Immediate
Action Needed to Prevent the Creation of a new Satellite TV/High Speed Internet
Monopoly in Rural Areas This Year! Decisions
by the U.S. Department of Justice and Federal Communications Commission to Allow
or Block this Merger May Occur as Early as September! Please
Have Your State Grange Sign the Enclosed Letter to the U.S. Department of Justice
and the Federal Communications Commission asking them to block the merger of EchoStar
Communications, Inc. and Hughes Electronics Corp. During
the past year, the National Grange has expressed its strong opposition to the
proposed merger of EchoStar Communications Inc and Hughes Electronics Corporation.
EchoStar and Hughes are the nation's leading providers of satellite TV and satellite
based high speed Internet services. Millions of Americans rely on satellite TV
service. More than 15 million rural households lack any access to cable television
or other terrestrial multichannel video programming distribution (MVPD) services.
Direct broadcast satellite services are currently the only means for receiving
a full range of MVPD services at an affordable cost. At present there are only
two major direct broadcast services-EchoStar's Dish Network and Hughes'
DirecTV. Each company offers a competitive, alternative satellite TV and
high speed satellite Internet service for rural consumers. The EchoStar/Hughes
merger would therefore, create a monopoly in these two vital advanced communications
technology services that would have a severe economic impact on farming and rural
communities across the nation. Number
of Households in each Grange State that Already Have Satellite TV Service and
that Would Immediately Fall under the New EchoStar/Hughes Satellite TV Monopoly
| AK-28,014 | CA-2,091,150 | CO-
400,418 | CT-103,211
| DE-45,121 |
| DC-22,872 | FL-1,236,359 | ID-139,104*
| IL-776,408
| IN-591,024*
| | IA-259,739 | KS-212,615
| ME-116,415 | MD-308,925 | MA-200,308 |
| MI-718,480 | MN-399,138
| MO-590,340* | MT-131,251* | NE-140,772 |
| NH-78,030 | NJ-354,224 | NY-918,661 | NC-859,705* | OH-754,176 |
| OK-311,736 | OR-276,443 | PA-577,754
| RI-38,456 | SC-384,661* |
| TN-540,846* | TX-1,939,923* | VT-94,0059* | VA-655,491* | WA-418,472 |
| WV-186,305* | WI-456,600
| WY-63,124* | | |
*-Indicates
States where more than 25% of all households use satellite TV The
National Grange has agreed to sign on to the enclosed coalition letter opposing
the merger of Echostar Communications and Hughes Electronics. We would appreciate
your State Grange also signing this letter to show grassroots support for this
effort. Please contact National Grange Legislative Research Analyst Chil-Sook
Hwang by close of business on Thursday August 15, 2002 to indicate if your
state Grange will be willing to sign this letter. Millions of rural Americans
are counting on the Grange to help protect them from a new satellite TV/high-speed
Internet monopoly.
Hon. John Ashcroft, Attorney General
U.S. Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania
Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20530 Hon.
Michael Powell, Chairman
Federal Communications Commission
445 12th
Street, S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20554 REF:
CS Docket No. 01-348
EchoStar Communications/Hughes Electronics Merger Dear
Attorney General Ashcroft & Chairman Powell: As
groups vitally interested in competitive communications throughout the nation,
we would like to express our strong opposition to the proposed merger of EchoStar
Communications Corporation and Hughes Electronics Corporation. If
approved by your agency, this merger would combine the only two sources of multi-channel
video programming and broadband Internet access available in most areas of Rural
America. The
petitioners claim that their merger will bring true competition to the cable communications
market. But 23 million homes in Rural America have no access to cable modem or
DSL service. They must depend entirely upon satellite broadband services for their
multi-channel TV, Internet, and related communications services. There is little
chance of competing firms being established in the near future, since EchoStar
and Hughes (DirecTV) hold the licenses to all of the DBS channels. By
permitting the merger of EchoStar Communications and Hughes Electronics, you would
hand the resulting conglomerate 91 percent of the U.S. digital satellite TV market.
You would reduce the options for these 23 million U.S. homes to a single provider
of satellite TV and broadband services. There would be no competition for them
in price, technical innovation, or quality of service. The
petitioners propose a "national pricing plan" for their satellite TV monopoly,
but experts call such a plan unworkable and unenforceable. Who would monitor the
results? Who would be charged with enforcement? We
ask that you deny this monopolistic merger, and allow the two petitioners to remain
competitive for the benefit of residents in Rural America. Thank you.
Sincerely,
| National Association
of Wheat Growers | National
Rural Housing Coalition | | Milburne
& Associates, Inc. | The
National Grange | | Communicating
for Agriculture | Maryland
Dairy Industry Association | | American
Agriculture Movement | |
Action Plan --- The proposed merger of EchoStar communications, Inc and
Hughes electronics Corp. is reaching the final stages of the regulatory process.
Please review the coalition letter opposing this merger and let us know whether
or not your State Grange can be listed as a cosigner of this letter. Please contact
Legislative Research Analyst Chil-Sook
Hwang with your response by fax: 202 347-1091 or by phone 1-888-4GRANGE, ext
109 no later than August 15, 2002. Thank
you for your grassroots participation in the National Grange Legislative program.
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