Dish Network 2006 Annual Report Download - page 8

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DISCLOSURE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
We make “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995
throughout this report. Whenever you read a statement that is not simply a statement of historical fact (such as when
we describe what we “believe,” “intend,” “plan,” “estimate,” “expect” or “anticipate” will occur and other similar
statements), you must remember that our expectations may not be correct, even though we believe they are
reasonable. We do not guarantee that any future transactions or events described herein will happen as described or
that they will happen at all. You should read this report completely and with the understanding that actual future
results may be materially different from what we expect. Whether actual events or results will conform with our
expectations and predictions is subject to a number of risks and uncertainties. For further discussion see Item 1A.
Risk Factors. The risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the following:
• we face intense and increasing competition from satellite and cable television providers as well as new
competitors, including telephone companies; our competitors are increasingly offering video service
bundled with 2-way high speed Internet access and telephone services that consumers may find attractive
and which are likely to further increase competition;
• as technology changes, and in order to remain competitive, we will have to upgrade or replace some, or all,
subscriber equipment periodically. We will not be able to pass on to our customers the entire cost of these
upgrades;
• DISH Network subscriber growth may decrease, subscriber turnover may increase and subscriber
acquisition costs may increase; we may have difficulty controlling other costs of continuing to maintain and
grow our subscriber base;
• satellite programming signals are subject to theft; theft of service will continue and could increase in the
future, causing us to lose subscribers and revenue, and also resulting in higher costs to us;
• we depend on others to produce programming; programming costs may increase beyond our current
expectations; we may be unable to obtain or renew programming agreements on acceptable terms or at all;
existing programming agreements could be subject to cancellation; foreign programming is increasingly
offered on other platforms; our inability to obtain or renew attractive programming could cause our
subscriber additions and related revenue to decline and could cause our subscriber turnover to increase;
• we depend on Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) program access rules (which will expire this
year unless extended by the FCC), and the Telecommunications Act of 1996 as Amended
(“Communications Act”) to secure nondiscriminatory access to programming produced by others, neither
of which assure that we have fair access to all programming that we need to remain competitive;
• the regulations governing our industry may change;
• absent reversal of the jury verdict in our Tivo patent infringement case, and if we are unable to successfully
implement alternative technology, we will be required to pay substantial damages as well as materially
modify or eliminate certain user-friendly digital video recorder features that we currently offer to
consumers, and we could be forced to discontinue offering digital video recorders to our customers
completely, any of which could have a significant adverse affect on our business;
• if our EchoStar X satellite experienced a significant failure we could lose the ability to deliver local
network channels in many markets; if our EchoStar VIII satellite experienced a significant failure, we could
lose the ability to provide certain CONUS programming;
• our satellite launches may be delayed or fail, or our satellites may fail in orbit prior to the end of their
scheduled lives causing extended interruptions of some of the channels we offer;
• we currently do not have commercial insurance covering losses incurred from the failure of satellite
launches and/or in-orbit satellites we own;
• service interruptions arising from technical anomalies on satellites or on-ground components of our direct
broadcast satellite (“DBS”) system, or caused by war, terrorist activities or natural disasters, may cause
customer cancellations or otherwise harm our business;
• we are heavily dependent on complex information technologies; weaknesses in our information technology
systems could have an adverse impact on our business; we may have difficulty attracting and retaining
qualified personnel to maintain our information technology infrastructure;