Vernon Smith, a 20-year veteran of satellite television, has joined EchoStar Satellite Services to oversee the ViP-TV Internet Protocol television service. His new title is as senior vice president of business development and head of ViP-TV at the EchoStar Corp. unit with responsibilities including developing new business opportunities in broadband as well as expanding EchoStar's growing IPTV segment. He reports to Dean Olmstead, president of EchoStar Satellite Services.

Previous to joining EchoStar, Smith founded companies and served in senior executive roles at Tangerine Global, Socíeté Européenne des Satellites and Hughes Communications. Smith replaces EchoStar veteran Steve Skalski, vice president of Satellite Services, who has relocated to Taiwan to manage operations for EchoStar's joint venture pursuing the launch of a direct-to-home platform.