I smell "greenmail". I wonder if Spectrum Five is trying to lease the 114 slot to E*?
I think you got it right!
It is questionable if anyone can afford to get into the business to compete with Dish/Directv.
And, Echostar's experience with their 86W slot showed that it was necessary to keep the beam out of Canada to avoid interfering with the adjoining Canadian slots. I just don't think any 12.2-12.7 Ghz slots between existing US slots are realistically practicable today.
And, both Dish/Echostar and Directv will have a slew of new 17Ghz BSS satellites that should cover all their expansion needs.