This agreement was previously announced on July 11, 2001. This increases EchoStar’s equity stake in StarBand to approximately 32 percent, which will further increase to approximately 60 percent upon commencement of the construction of a next-generation satellite to be allocated for the StarBand service. EchoStar, the parent company of DISH Network(TM), the nation’s fastest-growing pay television provider, originally invested $50 million in StarBand in April 2000, and is one of the largest distribution channels for StarBand the nation’s first two-way, always-on, high-speed satellite-delivered Internet service. This agreement continues EchoStar’s strategy to offer a complete bundled package of Internet, programming and interactive television services to its more than 6 million U.S. DISH Network customers.
SOURCE: COMPANY PRESS RELEASE
