dish

The Federal Communications Commission has paved the way for AT&T to finally use spectrum for its 4G LTE network that had been sidelined for 15 years because it caused interference with satellite radio services.

At its open meeting today, which was Webcast for the public, the FCC approved a compromise proposal that had been submitted by AT&T and Sirius XM Radio earlier this year that protects the satellite radio service by instituting unused guard bands of spectrum that are right next to the spectrum that Sirius uses.

All five of the commissioners on the FCC supported … Read more

So much for the rebirth of Blockbuster as a Netflix competitor.

Bloomberg reports that billionaire Charlie Ergen, founder and chairman of the Dish Network, has abandoned his effort to revive the onetime video-rental powerhouse. The original plan was to take Blockbuster retail locations and use them to sell Dish mobile devices, which could in turn be used to stream movies.

But U.S. regulators wouldn't grant immediate approval to a waiver that would allow Dish to transmit data and voice over its satellite spectrum, and Ergen decided to give up on the effort.

It's unclear what Dish will … Read more

Dish Network is said to be asking cable networks such as MTV to consider offering their shows on a Dish-owned Web service, according to a published report.

In a Bloomberg story today, the news wire said talks have also involved Univision Communications and Scripps Networks Interactive, parent company of the Food Network.

Bloomberg says Dish's pitch to the TV companies goes something like this: offer a relatively small bundle of shows for Web viewing at a discounted price. Financial terms weren't included in the story. A Dish spokesman said the company wasn't offering "any guidance regarding … Read more

People who've received unwanted sales calls from Dish Network may yet get some satisfaction.

The company is the target of a lawsuit from the Federal Trade Commission alleging that it made sales calls to millions of consumers even though they had asked not to be called again.

The calls reportedly violated the FTC's Telemarketing Sales Rule. According to that rule, a telemarketer cannot call someone who has asked to be taken off the company's call list, even if the person is not registered with the National Do Not Call list.

The FTC's lawsuit alleges that Dish … Read more

Dish Network is reportedly preparing to roll out a nationwide satellite-based broadband service this fall, ramping up competition with cable companies.

While Dish already offers satellite broadband to select areas as part of a partnership with communications company ViaSat, the new service would utilize a satellite recently launched by Dish sister company EchoStar, people familiar with the situation told Bloomberg.

The satellite, which was launched last month, can support download speeds of 15 megabits per second and can handle about 2 million new Internet customers, the sources told Bloomberg. However, speeds may be limited to 5 megabits per second to … Read more

Friday's top tech stories teach us that Web giants may die, but ice cream is forever:

What's left of the social news aggregator Digg has been purchased by Betaworks, a company that runs Bit.ly and several other Web businesses. Digg will be folded into News.me, a daily news app and e-mail digest. Digg has been struggling and was slowly disassembled. A subsidiary of Washington Post bought some of the Digg talent, LinkedIn grabbed some patents, and on Thursday, Betaworks acquired what was left. The Wall Street Journal has sources saying Betaworks acquired Digg for around $500,… Read more

AMC has some good news for Dish subscribers who are fans of "Breaking Bad."

The TV network, which was dropped by the satellite TV provider last month, announced today it will live-stream Sunday's much-anticipated premiere of season five of the drug-dealing drama to Dish customers for free.

"Every cable, phone and satellite company other than Dish carries AMC and its popular programming, including 'Breaking Bad,' 'The Walking Dead' and 'Mad Men,' in their basic package," AMC said in a statement. "AMC wants its loyal Dish viewers to experience the excitement of the 'Breaking Bad' … Read more

AT&T is looking to put some of its unused spectrum to work in a move that could reshuffle the wireless spectrum deck.

On Friday, the carrier filed a joint proposal to the Federal Communications Commission with satellite radio provider Sirius. In the filing, the two companies proposed a solution to some longstanding interference concerns between AT&T's unused WCS spectrum, which is in the 2.3 GHz band and Sirius's satellite radio service. As part of this new proposal, AT&T agreed to give up about 10MHz of this Wireless Communication Services or WCS … Read more

Like rival Dish, DirecTV has access to technology that could allow millions of subscribers to automatically skip TV commercials, but executives don't see much reason to offer it to consumers.

Mike White, CEO of largest satellite provider in the U.S., said at a media conference today that DirecTV bought the technology five years ago from a company called Replay TV but has not seen a reason to offer it to consumers, according to a Reuters account.

"We haven't chosen to use it," White said at the Reuters Global Media and Technology Summit in New York. &… Read more