Senators Issue Warning On DBS Deal
By Ted Hearn -- Multichannel News, 5/24/2002 1:35:00 PM
Washington -- A group of U.S. Senators from rural states clustered in the Midwest is urging federal regulators to closely examine the merger between EchoStar Communications Corp. and DirecTV Inc. parent Hughes Electronics Corp.
The letter, sent to Attorney General John Ashcroft and Federal Communications
Commission chairman Michael Powell, was signed by 11 senators in all, including Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa.).
The letter, provided by a television industry source, was undated but an aide to
Sen. Jim Bunning (R-Ky.), who signed the letter, said it was sent May 17.
Six Democrats and five Republicans signed it.
Even though the lawmakers asked for a close review, they did not recommend its rejection.
Instead, they suggested that the $25.8 billion merger creating a direct broadcast satellite giant with no serious rival in the skies could be approved with appropriate conditions.
'We believe that enforced consumer safeguards regarding price, service
quality and access to vital communications services in rural America need to be established before granting EchoStar and Hughes merger approval,' the one-page letter said.
Because the merger will leave one DBS company, the senators said they were
concerned that consumers without the ability to turn to cable and phone
companies for video and data could face 'monopolistic practices.'
The letter urged Ashcroft and Powell to ensure that 'millions of rural consumers do
not suffer the consequences of higher prices, fewer choices and reduced
services.'
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