EchoStar Mulls Spinoff

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- EchoStar Communications Corporation (Nasdaq:DISH) today announced that its Board of Directors has directed Management to pursue a possible separation of its businesses into two distinct publicly traded companies. EchoStar recently submitted a request to the Internal Revenue Service for a ruling as to the tax-free nature of the transaction.

Under the proposed plan, EchoStar's U.S. consumer pay-TV business would continue to operate as the DISH Network(r). Most of the company's other technology and infrastructure assets would be spun-off in a transaction intended to be tax-free to EchoStar and its shareholders. Upon completion of the spin-off transaction, the shareholders of EchoStar would have separate pro rata ownership interests in each company.

"We believe separation of our consumer-based and wholesale businesses could unlock additional value. Each company would be able to separately pursue the strategies that best suit its respective long-term interests. The spin-off transaction would also allow employee incentives to be tied to their respective company's performance, and improve opportunities to effectively develop and finance expansion plans," said Charlie Ergen, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of EchoStar.

EchoStar Satellite LLC