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Organization and Business Activities
9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2016
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]  
Organization and Business Activities
Organization and Business Activities
 
Principal Business
 
EchoStar Corporation (which, together with its subsidiaries, is referred to as “EchoStar,” the “Company,” “we,” “us” and/or “our”) is a holding company that was organized in October 2007 as a corporation under the laws of the State of Nevada.  We are a global provider of satellite service operations, video delivery solutions, digital set-top boxes, broadband satellite technologies and broadband services for home and office customers. We deliver innovative network technologies, managed services, and various communications solutions for enterprise and government customers.  Our Class A common stock is publicly traded on the Nasdaq Global Select Market (“Nasdaq”) under the symbol “SATS.”
 
We currently operate in the following three business segments:
 
Hughes — which provides broadband satellite technologies and broadband services to home and office customers and network technologies, managed services and communication solutions to domestic and international consumer, enterprise and government customers.  The Hughes segment also provides managed services, hardware, and satellite services to large enterprises and government customers, and designs, provides and installs gateway and terminal equipment to customers for other satellite systems.
EchoStar Technologies — which designs, develops and distributes secure end-to-end video technology solutions including digital set-top boxes and related products and technology, primarily for satellite TV service providers and telecommunication companies. Our EchoStar Technologies segment also provides digital broadcast operations, including satellite uplinking/downlinking, transmission services, signal processing, conditional access management, and other services, primarily to DISH Network Corporation and its subsidiaries (“DISH Network”) and Dish Mexico, S. de R.L. de C.V. (“Dish Mexico”), a joint venture we entered into in 2008. In addition, we provide our TV Anywhere technology through Slingbox® units directly to consumers via retail outlets and online, as well as to the pay-TV operator market. Beginning in 2015, this segment also includes Move Networks, our over-the-top (“OTT”), Streaming Video on Demand (“SVOD”) platform business, which primarily provides support services to DISH Network’s Sling TVTM service (“Sling TV”).
EchoStar Satellite Services (“ESS”) — which uses certain of our owned and leased in-orbit satellites and related licenses to provide satellite service operations and video delivery solutions on a full-time and occasional-use basis primarily to DISH Network, Dish Mexico, United States (“U.S.”) government service providers, internet service providers, broadcast news organizations, programmers, and private enterprise customers.
 
Our operations also include real estate and other activities that have not been assigned to our operating segments, including costs incurred in certain satellite development programs and other business development activities, expenses of various corporate departments, and our centralized treasury operations, including income from our investment portfolio and interest expense on our debt. 
 
In 2008, DISH Network completed its distribution to us of its digital set-top box business, certain infrastructure, and other assets and related liabilities, including certain of its satellites, uplink and satellite transmission assets, and real estate (the “Spin-off”).  Since the Spin-off, EchoStar and DISH Network have operated as separate publicly-traded companies.  However, as a result of the Satellite and Tracking Stock Transaction described in Note 4 below and in our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K, DISH Network owns Hughes Retail Preferred Tracking Stock representing an aggregate 80.0% economic interest in the residential retail satellite broadband business of our Hughes segment.  The tracking stock is an equity security and the rights of DISH Network, as the holder of the tracking stock, in our assets are subject to the claims of our creditors. In addition, a substantial majority of the voting power of the shares of EchoStar and DISH Network is owned beneficially by Charles W. Ergen, our Chairman, and by certain trusts established by Mr. Ergen for the benefit of his family.