However, the US Department of Justice blocked the merger.

Why did they do that?

• The merger would create a monopoly position 

EchoStar and Hughes promised local TV programming to all 210 TV markets. However, the day after this promise, EchoStar asked the Supreme Court to overturn a law that required local carriage. They said they had no intention to carry all channels with the new company. At the time, local channels were available in just 41 markets while the 2 companies together already had the technology available to provide local programming in all 210 markets. A competitive market is more likely to speed up these services than a self regulated monopoly.

A proposed national pricing plan that would guarantee that prices would be the same in both rural and urban areas was also not accepted as prices could be set too high.

The merger would create a monopoly position for broadband internet services

In areas that are not served by DSL or cable, the only alternative to broadband internet services is via satellite. The merger would create a monopoly for broadband internet services in these areas.

Over all it seemed that without any other satellite TV providers a merger of the 2 companies was not possible. The public’s interest was just not served by a merger (or at least not enough).