Director & Executive Vice President, Echostar
Search every verified James Defranco interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. James Defranco, Director and Executive Vice President at EchoStar, was represented in a CNBC interview by CEO Hamid Akhavan, who discussed the company's acquisition of Dish Network by DirecTV. Akhavan stated that the deal was done at the "right time" due to the decline of traditional content distribution to streaming, and that it would allow EchoStar to negotiate better deals with programmers and offer smaller packages to consumers. He also said the deal reduces EchoStar's debt and allows the company to focus on its wireless business, which he described as "nascent and growing with tremendous opportunity." Akhavan outlined EchoStar's strategy for its Boost Mobile brand, including a promotion offering one year of free service with no contract or obligations. He argued that the U.S. telecommunications market, dominated by three carriers with over 120 million subscribers each, is not competitive enough, and that EchoStar is entering with advantages such as a 5G network with open interfaces, nationwide roaming partners, and no legacy cost structure. He said the company plans to offer "disruptive single plans" and that pre- and post-paid distinctions are outdated, as consumers want flexible payment options.
“I think it was the right time to do this. The content industry, the distribution industry, has been on a decline losing customers rapidly to streaming. It's the right time to bring the companies together to create a company that can negotiate better deals with programmers and bring smaller packages to the market, which...”
“We have a wireless business that is nascent and growing with tremendous opportunity. We couldn't feed that business properly before, and the focus of the company being in multiple directions was a management distraction. This deal consolidates all of that into one.”
“This deal reduces our outstanding debt and pushes maturities further into the future, allowing us to better support and invest in our wireless business.”
“The U.S. telecommunications market is by far the largest in the world. Three carriers is not enough; most other countries have more smaller carriers. There's dominance among the three carriers with over 120 million subscribers each, and the consumer space has plateaued. We are entering this market with new technology,...”
“Today we have a year worth of free service with no obligations, no contract, no trading, no obligations of any kind. Come in, buy a phone, and you get one year worth of free service. I would like to see if the others can try that.”
“We don't have any legacy. From a cost structure and agility perspective, we have advantages others don't have. We have a 5G network with open interfaces and can be nimble and manage our cost structure better. Plus, we rely on two nationwide roaming partners, giving us arguably the best coverage in the nation with acces...”
“We can concentrate our focus where we can make the biggest competition and concentration of our capital and success. The times are different than when the other guys were in the market. Now we're walking in with those advantages, and just watch us.”
“We are certainly planning to offer disruptive single plans. We will offer this under Boost Mobile. We're the first ones, and I think others will come to the conclusion that they are not different products.”
“Forty years ago when we started in the mobile business, segmentation made sense. Today that doesn't make sense. We think pre and post paid are preferences for payment, and consumers want a choice between them. Consumers want to pay some down payment, whatever they feel like paying, pay the full amount, or don't want di...”
EchoStar CEO Hamid Akhavan joins CNBC's 'Squawk on the Street' to discuss DirecTV's acquisition of Dish Network, how it will ...
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