EchoStar Communications [Nasdaq: DISH] has reached an agreement with 13 state attorneys general over a dispute about advertising disclosures, customer relationship and similar issues relating to EchoStar and its independent retailers.

SATELLITE TODAY has learned that EchoStar has agreed to pay $5 million to be split among the 13 states to settle the dispute. It has also agreed to implement reforms to its processes, including recording customer calls for verification purposes. The states are California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oregon, and Wisconsin.

EchoStar stressed that there was “no finding of any violation or wrongdoing by the company and each state released EchoStar from all matters investigated.”

For more on this story, see the May 26 issue of SATELLITE NEWS. For information about subscribing to PBI Media’s satellite newsletters, check out our Web site at http://www.telecomweb.com/catalog.