EchoStar-owned Hughes Network Systems has reported a 3 percent fall in revenue and a loss of 30,000 broadband subscribers during the first quarter. The company now has 853,000 subscribers. However, CEO Hamid Akhavan told analysts that, while EchoStar was yet to make any announcements regarding the readiness of its engineering plan, getting the timing right for the company’s next stage was not easy.
We certainly intend to be in the market as the leading provider of mobile direct-to-device (D2D) connectivity using our S-band rights internationally and AWS-4 domestically. We are very much focused on it. It is one of the most important strategic priorities in terms of business development,” Akhavan said.
Akhavan stressed that EchoStar was cautious, even though chipsets are being fab’d now.
Hughes has a contracted backlog of some $1.6 billion, up 5 percent on the previous year.
EchoStar-owned Boost mobile added 150,000 net new subs in Q1.
As for EchoStar itself, it appears to be in better shape than it was a year ago, but it reported a loss of some $202.7 million in Q1 and investment analysts continue to say it is when, not if, the company will file for bankruptcy.
MoffettNathanson analyst Craig Moffett wrote that bankruptcy would be viewed by many equity investors as a good thing, expediting the liquidation of a collection of assets that are the reason they’re holding onto EchoStar stock.
If a bankruptcy were to eliminate EchoStar’s tower lease obligations, well, all the better; those obligations are simply another layer of senior debt. More for everyone else,” Moffett wrote in a note to clients.
As for payTV operations Dish TV and Sling TV, they suffered a combined loss of 380,000 subs (from 7.78 million to about 7.5 million) during Q1. The payTV segment’s revenue decreased from $2.7 billion in the comparable 2024 quarter to $2.5 billion (down 7.4 perent), which Echostar says was “in line with expectations.”
Dish TV said it had seen its lowest churn (1.36 per cent) in more than 10 years.
