EchoStar Corporation

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1 SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Washington, D.C. 20549 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- FORM 8-K CURRENT REPORT Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported): September 28, 2001 ECHOSTAR COMMUNICATIONS CORPORATION (Exact name of registrant as specified in charter) NEVADA 0-26176 88-0336997 (State or other jurisdiction (Commission (IRS Employer of incorporation) File Number) Identification No.) 5701 S. SANTA FE DRIVE LITTLETON, COLORADO 80120 (Address of principal executive offices) (Zip Code) Registrant's telephone number, including area code: (303) 723-1000 ITEM 5. OTHER EVENTS EchoStar completes $50 million investment in StarBand Communications Inc. See press release attached as Exhibit 99.1. SIGNATURES Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, the Registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized. ECHOSTAR COMMUNICATIONS CORPORATION Dated: September 28, 2001 By: /s/ Michael R. McDonnell ------------------------------------ Michael R. McDonnell, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

2 INDEX TO EXHIBITS

1 EXHIBIT 99.1 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contacts:

Judianne Atencio Marc Lumpkin Sandy Colony Communications Director Communications Manager Vice President, Communications ECHOSTAR COMMUNICATIONS CORP. ECHOSTAR COMMUNICATIONS CORP. STARBAND COMMUNICATIONS 303/723-2010 303/723-2020 703/245-6410 EMAIL: JUDIANNE.ATENCIO@ECHOSTAR.COM EMAIL: MARC.LUMPKIN@ECHOSTAR.COM SANDY.COLONY@STARBAND.COM

ECHOSTAR COMPLETES $50 MILLION INVESTMENT IN STARBAND LITTLETON, COLO., AND MCLEAN, VA. - SEPT. 27, 2001 - EchoStar Communications Corporation (Nasdaq: DISH) and StarBand Communications Inc. today announced that they have completed their agreement that increases EchoStar's financial investment in StarBand by an additional $50 million in cash. This agreement was previously announced on July 11, 2001. This increases EchoStar's equity stake in StarBand to approximately 32 percent, which will further increase to approximately 60 percent upon commencement of the construction of a next generation satellite to be allocated for the StarBand service. EchoStar, the parent company of DISH Network(TM), the nation's fastest growing pay television provider, originally invested $50 million in StarBand in April 2000, and is one of the largest distribution channels for StarBand - the nation's first two-way, always-on, high-speed satellite-delivered Internet service. This agreement continues EchoStar's strategy to offer a complete bundled package of Internet, programming and interactive television services to its more than 6 million U.S. DISH Network customers. ABOUT STARBAND StarBand Communications Inc. is America's first nationwide provider of two-way, always-on, high-speed Internet access via satellite to residential customers. Founded in early 2000, StarBand's investors and strategic partners include EchoStar Communications Corporation, Gilat Satellite Networks Ltd., Microsoft Corporation, and ING Furman Selz Investments. StarBand has exclusive rights to Gilat's two-way high-speed Internet technology to consumers in the United States and Canada. StarBand Communications is based in McLean, Virginia. Visit StarBand at www.starband.com. StarBand is a trademark and service mark of StarBand Communications Inc. ABOUT ECHOSTAR EchoStar Communications Corporation and its DISH Network offer a state-of-the-art direct broadcast satellite TV system capable of offering over 500 channels of digital video and CD-quality audio programming, as well as fully MPEG-2/DVB compliant hardware and installation.

2 EchoStar is included in the Nasdaq-100 Index (NDX), which contains the largest non-financial companies on the Nasdaq Stock Market. DISH Network currently serves over 6 million customers. For more information, visit www.dishnetwork.com. # # #