EchoStar 10-K 2023-12-31

Filed 2024-02-29. 20 sections, 946K characters. Original on sec.gov · Markdown · JSON

What changed since the 2022-12-31 10-KNew, removed and reworded risk factor headings, then every item sentence by sentence.

Cover and table of contents

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

Form 10-K

(Mark One)


☒	ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31**,** 2023


☐	TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

FOR THE TRANSITION PERIOD FROM TO .

Commission File Number: 001-33807

EchoStar Corporation

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)


Nevada		26-1232727
(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization)		(I.R.S. Employer Identification No.)

9601 South Meridian Boulevard
Englewood, Colorado		80112
(Address of principal executive offices)		(Zip Code)

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: **(**303) 723-1000

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:


Title of each class		Trading Symbol(s)		Name of each exchange on which registered
Class A common stock, $0.001 par value		SATS		The Nasdaq Stock Market L.L.C.

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act:None

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes ☒ No ☐

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act. Yes ☐ No ☒

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes ☒ No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). Yes ☒ No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

Large accelerated filer ☒		Accelerated filer ☐

Non-accelerated filer ☐		Smaller reporting company ☐ Emerging growth company ☐

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report. ☒

If securities are registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act, indicate by check mark whether the financial statements of the registrant included in the filing reflect the correction of an error to previously issued financial statements. ☐

Indicate by check mark whether any of those error corrections are restatements that required a recovery analysis of incentive-based compensation received by any of the registrant’s executive officers during the relevant recovery period pursuant to §240.10D-1(b). ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Act). Yes ☐ No ☒

As of June 30, 2023, the aggregate market value of Class A common stock held by non-affiliates of the registrant was $585.3 million based upon the closing price of the Class A common stock as reported on the Nasdaq Global Select Market as of the close of business on the last trading day of the month.

As of February 20, 2024, the registrant’s outstanding common stock consisted of 140,170,052 shares of Class A common stock and 131,348,468 shares of Class B common stock, each $0.001 par value.

DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

The following documents are incorporated into this Form 10-K by reference:

Portions of the registrant’s definitive Proxy Statement to be filed in connection with its 2023 Annual Meeting of Shareholders are incorporated by reference in Part III.

TABLE OF CONTENTS


	PART I

	Disclosure Regarding Forward-Looking Statements	i
Item 1.	Business	1
Item 1A.	Risk Factors	24
Item 1B.	Unresolved Staff Comments	51
Item 1C	Cybersecurity	52
Item 2.	Properties	53
Item 3.	Legal Proceedings	53
Item 4.	Mine Safety Disclosures	53

	PART II

Item 5.	Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities	53
Item 6.	[Reserved]	54
Item 7.	Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations	55
Item 7A.	Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk	101
Item 8.	Financial Statements and Supplementary Data	103
Item 9.	Changes in and Disagreements With Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure	103
Item 9A.	Controls and Procedures	103
Item 9B.	Other Information	104
Item 9C.	Disclosure Regarding Foreign Jurisdictions that Prevent Inspections	104

	PART III

Item 10.	Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance	104
Item 11.	Executive Compensation	105
Item 12.	Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters	105
Item 13.	Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence	105
Item 14.	Principal Accounting Fees and Services	105

	PART IV

Item 15.	Exhibits, Financial Statement Schedules	105
Item 16.	Form 10-K Summary	114

	Signatures	115
	Index to Consolidated Financial Statements	F-1

DISCLOSURE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

Unless otherwise required by the context, in this report, the words “EchoStar,” the “Company,” “we,” “our” and “us” refer to EchoStar Corporation and its subsidiaries, “DISH Network” refers to DISH Network Corporation, our wholly owned subsidiary, and its subsidiaries, and “DISH DBS” refers to DISH DBS Corporation, a wholly-owned, indirect subsidiary of DISH Network, and its subsidiaries.

This Annual Report on Form 10-K contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including, in particular, statements about our plans, objectives and strategies, growth opportunities in our industries and businesses, our expectations regarding future results, financial condition, liquidity and capital requirements, our estimates regarding the impact of regulatory developments and legal proceedings, and other trends and projections. Forward-looking statements are not historical facts and may be identified by words such as “future,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “plan,” “goal,” “seek,” “believe,” “estimate,” “expect,” “predict,” “will,” “would,” “could,” “can,” “may,” and similar terms. These forward-looking statements are based on information available to us as of the date of this Annual Report on Form 10-K and represent management’s current views and assumptions. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, events or results and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which may be beyond our control. Accordingly, actual performance, events or results could differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements due to a number of factors, including, but not limited to, those summarized below:

SUMMARY OF RISK FACTORS

Risks Related to the Integration

	●	Although we expect that the Merger will result in synergies and other benefits, those synergies and benefits may not be realized in the amounts anticipated, or may not be realized within the expected timeframe, or at all, and risks associated with the foregoing may also result from any extended delay in the Integration.

	●	The market price for shares of our common stock may be affected by factors different from, or in addition to, those that historically affected the market prices of shares of DISH Network Class A Common Stock and EchoStar Class A Common Stock.

Competition and Economic Risks

	●	We face intense and increasing competition from providers of video, broadband and/or wireless services. Changing consumer behavior and new technologies in our Pay-TV and/or Wireless business may reduce our subscriber activations and may cause our subscribers to purchase fewer services from us or to cancel our services altogether, resulting in less revenue to us.

	●	We face certain risks competing in the wireless services industry and operating a facilities-based wireless services business.

	●	Our pay-TV competitors may be able to leverage their relationships with programmers to reduce their programming costs and/or offer exclusive content that will place them at a competitive advantage to us.

	●	Through the MNSA and the NSA, we depend on T-Mobile and AT&T to provide network services to our Wireless subscribers. Our failure to effectively manage these relationships, including without limitation, our minimum commitments, any system failure in their wireless networks, interruption in the services provided to us, and/or the termination of the MNSA or the NSA could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

	●	We compete with the MNOs whose networks we rely on to provide wireless services to our customers, and they may seek to limit, reduce or terminate our network access to the extent that it becomes competitively advantageous to do so.

	●	If we are unable to take advantage of technological developments on a timely basis, or at all, we may experience a decline in demand for our services or face challenges in implementing or evolving our business strategy.

Operational and Service Delivery Risks

	●	Any deterioration in our operational performance, subscriber activations and churn rate and subscriber satisfaction could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

	●	We depend on others to provide the programming that we offer to our Pay-TV subscribers and, if we fail to obtain or lose access to certain programming, our Pay-TV subscriber activations and our subscriber churn rate may be negatively impacted.

	●	We have limited satellite capacity and any failures or reduced capacity, caused by, among other things, operational and environmental risks, could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

	●	Extreme weather may result in risk of damage to our infrastructure and therefore our ability to provide services, and may lead to changes in federal, state and foreign government regulation, all of which could materially and adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition.

	●	We rely on a single vendor or a limited number of vendors to provide certain key products or services to us, and the inability of these key vendors to meet our needs could have a material adverse effect on our business.

	●	We depend on independent third parties to solicit orders for our services that represent a meaningful percentage of our total gross new subscriber activations.

Risks Related to our Human Capital

	●	We rely on highly skilled personnel for our business, and any inability to hire and retain key personnel or to hire qualified personnel may negatively affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

	●	Our business growth and customer retention strategies rely in part on the work of technically skilled employees.

Risks Related to our Products and Technology

	●	Our business depends on certain intellectual property rights and on not infringing the intellectual property rights of others.

	●	We are, and may become, party to various lawsuits which, if adversely decided, could have a significant adverse impact on our business, particularly lawsuits regarding intellectual property.

	●	If our products contain defects, we could be subject to significant costs to correct such defects and our product and network service contracts could be delayed or cancelled, which could adversely affect our revenue.

Risks Related to Cybersecurity

	●	We have experienced and may experience in the future consistent cyber-attacks and attempts to gain unauthorized access to our systems and any failure or inadequacy of our information technology infrastructure and communications systems or those of third parties that we use in our operations could disrupt or harm our business.

	●	The confidentiality, integrity, and availability of our services and products depends on the continuing operation of our information technology and other enabling systems.

Acquisition and Capital Structure Risks

	●	We have substantial debt outstanding and may incur additional debt and covenants in our Indentures could limit our ability to undertake certain types of activities and adversely affect our liquidity.

	●	We may pursue acquisitions, dispositions, capital expenditures, the development, acquisition and launch of new satellites and other strategic initiatives to complement or expand our business, which may not be successful and we may lose a portion or all of our investment in these acquisitions and transactions.

	●	We have made substantial investments to acquire certain wireless spectrum licenses and other related assets, and may be unable to realize a return on these assets.

	●	We will need additional capital, which may not be available on favorable terms, to fund current obligations, continue investing in our business and to finance acquisitions and other strategic transactions.

	●	We are controlled by one principal stockholder who is our Chairman.

Risks Related to the Regulation of Our Business

	●	Our services depend on FCC licenses that can expire or be revoked or modified and applications for FCC licenses that may not be granted.

Other factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to, those discussed under the caption “Risk Factors” in Part I, Item 1A in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, those discussed in “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” herein and those discussed in other documents we file with the SEC. All cautionary statements made or referred to herein should be read as being applicable to all forward-looking statements wherever they appear. Investors should consider the risks and uncertainties described or referred to herein and should not place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements speak only as of the date made, and we expressly disclaim any obligation to update these forward-looking statements.

iii

PART I

Item 1. BUSINESS

OVERVIEW

EchoStar Corporation is a holding company that was organized in October 2007 as a corporation under the laws of the State of Nevada. Its subsidiaries (which together with EchoStar Corporation are referred to as “EchoStar,” the “Company,” “we,” “us” and/or “our,” unless otherwise required by the context). Our Class A common stock is publicly traded on the NASDAQ Global Select Market (“NASDAQ”) under the symbol “SATS.” Our principal executive offices are located at 9601 South Meridian Boulevard, Englewood, Colorado 80112 and our telephone number is (303) 723- 1000.

Recent Developments

Merger with DISH Network

On December 31, 2023, we completed the acquisition of DISH Network pursuant to the Amended and Restated Agreement and Plan of Merger, dated as of October 2, 2023 (the “Amended Merger Agreement”), by and among us, EAV Corp., a Nevada corporation and our wholly owned subsidiary (“Merger Sub”), and DISH Network, pursuant to which we acquired DISH Network by means of the merger of Merger Sub with and into DISH Network (the “Merger”), with DISH Network surviving the Merger as our wholly owned subsidiary.

On the terms and subject to the conditions set forth in the Amended Merger Agreement, on December 31, 2023, at 11:59 p.m. ET (the “Effective Time”), each share of DISH Network Class A common stock, par value $0.01 per share (“DISH Network Class A Common Stock”) and DISH Network Class C common stock, par value $0.01 per share (“DISH Network Class C Common Stock”) outstanding immediately prior to the Effective Time, was converted into the right to receive a number of validly issued, fully paid and non-assessable shares of EchoStar Class A common stock, par value $0.001 per share (“EchoStar Class A Common Stock”) equal to 0.350877 (the “Exchange Ratio”). On the terms and subject to the conditions set forth in the Amended Merger Agreement, at the Effective Time, each share of DISH Network Class B common stock, par value $0.01 per share (“DISH Network Class B Common Stock” and, together with DISH Network Class A Common Stock and DISH Network Class C Common Stock, “DISH Network Common Stock”), outstanding immediately prior to the Effective Time was converted into the right to receive a number of validly issued, fully paid and non-assessable shares of EchoStar Class B common stock, par value $0.001 per share (the “EchoStar Class B Common Stock” and, together with the EchoStar Class A Common Stock, the “EchoStar Common Stock”), equal to the Exchange Ratio.

Any shares of DISH Network Common Stock that were held in DISH Network’s treasury or held directly by us or Merger Sub immediately prior to the Effective Time were cancelled and cease to exist and no consideration was paid in respect thereof. All shares of the DISH Network Class A Common Stock were delisted from the Nasdaq Global Select Market (“NASDAQ”) and deregistered under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended.

The EchoStar Common Stock issued to the Ergen DISH Stockholders (as defined in the Amended Merger Agreement) as Merger consideration was issued through a private placement exemption from registration under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”). At the Effective Time, each share of DISH Network Class A Common Stock owned by the Ergen DISH Stockholders immediately prior to the Effective Time was converted into the right to receive a number of shares of EchoStar Class A Common Stock equal to the Exchange Ratio, and (b) each share of DISH Network Class B Common Stock owned by the Ergen DISH Stockholders immediately prior to the Effective Time was converted into the right to receive a number of shares of EchoStar Class B Common Stock equal to the Exchange Ratio.

Concurrently with the entry into the Amended Merger Agreement, the Ergen EchoStar Stockholders (as defined in the Amended Merger Agreement), the Ergen DISH Stockholders (collectively, the “Ergen Stockholders”), we and DISH Network entered into an amended and restated support agreement (the “Amended Support Agreement”).

In connection with the completion of the Merger, and pursuant to the Amended and Restated Support Agreement, the Ergen Stockholders, we and DISH Network, on December 31, 2023, we and the Ergen Stockholders entered into a registration rights agreement (the “Registration Rights Agreement”). The Registration Rights Agreement provides the Ergen Stockholders, and their affiliates who become parties thereto, with certain registration rights relating to the shares of EchoStar Common Stock, which they beneficially own, including: (i) the right to demand shelf registration as well as registration on long and short form registration statements and; (ii) “piggyback” registration rights to be included in future registered offerings by us of our equity securities, in each case, subject to certain requirements and customary conditions. The Registration Rights Agreement sets forth customary registration procedures, including an agreement by us to make appropriate officers available to participate in roadshow presentations and cooperate as reasonably requested in connection with any underwritten offerings. We also agreed to indemnify the Ergen Stockholders and their affiliates with respect to liabilities resulting from untrue statements or omissions in any registration statement used in any such registration, other than untrue statements or omissions based on or contained in information furnished to us for use in a registration statement by a participating stockholder.

For more information and a copy of the Amended Merger Agreement, the Amended Support Agreement and the Registration Rights Agreement, see the Form 8-K of EchoStar Corporation filed on October 3, 2023 and the Form 8-K of EchoStar Corporation filed on January 2, 2024.

With the Merger complete, we are currently focused on the process of integrating our and DISH Network’s business in a manner that facilitates synergies, cost savings, growth opportunities and achieves other anticipated benefits (the “Integration”).

Segments

EchoStar Corporation is a holding company. Its subsidiaries operate four primary business segments: (1) Pay-TV; (2) Retail Wireless; (3) 5G Network Deployment; and (4) Broadband and Satellite Services.

Pay-TV

We offer pay-TV services under the DISH® brand and the SLING® brand (collectively “Pay-TV” services). The DISH branded pay-TV service consists of, among other things, Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) licenses authorizing us to use direct broadcast satellite (“DBS”) and Fixed Satellite Service (“FSS”) spectrum, our owned and leased satellites, receiver systems, broadcast operations, a leased fiber optic network, in-home service and call center operations, and certain other assets utilized in our operations (“DISH TV”). We also design, develop and distribute receiver systems and provide digital broadcast operations, including satellite uplinking/downlinking, transmission and other services to third-party pay-TV providers. The SLING branded pay-TV services consist of, among other things, multichannel, live-linear and on-demand streaming over-the-top (“OTT”) Internet-based domestic, international, Latino and Freestream video programming services (“SLING TV”). As of December 31, 2023, we had 8.526 million Pay-TV subscribers in the United States, including 6.471 million DISH TV subscribers and 2.055 million SLING TV subscribers.

Retail Wireless

We offer nationwide prepaid and postpaid retail wireless services to subscribers primarily under our Boost Mobile®, Boost postpaid and Gen Mobile® brands (“Retail Wireless” services), as well as a competitive portfolio of wireless devices. Prepaid wireless subscribers generally pay in advance for monthly access to wireless talk, text, and data services. Postpaid wireless subscribers are qualified to pay after receiving wireless talk, text, and data services, and may also qualify for fin

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Item 1A. RISK FACTORS

The risks and uncertainties described below are not the only ones facing us. If any of the following events occur or evolve in a way different than expected, our business, financial condition, results of operation could be materially and adversely affected.

Risks Related to the Integration

Although we expect that the Merger will result in synergies and other benefits, those synergies and benefits may not be realized in the amounts anticipated, or may not be realized within the anticipated timeframe, or at all, and risks associated with the foregoing may also result from any extended delay in the Integration of the companies.

Our ability to realize the anticipated benefits of the Merger will depend, to a large extent, on our ability to integrate our and DISH Network’s business in a manner that facilitates growth opportunities and achieves the anticipated benefits. In addition, some of the anticipated synergies are not expected to occur for a significant time period following the completion of the Merger and will require substantial capital expenditures to achieve. There can be no guarantee we will achieve any of these benefits on the anticipated timeframe or at all.

The combination of two separate companies is complex, costly and time-consuming and may require significant management attention and resources which may divert attention from our business and operations. The failure to meet the challenges involved in combining the two companies and to realize the anticipated benefits of the Merger could, among other things, cause an interruption of, or a loss of momentum in, our activities and could adversely affect our results of operations. The overall combination of the two companies may also result in, among other things, material unanticipated problems, expenses, liabilities, competitive responses and loss of customer and other business relationships. The difficulties of combining our operations include, among others:

	●	diversion of management and employee attention to Integration matters;

	●	difficulties in integrating operations and systems, including, but not limited to, communications systems, administrative and information technology infrastructure, financial reporting and internal control systems;

	●	challenges in conforming standards, controls, procedures and accounting and other policies, business cultures and compensation structures between the two companies;

	●	difficulties in integrating employees and teams of the respective businesses and attracting and retaining key personnel;

	●	challenges in retaining and obtaining customers, suppliers and other commercial relationships;

	●	difficulties in managing the expanded operations of a larger and more complex company; and

	●	potential unknown liabilities, adverse consequences and unforeseen increased expenses associated with the Integration.

Many of these factors are outside of our control and any of them could result in lower revenues, higher costs and diversion of management time and energy, which could materially impact our business, financial condition and results of operations. In addition, even if the operations of the companies are integrated successfully, the full benefits of the Merger may not be realized, including, among others, the synergies, cost savings or sales or growth opportunities that are expected. These benefits may not be achieved within the anticipated time frame or at all. As a result, it cannot be assured that the Integration will result in the realization of the full benefits expected from the Merger within the anticipated time frames, or at all.

The market price for shares of our common stock may be affected by factors different from, or in addition to, those that historically affected the market prices of shares of DISH Network Class A Common Stock and EchoStar Class A Common Stock.

Upon consummation of the Merger, DISH Network Class A Stockholders became holders of EchoStar Class A Common Stock. The businesses of DISH Network and its subsidiaries are different from those of EchoStar and its subsidiaries. Accordingly, after the consummation of the Merger, our results of operations are affected by some factors that are different from those that historically affected the results of operations of EchoStar and/or DISH Network. The results of operations of each company may also be affected by factors different from those that currently affect or have historically affected either company.

Competition and Economic Risks

We face intense and increasing competition from providers of video, broadband and/or wireless services, which may require us to further increase subscriber acquisition and retention spending or accept lower subscriber activations and higher subscriber churn.

Our Pay-TV business faces substantial competition from established pay-TV providers and broadband service providers and increasing competition from companies providing/facilitating the delivery of video content via the Internet to computers, televisions, and other streaming and mobile devices, including, but not limited to, wireless service providers. In recent years, the traditional pay-TV industry has matured, and industry consolidation and convergence have created competitors with greater scale and multiple product/service offerings. Some of these services charge nominal or no fees for access to their content, which could adversely affect demand for our Pay-TV services. Moreover, new technologies have been, and will likely continue to be, developed that further increase the number of competitors we face with respect to video services, including, but not limited to, competition from piracy-based video offerings. These developments, among others, have contributed to intense and increasing competition, which we expect to continue.

We face increasing competition from content providers and other companies who distribute video directly to consumers over the Internet. These content providers and other companies, as well as traditional satellite television providers, cable companies and large telecommunication companies, are rapidly increasing their Internet-based video offerings. See “Item 1. Business – Overview – Competition” and “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations – Trends in our Pay-TV Segment” in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for further information.

Mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures and alliances among cable television providers, telecommunications companies, programming providers and others may result in, among other things, greater scale and financial leverage and increase the availability of offerings from providers capable of bundling video, broadband and/or wireless services in competition with our services, and may exacerbate the risks described herein. Such providers may be able to, among other things, utilize their increased leverage over third-party content owners and programmers to withhold online rights from us and reduce the price they pay for programming at the expense of other MVPDs, including us; thwart our ability to compete in the wireless market, by, among other things, refuse to enter into data roaming agreements; underutilize key orbital spectrum resources that could be more efficiently used by us; foreclose or degrade our online video offerings at various points in the broadband pipe; and impose data caps on consumers who access our online video offerings. See “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations – Trends in our Pay-TV Segment – Programming” in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for further information.

We believe that the availab

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Item 1B. UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS

None.

Item 1C. CYBERSECURITY

We recognize the importance of assessing, identifying, reviewing and managing material risks associated with cybersecurity threats, as such term is defined in Item 106(a) of Regulation S-K. These risks include, among other things: operational and legal risks including intellectual property theft or loss, fraud, extortion, harm to employees or customers and violation of data privacy or security laws. Our framework is informed in part by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Cybersecurity Framework, although this does not imply that we meet all technical standards, specifications or requirements under NIST.

We have an enterprise-wide information security program designed to identify, protect against, detect, respond to, and recover from cybersecurity risks, threats and events. Our cyber risk management system contributes significantly to the overall resilience and integrity of our business by, among other things, integrating the risk identification process in all major company initiatives and deployment processes, implementing a unified approach to managing both digital and traditional business risks, making continuous improvements and regularly reporting to management and the Board of Directors as a whole to ensure accountability.

We regularly assess risks from cybersecurity and technology threats and monitor our information systems for potential vulnerabilities. We and certain third parties conduct regular reviews and tests of our information security program and also leverage, among other things, audits, tabletop exercises, penetration and vulnerability testing, red team exercises, simulations and other exercises to evaluate the effectiveness of our information security program and improve our security measures and planning. In addition, we evaluate third-party risks and perform third-party risk management to assess, identify and mitigate risks from third parties such as vendors, suppliers and other business partners.

We have experienced cyber-attacks or other malicious activities that disrupted our business in the past. Any future failure or disruption of our information technology infrastructure and communications systems or those of third parties that we use in our operations could harm our business in the future. On February 23, 2023, DISH Network experienced a network outage that affected its internal servers and IT telephony. We immediately activated our incident response and business continuity plans designed to contain, remediate and recover from the situation. We engaged the services of certain cyber-security experts and outside advisors to assist in the evaluation of the situation, and once we determined that the outage was due to a cybersecurity incident, we promptly notified appropriate law enforcement authorities. In addition, on February 28, 2023, we further disclosed that certain data had been extracted from the DISH Network IT systems.

After investigation and discussions with certain third parties, we determined that our customer databases were not accessed, however, we confirmed that certain employee-related records as well as a limited number of other records containing certain personal information were among the data extracted. We took steps to protect the affected records, received confirmation that the extracted data was deleted and notified individuals whose data was extracted.

The DISH TV, SLING TV and Retail Wireless services, along with our wireless and data networks remained operational at all times during the incident. As of March 31, 2023, all significant systems had been restored. We have no reason to believe that this cybersecurity incident has not been concluded.

We describe whether and how risks from identified cybersecurity threats, including, but not limited to, as a result of any previous cybersecurity incidents, have materially affected or are reasonably likely to materially affect us, including our business strategy, results of operations or financial condition included as part of our risk factor disclosures at Item 1A of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

The Chief Information Security Officer (“CISO”) leads our information security organization responsible for overseeing our information security program. Our CISO has over 25 years of experience in various roles involving information security, including risk management and security leadership. Team members who support our information security program have relevant education, professional certifications and industry experience, including but not limited to, holding similar positions at large technology companies. The team provides regular reports, no less frequently than monthly, to senior management and other relevant teams, including, but not limited to, the Chief Executive Officer (“CEO”), Chief Operating Officer (“COO”), Chief Information Officer (“CIO”) and Chief Legal Officer (“CLO”).

Preparation for and, where possible prevention of cybersecurity incidents involves regular and structured briefings to key management on risk remediation measures that should be taken to decrease, among other things, the likelihood and severability of incidents and to mitigate and manage their effects. The CEO, COO, CIO, CLO and other members of management receive detailed updates on cybersecurity risks on a regular basis, no less frequently than monthly, or when significant risks or incidents are identified. These briefings enable the management team to, among other things, stay informed of the latest threats, assess the effectiveness of current security measures and make timely decisions on strategic security initiatives. In addition, the Board of Directors is regularly briefed, no less frequently than quarterly, on cybersecurity risks as part of its oversight functions and to ensure that cybersecurity practices align with the company’s overall risk management framework and business objectives.

In connection with the Integration, we anticipate that we will continue to evaluate and address as needed our cyber security risk management, policies, structure, strategies and governance to meet our needs.

Item 2. PROPERTIES

The following table sets forth certain information concerning our principal properties related to our business segments.



`	Segment(s)Using Property	Owned	Leased
Corporate headquarters, Englewood, Colorado	All	X
General offices, Littleton, Colorado	Retail Wireless/5G Network Deployment	X
General offices, engineering offices, network operations and shared hubs, Germantown, Maryland	Broadband and Satellite Services	X
General offices and warehouse, Griesheim, Germany	Broadband and Satellite Services	X
Customer call center, warehouse, service, and remanufacturing center, El Paso, Texas	Pay-TV	X
Data center, gateways, equipment and operations, Cheyenne, Wyoming	Pay-TV/5G Network Deployment/Broadband and Satellite Services	X
Digital broadcast operations center, Cheyenne, Wyoming	Pay-TV	X
Digital broadcast operations center and gateways, Gilbert, Arizona	Pay-TV/Broadband and Satellite Services	X
Engineering offices and service center, Englewood, Colorado	Pay-TV	X
Warehouse, Denver, Colorado	Pay-TV	X
Warehouse and distribution center, Spartanburg, South Carolina	Pay-TV/5G Network Deployment		X
Warehouse and distribution center, Denver, Colorado	Pay-TV/5G Network Deployment		X
Warehouse and distribution center, Atlanta, Georgia	Pay-TV/5G Network Deployment		X

In addition to the principal properties listed above, we operate numerous facilities for, among other things, our in-home service operations, customer call centers, digital broadcast operations centers strategically located in regions throughout the United States, manufacturing and testing facilities, shared hubs, regional network management centers and backup network operation and control centers. We also have several general offices in foreign countries. Furthermore, our Pay-TV segment owns or leases capacity on nine satellites, which are a major component of our DISH TV services and our Broadband and Satellite Services segment currently owns or leases capacity on nine satellites, which are a major component of the Broadband and Satellite Services segment. See Note 8 in the Notes to our Consolidated Financial Statements in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for further information.

Item 3. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS

See Note 15 in the Notes to our Consolidated Financial Statements in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for information regarding certain legal proceedings in which we are involved.

Item 4. MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURES

Not applicable.

PART II

Item 5.	MARKET FOR REGISTRANT’S COMMON EQUITY, RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES

Market Information

Our Class A common stock is quoted on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol “SATS.” As of February 27, 2024, there were approximately 8,660 holders of record of our Class A common stock, not including stockholders who beneficially own Class A common stock held in nominee or street name. As of February 27, 2024, all of the 131,348,468 outstanding shares of our Class B common stock were beneficially held by Charles W. Ergen, our Chairman, and by certain entities established by Mr. Ergen for the benefit of his family. There is currently no trading market for our Class B common stock.

Dividends

We have not paid any cash dividends on our common stock in the past two years. We currently do not intend to declare dividends on our common stock. Payment of any future dividends will depend upon our earnings, capital requirements, contractual restrictions and other factors the Board of Directors considers appropriate. Our ability to declare dividends is affected by the covenants in our subsidiary’s indentures. See Note 10 to the Notes to our Consolidated Financial Statements in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for further information.

Securities Authorized for Issuance Under Equity Compensation Plans

See “Item 12. Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters” in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Purchases of Equity Securities by the Issuer and Affiliated Purchasers

The following table provides information regarding purchases of our Class A common stock made by us for the period from October 1, 2023 through December 31, 2023.


				Total Number of	Maximum Approximate
	Total			Shares Purchased	Dollar Value of Shares
	Number of	Average		as Part of Publicly	that May Yet be
	Shares	Price Paid		Announced	Purchased Under the
Period	Purchased	per Share		Programs	Programs (1)

	(In thousands, except share data)
October 1, 2023 - October 31, 2023	—	$	—	—	$	500,000
November 1, 2023 - November 30, 2023	—	$	—	—	$	500,000
December 1, 2023 - December 31, 2023	—	$	—	—	$	500,000
Total	—	$	—	—	$	500,000

(1)

Our Board of Directors previously authorized stock repurchases of up to $500 million of our outstanding Class A common stock through and including December 31, 2023. On October 20, 2022, our Board of Directors extended this authorization to repurchase up to $500 million of our outstanding Class A common stock through and including December 31, 2023. Purchases under our repurchase program may be made through open market purchases, privately negotiated transactions, or Rule 10b5-1 trading plans, subject to market conditions and other factors. We may elect not to purchase the maximum amount of shares allowable under this program and we may also enter into additional share repurchase programs authorized by our Board of Directors. This program expired December 31, 2023.

Item 6. [RESERVED]

Item 7.	MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

You should read the following management’s discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations together with the audited consolidated financial statements and notes to our financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. This management’s discussion and analysis is intended to help provide an understanding of our financial condition, changes in financial condition and results of our operations and contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. The forward-looking statements are not historical facts, but rather are based on current expectations, estimates, assumptions and projections about our industry, business and future financial results. Our actual results could differ materially from the results contemplated by these forward-looking statements due to a number of factors, including those discussed under the caption “Item 1A. Risk Factors” and elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Furthermore, such forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this Annual Report on Form 10-K and we expressly disclaim any obligation to update any forward-looking statements.

Overview

Recent Developments

Merger with DISH Network

On December 31, 2023, we completed the Merger with DISH Network. On the terms and subject to the conditions set forth in the Amended Merger Agreement, on December 31, 2023 at the Effective Time each share of DISH Network Common Stock outstanding immediately prior to the Effective Time, was converted into the right to receive a number of validly issued, fully paid and non-assessable shares of EchoStar Common Stock equal to the Exchange Ratio. Any shares of DISH Network Common Stock that were held in DISH Network’s treasury or held directly by us or Merger Sub immediately prior to the Effective Time were cancelled and cease to exist and no consideration was paid in respect thereof. All shares of the DISH Network Class A Common Stock were delisted from NASDAQ and deregistered under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended.

The EchoStar Common Stock issued to the Ergen DISH Stockholders (as defined in the Amended Merger Agreement) as Merger consideration was issued through a private placement exemption from registration under the Securities Act. At the Effective Time, each share of DISH Network Class A Common Stock owned by the Ergen DISH Stockholders immediately prior to the Effective Time was converted into the right to receive a number of shares of EchoStar Class A Common Stock equal to the Exchange Ratio, and (b) each share of DISH Network Class B Common Stock owned by the Ergen DISH Stockholders immediately prior to the Effective Time was converted into the right to receive a number of shares of EchoStar Class B Common Stock equal to the Exchange Ratio.

Concurrently with the entry into the Amended Merger Agreement, the Ergen Stockholders, we and DISH Network entered into the Amended Support Agreement.

In connection with the completion of the Merger, on December 31, 2023, we and the Ergen Stockholders entered into the Registration Rights Agreement. See Note 1 in the Notes to our Consolidated Financial Statements in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for further information.

With the Merger complete, we are currently focused on the Integration.

Segments

We currently operate four primary business segments: (1) Pay-TV; (2) Retail Wireless; (3) 5G Network Deployment; and (4) Broadband and Satellite Services.

Our Pay-TV segment business strategy is to be the best provider of video services in the United States by providing products with the best technology, outstanding customer service, and great value. We offer Pay-TV services under the DISH® brand and the SLING® brand. We promote our Pay-TV services by providing our subscribers with a better “price-to-value” relationship and experience than those available from other subscription television service providers. We market our SLING TV services to consumers who do not subscribe to traditional satellite and cable pay-TV services, as well as to current and recent traditional pay-TV subscribers who desire a lower cost alternative.

Our Retail Wireless segment offers Retail Wireless services as well as a competitive portfolio of wireless devices. We offer customers value by providing choice and flexibility in our Retail Wireless services. We offer competitive consumer plans with no annual service contracts. Our Retail Wireless business strategy is to expand our current target segments and profitably grow our subscriber base by acquiring and retaining high quality subscribers while we continue our 5G Network Deployment. We intend to acquire high quality subscribers by providing competitive offers, choice and outstanding customer service that better meet those subscribers’ needs and budget.

We are currently operating our Retail Wireless segment primarily as a MVNO as we continue our 5G Network Deployment and commercialize our 5G Network. We are transitioning our Retail Wireless segment to a MNO as our 5G Network becomes commercially available and we are currently activating subscribers onto our 5G Network in markets where we have reached VoNR. As an MVNO, today we depend on T-Mobile and AT&T to provide us with network services under the MNSA and the NSA, respectively. Under the NSA, we expect AT&T will become our primary network services provider.

Our 5G Network Deployment segment business strategy is to commercialize our Wireless spectrum licenses through the completion of our 5G Network Deployment. We have committed to deploy our 5G Network capable of serving increasingly larger portions of the U.S. population at different deadlines, including 20% of the U.S. population by June 2022 and 70% of the U.S. population by June 2023. If by June 2023, we are offering 5G broadband service to at least 50% of the U.S. population but less than 70% of the U.S. population, the 70% June 2023 deadline will be extended automatically to June 2025; however, as a result, we may, under certain circumstances, potentially be subject to certain penalties. On June 14, 2022, we announced we had successfully reached our 20% population coverage requirement. In addition, we announced and certified to the FCC that as of June 14, 2023, we offer 5G broadband service to over 73% of the U.S. population, or more than 246 million Americans nationwide. On September 29, 2023, the FCC confirmed we have met all of our June 14, 2023 band-specific 5G deployment commitments, and two of our three nationwide 5G commitments. The single remaining 5G commitment, that at least 70% of the U.S. population has access to average download speeds equal to 35 Mbps, will be confirmed using the drive test methodology agreed to and approved by the FCC. We have six months from September 29, 2023 to complete this drive test. We now have the largest commercial deployment of 5G VoNR in the world reaching approximately 200 million Americans and 5G broadband service reaching approximately 250 million Americans.

As a result of us providing 5G broadband service to over 50% of the U.S. population by June 14, 2023, the final build-out deadlines have been extended automatically to June 14, 2025 for us to offer 5G broadband service to at least 70% of the population in each Economic Area for the 700 MHz Licenses and AWS-4 Licenses and at least 75% of the population in each Economic Area for the H Block Licenses.

Our Broadband and Satellite Services segment business strategy is to maintain and imp

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Item 7A. QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK

Market Risks Associated with Financial Instruments

Our investments and debt are exposed to market risks, discussed below.

Cash, Cash Equivalents and Current Marketable Investment Securities

As of December 31, 2023, our cash, cash equivalents and current marketable investment securities had a fair value of $2.444 billion. Of that amount, a total of $2.277 billion was invested in: (a) cash; (b) money market funds; (c) debt instruments of the United States Government and its agencies; (d) commercial paper and corporate notes with an overall average maturity of less than one year and rated in one of the four highest rating categories by at least two nationally recognized statistical rating organizations; and/or (e) instruments with similar risk, duration and credit quality characteristics to the commercial paper and corporate obligations described above. The primary purpose of these investing activities has been to preserve principal until the cash is required to, among other things, continue investing in our business, pursue acquisitions and other strategic transactions, fund ongoing operations, repay debt obligations and expand our business. Consequently, the size of this portfolio can fluctuate significantly as cash is received and used in our business for these or other purposes. The value of this portfolio is negatively impacted by credit losses; however, this risk is mitigated through diversification that limits our exposure to any one issuer.

Interest Rate Risk

A change in interest rates would affect the fair value of our cash, cash equivalents and current marketable investment securities portfolio; however, we normally hold these investments to maturity. Based on our December 31, 2023 current non-strategic investment portfolio of $2.277 billion, a hypothetical 10% change in average interest rates would not have a material impact on the fair value due to the limited duration of our investments.

Our cash, cash equivalents and current marketable investment securities had an average annual rate of return for the year ended December 31, 2023 of 5.1%. A change in interest rates would affect our future annual interest income from this portfolio, since funds would be re-invested at different rates as the instruments mature. A hypothetical 10% decrease in average interest rates during 2023 would result in a decrease of approximately $18 million in annual interest income.

Strategic Marketable Investment Securities

As of December 31, 2023, we held investments in the publicly traded securities of several companies with a fair value of $167 million. These investments, which are held for strategic and financial purposes, are concentrated in a small number of companies, are highly speculative and have historically experienced, and continue to experience volatility. The fair value of these investments are subject to significant fluctuations in fair value and can be significantly impacted by the risk of adverse changes in securities markets generally, as well as risks related to the performance of the companies whose securities we have invested in, risks associated with specific industries and other factors. In general, our strategic marketable investment securities portfolio is not significantly impacted by interest rate fluctuations as it currently consists primarily of equity securities, the value of which is more closely related to factors specific to the underlying business. A hypothetical 10% adverse change in the market price of our public strategic equity investments during 2023 would have resulted in a decrease of $17 million in the fair value of these investments.

Restricted Cash, Cash Equivalents and Marketable Investment Securities

As of December 31, 2023, we had $118 million of restricted cash and marketable investment securities invested in: (a) cash; (b) money market funds; (c) debt instruments of the United States Government and its agencies; and/or (d) instruments with similar risk, duration and credit quality characteristics to commercial paper. Based on our December 31, 2023 investment portfolio, a hypothetical 10% increase in average interest rates would not have a material impact on the fair value of our restricted cash and marketable investment securities.

Foreign Currency Exchange Risk

Our international business is conducted in a variety of foreign currencies with our largest exposures being to the Brazilian real, the Indian rupee, European euro and the British pound. Transactions in foreign currencies are converted into U.S. dollars using exchange rates in effect on the dates of the transactions. This exposes us to fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates.

Our objective in managing our exposure to foreign currency changes is to reduce earnings and cash flow volatility associated with foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations, primarily resulting from loans to foreign subsidiaries in U.S. dollars. Accordingly, we may enter into foreign currency forward contracts, or take other measures, to mitigate risks associated with foreign currency denominated assets, liabilities, commitments and anticipated foreign currency transactions. As of December 31, 2023, we had foreign currency forward contracts with a notional amount of less than $1 million in place to partially mitigate foreign currency exchange risk. The estimated fair values of the foreign currency contracts were not material as of December 31, 2023. The impact of a hypothetical 10% adverse change in exchange rates on the carrying amount of the net assets and liabilities of our foreign subsidiaries during 2023 would have resulted in an estimated loss to the cumulative translation adjustment of $43 million as of December 31, 2023.

Long-Term Debt

As of December 31, 2023, we had long-term debt of $22.710 billion, excluding finance lease obligations and unamortized deferred financing costs and debt discounts, on our Consolidated Balance Sheets. We estimated the fair value of this debt to be approximately $17.844 billion using quoted market prices. The fair value of our debt is affected by fluctuations in interest rates. A hypothetical 10% decrease in assumed interest rates would increase the fair value of our debt by approximately $688 million. To the extent interest rates increase, our future costs of financing would increase at the time of any future financings. As of December 31, 2023, all of our long-term debt consisted of fixed rate indebtedness.

Derivative Financial Instruments

From time to time, we invest in speculative financial instruments, including derivatives. As of December 31, 2023, we did not hold any material derivative financial instruments other than the option to purchase certain T-Mobile’s 800 MHz spectrum licenses under the Spectrum Purchase Agreement. See Note 6 in the Notes to our Consolidated Financial Statements in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for further information.

Item 8. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTARY DATA

Our consolidated financial statements are included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K beginning on page F-1.

Item 9. CHANGES IN AND DISAGREEMENTS WITH ACCOUNTANTS ON ACCOUNTING AND FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE

Not applicable.

Item 9A. CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES

Disclosure controls and procedures

Under the supervision and with the participation of our management, including our Chief Executive Officer and Principal Financial Officer, we evaluated the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rule 13a-15(e) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934) as of the end of the period covered by this report. Based upon that evaluation, our Chief Executive Officer and Principal Financial Officer concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures were effective as of the end of the period covered by this report.

Changes in internal control over financial reporting

As a result of the Merger, our internal control over financial reporting (as defined by Rule 13a-15(f) under the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934) changed during our most recent fiscal quarter. We determined that the Merger involved the transfer of a business, which for entities under common control required the retrospective combination of DISH Network into the Company for all periods presented using the historical cost basis of the acquired assets. For the consolidated entity, we implemented new internal controls to record the retrospective combination and associated financial reporting. Further, as DISH Network was material to EchoStar, we adopted many aspects of DISH Network’s control environment for our internal control over financial reporting.

Management’s Annual Report on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting

Our management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting. Our internal control over financial reporting is designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with United States generally accepted accounting principles.

Our internal control over financial reporting includes those policies and procedures that:

	(i)	pertain to the maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect our transactions and dispositions of our assets;

	(ii)	provide reasonable assurance that our transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of our financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, and that our receipts and expenditures are being made only in accordance with authorizations of our management and our directors; and

	(iii)	provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use, or disposition of our assets that could have a material effect on our financial statements.

Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements. Also, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with policies or procedures may deteriorate.

Our management conducted an evaluation of the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting based on the framework in Internal Control – Integrated Framework (2013) issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). Based on this evaluation, our management concluded that our internal control over financial reporting was effective as of December 31, 2023.

The effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2023 has been audited by KPMG LLP, an independent registered public accounting firm, as stated in their report which appears in Item 15(a) of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Item 9B. OTHER INFORMATION

10b5-1 Trading Arrangements

None of the Company’s directors or Section 16 officers adopted, modified or terminated a Rule 10b5-1 trading arrangement or a non-Rule 10b5-1 trading arrangement during the Company’s fiscal quarter ended December 31, 2023, as such terms are defined under Item 408(a) of Regulation S-K.