Dish Network offers $1 billion to buy a bankrupt satellite/antenna company for reasons only it knows

Dish Network has agreed to buy DBSD, a company currently in Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection that’s reportedly working on a system to tie together satellite and ground-based antenna communication for wireless phone and internet service, pending approval by the FCC. Dish pegs the purchase price at approximately $1,000,000,000 (subject to certain adjustments) including the interest on DBSD’s debts. Exactly what its plans for the company are remain a mystery, as The Hollywood Reporter quotes mystified analysts like Craig Moffett suggesting theories including wireless internet service, mobile TV, or an integrated satellite/phone/TV bundle to compete with cable operators. SpaceNews.com has the most extensive breakdown, from Dish’s initial $45 million investment back in 2009, to the recent FCC decision on a similar hybrid service from LightSquared that may have caused DBSD’s spectrum & technology to suddenly become much more valuable. Whatever it is, they considered it worth writing an awful large check for, although we can’t help but wonder if they couldn’t have broken some of that money off to deal with this whole TiVo issue . Continue reading Dish Network offers $1 billion to buy a bankrupt satellite/antenna company for reasons only it knows Dish Network offers $1 billion to buy a bankrupt satellite/antenna company for reasons only it knows originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 01 Feb 2011 19:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink

Posted by on February 1, 2011. Filed under News, Tech. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry