Primestar abandons plans to buy the last available satellite slot, according to the
Justice Department:
>>Dow Jones Newswires
WASHINGTON -- The satellite-television partnership Primestar Inc. abandoned
plans Wednesday to buy the last available satellite slot, according to the
Justice Department.
The Justice Department in May filed an antitrust suit against the purchase
of the satellite assets, owned by MCI WorldCom Inc. (WCOM) and Rupert
Murdoch's News Corp. (NWS). Justice said the purchase would have allowed the
five largest cable companies in the U.S., which control Primestar, to keep
out new competition.
Direct-broadcast satellite, or DBS, offers the only direct competition to
cable. Partners in Primestar include TCI Satellite Entertainment Inc.
(TSATA), Time Warner/Newhouse, Cox Communications Inc. (COX), Comsat Corp.
(CMSCA), MediaOne of U S West Media Group (UMG) and General Electric Co.s'
(GE) GE American Communications Inc.
"This is the right result and a big win for consumers," said Joel Klein,
assistant attorney general in charge of the Justice Department's antitrust
division. "DBS service is the first real competitor to local cable
monopolies. As a result of this action, the last remaining DBS slot will not
fall into the hands of the dominant cable companies."
DBS uses orbiting satellites to transmit video programming directly to a
small dish receiver at a subscriber's home. The trial was to have begun in
February 1999.<<
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