EchoStar and Dish were originally part of the same company, operating under the EchoStar name. In 2008, the company changed its name to Dish and spun off its satellite Internet wing under the EchoStar brand. Today’s merger brings together the two, which are still controlled by Ergen, who stepped down as Dish’s chief executive in 2017.
“There are many good companies in satellite and many in wireless, but not many do both,” Ergen told the Diary.
because they arise owns more than half of each companySo the Dish/EchoStar merger is almost more like consolidating two bank accounts. The deal doesn’t do anything immediately to improve Dish’s network, but the expanded resources could help it get there.
