gzowner
03-31-2006, 09:57 AM
NEW YORK - Satellite television operator DirecTV Group Inc., said on Wednesday it is still interested in buying smaller rival EchoStar, but doubts U.S. regulators would allow such a deal.
The two companies tried to merge in 2002, but the deal collapsed under the weight of opposition from the Federal Communications Commission Federal Communications Commission, which believed the combination of the top two satellite companies would stifle competition.
Mike Palkovic, chief financial officer of DirecTV, said a merger would be "desirable but not feasible" as the market environment had not changed.
"We?d be nuts not to look at it," Palkovic told Reuters on the sidelines of the Bank of America Media, Telecommunications and Entertainment Conference. "But the regulatory issues haven?t gone away."
According to Leitchman Research Group, DirecTV has 55 percent of the satellite TV market, or 15.1 million subscribers, and EchoStar Communications Corp. has 45 percent, or 11.9 million subscribers.
DirecTV said in February it was in talks with EchoStar to create a wireless high-speed network, which would put them in a stronger position to compete against cable operators and telephone companies that sell Internet, video and phone services.
Palkovic said technical issues still had to be worked out and speculation about the partnership had got ahead of itself.
"Technologies still have to be evaluated," he said in his keynote. "It?s not the easiest boiler plate to put together. I?m personally bullish on the fact that we?ll get something done."
He said a decision on some specifics on the partnership would be made by mid-year and that Wi-Max technology would be the most likely technology standard.
Wi-Max is an emerging technology designed to blanket whole cities with high-speed wireless services, improving on Wi-Fi, the dominant wireless technology used in laptops today, which is confined to smaller areas like coffee shops.
The two companies tried to merge in 2002, but the deal collapsed under the weight of opposition from the Federal Communications Commission Federal Communications Commission, which believed the combination of the top two satellite companies would stifle competition.
Mike Palkovic, chief financial officer of DirecTV, said a merger would be "desirable but not feasible" as the market environment had not changed.
"We?d be nuts not to look at it," Palkovic told Reuters on the sidelines of the Bank of America Media, Telecommunications and Entertainment Conference. "But the regulatory issues haven?t gone away."
According to Leitchman Research Group, DirecTV has 55 percent of the satellite TV market, or 15.1 million subscribers, and EchoStar Communications Corp. has 45 percent, or 11.9 million subscribers.
DirecTV said in February it was in talks with EchoStar to create a wireless high-speed network, which would put them in a stronger position to compete against cable operators and telephone companies that sell Internet, video and phone services.
Palkovic said technical issues still had to be worked out and speculation about the partnership had got ahead of itself.
"Technologies still have to be evaluated," he said in his keynote. "It?s not the easiest boiler plate to put together. I?m personally bullish on the fact that we?ll get something done."
He said a decision on some specifics on the partnership would be made by mid-year and that Wi-Max technology would be the most likely technology standard.
Wi-Max is an emerging technology designed to blanket whole cities with high-speed wireless services, improving on Wi-Fi, the dominant wireless technology used in laptops today, which is confined to smaller areas like coffee shops.