I just found out what a consumer has to go through in today’s so-called competitive market.

I am a dish network subscriber. In my area, SBC, the phone company also provides dish network services, through SBC dish. It was a tie up announced a while ago, whereby SBC resells dish network services. I really thought it was a good idea for SBC to do it because then they may offer me some discounts if I sign up with them for other services.

Today, I called dish network to find out if I can get a dual-tuner DVR. Basically, it would enable me to see one program and record another at the same time. Or record two programs at the same time. I currently have a single-tuner DVR, which allows me to record only the live program that I see, and thus, I cannot change channels while a program is being recorded. I need this facility because the upcoming fall TV schedule may have some nights where I want to see two programs at the same time - for example, The O.C. and Joey are on Thursday nights at 8pm on Fox and NBC respectively.

So dish network told me they don’t have any dual tuner receiver they can lease to me. They don’t provide the 522 for existing customers, period. The 721 is available only through retailers and the last I checked, it was $550 or some such ridiculous amount.

So I thought, heck, let me just ditch dish (I am out of my yearly commitment with them) and go to SBC dish. And I called SBC dish. They do offer the 522 on a lease basis for $5/month. That is ok. But the shocker was that I have to disconnect dish for 180 days before they can sign me up. One hundred and eighty days? Six months? Are you kidding me? Are they crazy there? So they want me to try out the competition for 6 months and then go to SBC dish? Why? Because SBC dish has atrociously low prices? Because they have more features than anyone else in the market? Because they are the only ones in the market?

No. No. No. None of the above. Their prices are the same as dish network’s and are competitively pitted against Comcast, the cable provider and DirecTV the satellite competitor. They have no other ‘new’ features besides the damn dual-tuner DVR on lease. They are definitely not the only ones in the market.

Then why do they want such a stupid condition to be satisfied? What is the rationale?

One this is for sure - there was no competition created by SBC starting to resell dish network services. Absolutely not. In fact, I think it is a bad policy for dish to not have something that SBC provides. What is Echostar (parent of dish network) thinking?

The only reason I would stay with dish network is their exclusive rights to the Indian channels, and of course, cricket programming. We need competition. This is one monopoly that no one has bothered to look at. I know, the rates for carrying those channels and the potential audience that sees them may not be justified for DirecTV and such, but I think if it is an exclusive arrangement, someone needs to wake up and do their job and stop this nonsense.