier, which is quickly being phased out by
the cable companies. Where we live now, I could get analog cable service
with MOST of the channels I get through DirecTV, and that cable service
would be about $5 more per month. If I wanted the same channels in digital
(soon that will be all that is available), the cost is about twice that.
Oh, and the cable companies don't like to advertise that not all channels
are digital in the digital packages. So essentially, the "digital" package
just doubles the cost for the same channels, some of which are
igital. -Dave


In some areas, with the correct equipment, ALL channels are digital. Case in
point is the Minneapolis area (north suburbs based out of Ham Lake and
Roseville) get the digital overlay of the analog channels if they use the DVR
3412.

--
Thomas T. Veldhouse
Key Fingerprint: 2DB9 813F F510 82C2 E1AE 34D0 D69D 1EDC D5EC AED1

DISH Network/DirecTV Merger?
 

Mike T. wrote:

Oh, and the cable companies don't like to advertise that not all channels
are digital in the digital packages.

That is a bad thing?

DISH Network/DirecTV Merger?...Crossposter Bill R
 

In alt.dbs.directv Mike T. wrote:

That's about as likely as all the cable companies going out of business in
the same time period. -Dave


Actually, I don't rule the possibility out at all. If the business model they
run under proves to be too limitted [i.e. the average customer wants
television, phone and internet on the same bill] then the customers will move
away and the campanies will fold. If telcos do deploy high bandwidth lines to
homes so that they can offer their own video offerings, then it seems that the
only chance DBS will have to remain competitive will be to beat the pricing
that their terrestial counterparts offer and to do it without churn. The
current cable companies offer quite a deal on bundling, and, and frankly, if
all else is equal and cable doesn't go out in bad weather [we get a lot in MN
.... rain and significant snow], then there is a distinct advantage right
there.

In all honestly, I will leave Dish when my contract is up IF Comcast offers a
stable and functional DVR (with Tivo would be fabulous!) and stable set top
boxes. The lack of these are what drove me away from cable for TV and QWest
just offered me a deal I couldn't pass up or I would still be with Comcast for
phone. If QWest doesn't get their ass out of the grinder and starting
offering real highspeed internet rather than their marginal speed internet
offering they currently deploy [for most areas .. .very few qualify for the
7M/896K service], I will again bundle with Comcast should all the ducks align
[and rest assured, they will align].

--
Thomas T. Veldhouse
Key Fingerprint: 2DB9 813F F510 82C2 E1AE 34D0 D69D 1EDC D5EC AED1

DISH Network/DirecTV Merger?
 

"Thomas T. Veldhouse" wrote:

In alt.dbs.directv Little Sir Echo wrote:
To me, the most interesting thing about this thread is that I cannot
access the referenced Denver Post story on my Dell PC which uses
Internet Ecplorer.

But on my Mac using Safari--there it is!

Sounds like a local issue to me. I am able to view it with both Internet
Explorer and Mozilla Firefox.


The web server for denverpost.com is (was?) having intermittent issues.
I couldn't read the article earlier (and got some ISAPI Error 1 just
trying to reach the homepage). Just trying the URL again MAY be all
that is needed. May depend on what Cookies may have been set
previously. Or, if IE is still configured to use the Automatically (or
Never) radio button under "Check for newer versions of stored pages",
you could be stuck with the original problem.

--

Bill Henley

DISH Network/DirecTV Merger?...Crossposter Bill R
 

I'll believe it when I see it. I see this fios deal as certain phone
companies being very desperate to branch out into other areas. Cellular
and
VOIP have all but doomed the POTS service to extinction, so drastic
measures
(like FIOS) are in order. Heck, some new houses are even being built
without POTS lines. That is, the owners are specifying the cabling
installed before the drywall is completed, and specifying that *no*
land-line phone service be installed. (but gobs of cat6 and rg6 lines, is
becoming quite common)

The gobs of cat5 are also being used for POTS. Builders are installing cat5
all over the house. It's flexible in that it can be used for POTS lines and
home networking. If you want to change one location from network to phone
all you need to do is reconfigure the wall jack. And it can easily be
changed back.

I don't think the fact a lot of cat5 is being used in new construction is a
signal POTS is going away. It's more a sign builders are being flexible and
forward thinking. And it's easier for them to install one type of cable
rather than two.

DISH Network/DirecTV Merger?
 

In alt.dbs.directv Bill Henley wrote:

The web server for denverpost.com is (was?) having intermittent issues.
I couldn't read the article earlier (and got some ISAPI Error 1 just
trying to reach the homepage). Just trying the URL again MAY be all
that is needed. May depend on what Cookies may have been set
previously. Or, if IE is still configured to use the Automatically (or
Never) radio button under "Check for newer versions of stored pages",
you could be stuck with the original problem.


And IE does cache very agressively ... too much so.

--
Thomas T. Veldhouse
Key Fingerprint: 2DB9 813F F510 82C2 E1AE 34D0 D69D 1EDC D5EC AED1