I suspect D* will raise their prices about as much as E*. I also suspect they prefer to be just a bit more expensive than E*, in general, to give the impression of being more of a "premium" service. Remember the publicity they put out when they said they were going for a higher class of subscriber, or a subscriber with greater credit worthiness?
Easy to wait until word gets out, even if it's close to 3/1/09, to make any decisions on moving. Moving is always a hassle. Of course, I'm sticking with Dish and their ViP DVRs, but I can see the appeal to others that value different aspects more than me. I place little value on sports, for example. But there are plenty that prefer to get more sports, or even the $unday Ticket, and that makes D* more appealing to them.
I expect my bill to rise $3 to $10. But if it's more, I'll have to look at downgrading. But not moving. Dish has a good hook in their ViP receivers, for as long as that lasts, and especially in their external storage. I'd have a HUGE amount of watching or recording (in SD) if I chose to move to D*. Frankly, I'd be more likely to move to Fios, if it came down to it. Others will have different choices to face. After the treatment I received in my previous subscription to the local cableco, I'd go to Netflix, Blockbuster, and the library before I'd ever go back to cable. Others have had different experiences.
We'll all see price increases, even if inflation nears zero. It seems Hollywood is the truly greedy party here. All the pay TV companies will have to raise prices, even in these hard times, as their expenses (payments to content providers) rise. But I suspect the negotiations will get tougher, and some channels will fall by the wayside for some providers, especially a few locals.
Will locals even survive 5 or 10 years? Technology marches on.
