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EchoStar Corporation: EchoStar's ViP-TV to Provide Transport of HD Video for Alaskan City's IPTV Service

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^{Published in Science and Technology on Tuesday, June 9th 2009 at 9:47 GMT, Last Modified on 2009-06-09 09:48:26 by Market Wire}  

ENGLEWOOD, CO--(Marketwire - June 9, 2009) - EchoStar Satellite Services, a division of EchoStar Corporation (NASDAQ: [ SATS ]), announced today an agreement to deliver its ViP-TV™ video transport service to the city of Ketchikan's KPU Telecommunications, a provider of telecommunications and video services to a city of approximately 14,000 residents in Ketchikan, Alaska. Taking advantage of EchoStar's IP-Prime Conversion Program, KPU will receive transport of up to 42 popular high definition TV channels to its IP headend.

"We're pleased to improve our channel line up while delivering uninterrupted service to our customers by bringing in the highest quality HD channels from EchoStar's ViP-TV service," said KPU Telecommunication's Division Manager Van Abbott. "Our IPTV solution provides a robust triple-play service with a bundle of high-speed Internet, telephone and digital TV services, including popular HD channels."

The city offers residents ultra high-speed broadband, TV services and Internet phone services and will be nearly 50 percent complete with its city-wide build out of fiber to the home at the end of this summer's construction season. With the addition from EchoStar, Ketchikan will offer a total of 58 HD channels along with a suite of more than 140 standard definition TV channels.

Commercial transport provider IP-Prime announced previously it is discontinuing its video transport service to telco facilities by July 31, 2009. EchoStar's IP-Prime Conversion Program provides qualified customers with EchoStar's ViP-TV transport service, replacement IDC satellite receivers and a standard professional installation, including a satellite dish re-point, cabling and connectors.

EchoStar's ViP-TV transport service is capable of delivering a secure, MPEG-4 encoded IP stream of approximately 275 channels of popular, broadcast-quality TV and music channels from a satellite located at 85 degrees W.L. ViP-TV can also provide satellite-delivered local TV channel aggregation in a telco's designated market area in both high definition and standard definition (where available).

"EchoStar is pleased to bring the City of Ketchikan a customizable solution for HD content delivery to their IP head-end," said Steve Skalski, who leads EchoStar's ViP-TV division. "Our ViP-TV service offers small cable and telco operators affordable, scalable and aggregated delivery of MPEG-4 IP-encapsulated TV channels."

For more information on ViP-TV, visit [ www.echostarviptv.com ], contact 303-706-4040 or email [ viptv@echostar.com ].

About EchoStar Satellite Services

EchoStar Satellite Services is a business unit of EchoStar Corporation (NASDAQ: [ SATS ]) and provides a reliable network available for backhaul, aggregation and distribution of video, audio and data domestically and internationally. EchoStar also offers the ViP-TV platform providing IPTV solutions. EchoStar represents a significant source of Ku-band and Ka-band satellite capacity and spacecraft operation services with access to eight satellites, ground-based teleport facilities, and an expansive terrestrial U.S. backhaul network along with 24-hour Satellite Access Centers. For more information or for occasional or full time satellite bandwidth, contact 866-359-8804 or email [ efss@echostar.com ].

About KPU Telecommunications

KPU Telecommunications is the leading provider of high definition television, ultra high-speed Internet, and voice telecom services in Ketchikan, Alaska. Visit [ http://www.city.ketchikan.ak.us/public_utilities/kputel/index.html ] or call 907-228-5474.