DISH Boxes Hit with Software Glitch

[Gregg Lengling]

Late last week, EchoStar was forced to deal with a software glitch that impacted some DISH 301 set-top boxes, a widely used system considered the company's entry-level satellite TV receiver.

EchoStar spokesman Marc Lumpkin said the DISH 301 problems affected "a very small percentage" of boxes, and no more than 100,000 DISH Network customers - representing less than 2 percent of the subscriber base - were impacted by the outage. "We are aware of the problem that caused a temporary interruption of service to some DISH Network customers," he said.

Lumpkin later said EchoStar was working to have the glitch resolved by the end of day Friday. Equipment at the company's uplink center that sent faulty information over EchoStar's satellite network was blamed for the outage, he said.

Customers who are impacted by the outage are asked to call EchoStar at 1-800-333-DISH to have their receivers reactivated. "We apologize for the inconvenience, and we appreciate our customers' patience as we work urgently to restore operations to all affected receivers," he said.

DISH Network customers who contacted SkyREPORT told the same story, in that they were told the outage occurred after the company sent a faulty software upgrade to the receiver model. They complained about long waits for customer service help, apparently the result of DISH 301 customers trying to call EchoStar during prime-time hours Thursday night.

And a retailer who wanted to remain anonymous said he took close to 70 calls from DISH Network customers concerning the DISH 301 outage. The retailer added that not all DISH 301 boxes were hit by the glitch.