Is it going there for service to Mexico as originally planned? If not, what will be the purpose?...Maybe I'll be able to use my 1000.4 fully since there's nothing on 77 for me to receive in the northeast.
This is indeed a rare event that has not been seen before. Dish and Echostar are in the process of locating/relocating their 3 newest satellites (E15, E16, and Quetzsat 1) with a value of a billion dollars or so, all within a two month period.
It's going to be interesting to see what they do. 77W hosts both Dish (USA) and Dish Mexico. The existing Dish (USA) beam does not cover all of Mexico and the existing Dish Mexico beam does not cover all the 48 lower states. Dish (USA) is used for Spanish language programming in the US and local into local for some markets in the eastern US. Dish Mexico is Spanish language programming provided by Echostar's Mexican partner.
Both Quetzsat 1 beams (east and west) are similar in shape and both beams cover an area from the Canadian border through Panama (both service providers transmissions essentially cover North America (excluding Alaska and Canada)).
Dish (USA) presently has 24 transponders under lease at 77W and Dish Mexico has 8 transponders. When Quetzsat 1 activates, Dish (USA) will be returning 5 transponders to Echostar. So, Dish (USA) will have 19 transponders and Echostar 13 (the extra 5 probably for Mexico service).
I'd guess that there will be relatively few subscribers that will need a 3 satellite eastern arc dish when it is all done with perhaps some of the Dish transponders held in reserve for spare capacity in the event there is problems with a spot beam satellite.
There probably will be fewer (if any) local markets on 77W after Echostar 16 goes into service but it is anybody's guess as to what will happen (stay tuned in for mid January start up of Echostar 16 and Quetzsat 1.)
