SkyFORUM SATELLITE SYMPOSIUM TO BE HELD AT 2002 INTERNATIONAL CONSUMER ELECTRONICS SHOW IN LAS VEGAS

ALEXANDRIA, VA, November 13, 2001 - The Satellite Broadcasting and Communications Association (SBCA) and its SkyTRENDS partners today announced that it would be holding a condensed SkyFORUM satellite/financial symposium at the 2002 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES). The half-day conference is being held on Wednesday, January 9, 2002, from 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM in the South Hall (S-206-207) of the Las Vegas Convention Center.

The pending changes in the direct broadcast satellite (DBS) industry have been major headline news recently, and the SkyFORUM conference at CES will feature a DBS CEO Roundtable including: Eddy Hartenstein, chairman and CEO, DIRECTV, Inc.; and Mark Pagon, chairman, president and CEO, Pegasus Communications Corp.  Invited participants include: Charlie Ergen, chairman and CEO, EchoStar Communications Corp.; and Bob Phillips, president and CEO of the National Rural Telecommunications Cooperative (NRTC).

As the telecommunications industry looks for ways to bring high-speed Internet access to subscribers nationwide, one of the biggest challenges – and most talked about subjects on Capitol Hill -- is reaching consumers in extended suburban and rural areas. SkyFORUM's second panel will focus on two-way, high-speed Internet access via satellite, and its inherent advantages over digital subscriber lines (DSL) and cable modems at bridging the digital divide.

Discussion will address the rollout of present services and what future satellite services are currently under development.  Panelists include: Allen McCabe, assistant vice president, U.S. field sales, consumer division, Hughes Network Systems; and Mark Jackson, senior vice president, EchoStar Technologies Corporation.

The final panel of the day “Straight from the Street,” will feature some of Wall Street’s leading satellite industry analysts.  The panel will provide an overview of the publicly-traded satellite services companies including forecasts on new products, services, and overall satellite industry trends.  Wall Street panelists include: Tom Eagan, UBS Warburg; Vijay Jayant, Morgan Stanley; Robert Kaimowitz, SG Cowen; Armand Musey, Salomon Smith Barney; and Marc Nabi, Merrill Lynch.  The panel will be moderated by Evie Haskell, Media Business Corp. 

SBCA Acting-President Andy Wright will begin SkyFORUM with opening remarks on the "State of the Industry.”

For more information about SkyFORUM at CES, please visit www.sbca.com or contact Brian Lynch, SBCA, at 703-549-6990, ext. 361/blynch@satellite.org.  In addition, interested parties can visit www.cesweb.org

Media interested in arranging individual interviews with any of the speakers or panelists (contingent on availability), should contact James Ashurst, SBCA, 703-739-8351/jashurst@satellite.org  or Angela Hearn, SBCA, 703-739-8360/ahearn@satellite.org.

SkyTRENDS is the market research, data collection and reporting program for the home satellite industry. This program is a venture between Media Business Corp and the SBCA.  SkyFORUM was developed to create a higher awareness of the satellite industry among the financial and investment communities, and the media.

The Satellite Broadcasting and Communications Association of America (SBCA) is the national trade organization representing all segments of the satellite industry.  It is committed to expanding the utilization of satellite technology for the broadcast delivery of video, data and voice services.  The SBCA is composed of DBS, C-band and other satellite service providers, programmers, equipment manufacturers, distributors, retailers, encryption vendors, and national and regional distribution companies.