The time is right for Directv and Echostar (Dish Network) to merge. Rumors about a possible upcoming merger between the two have begun to circulate recently. I hope it happens this time. They tried it four years ago but were rejected by the FCC, whose members felt that a merger would violate antitrust laws.

However, their primary competition is no longer each other but the cable and phone companies, which have more advantages. Right now, satellite operators cannot provide competitive broadband, video-on-demand, and VoIP on their own the way the cable and phone companies can. In addition, even more direct competition in these technologies, in the form of broadband by power line (BPL) and wireless, are beginning to hit the market. A combined company would have a better chance to compete in these technologies.

In addition, it could eliminate all the duplication of services. Think about it - 95% of the channels carried by Directv are also carried by Dish Network and vice versa. This does not just include the the 200-300 national channels that each one offers. They both carry local channels in nearly 100 markets each. Most of these markets are duplicated. The satellite space and bandwidth freed up by the elimination of this wasteful duplication could be used for additional channels, more HDTV, and more competitive broadband offerings. In short, a merger of these two satellite giants would mean more competition, not less.

Terry Mitchell

Terry Mitchell is a software engineer, freelance writer, blogger, and amateur political analyst from Hopewell, VA. He's been in the software development/engineering line of work for over 24 years.

He blogs and writes about various subjects such as current events, politics, cultural and social issues, health and well-being, personal finance, religion, technology, media issues, law, government, sports, humor, and trivia.

Through the BlogBurst network, his blog entries are often carried on the Website of the Houston Chronicle, one of the top newspapers in America. In addition, his columns and essays regularly appear on American Chronicle's network of 21 online magazines. They have also appeared online on American Daily, Media Monitors International, Opinion Editorials, The Washington Dispatch, Arrivenet, and hundreds of additional websites.

Terry never misses an opportunity to assail political correctness and take pot shots at the conventional foolishness. He's not a bandwagon jumper - he writes stuff that others should be writing, but are not. He thinks of himself as a kind of modern American philosopher. His blog offers commentary from a unique point of view that is not often found in mainstream media.

Terry would love to have his blog picked up and syndicated by a major news or web organization. He also plans to write a book based on his blog. But, for now, he mainly writes for free as a hobby and enjoys having his aritcles posted on as many websites, ezines, news letters, newspapers, and magazines as possible.