Based on what I see around here with Dish installs (99% likely done by "Digital Dish"), pole-mounted (in the ground) installs are standard procedure. Bad part about this is, if done by the book, they have to temporarily mount the dish on a small section of plywood and set it on the ground, with cement blocks weighing it down. They have to wait for an "811" inspection before digging the hole for the pole-mounting. Then they come back and finish.
DirecTV, at least in our neighborhood, does a lot of mounts on the sides of houses, about 4' off the ground.