Curious statement in the quarterly report. Good find. Let me speculate on a few locations QuetzSat-1 could be used besides 77 W. One would be the 68.5 W location servicing South America that Dish recently submitted a filing with the FCC to move the E-3 satellite there. Another would be the 86.5 W location that Dish wanted to move another satellite E-6 or E-8? to but FCC denied it but Dish is appealing that ruling. Another location although less likely than the other two would be 148 W that I believe is still in limbo with the FCC on whether Dish still holds the license there. The 148 W location could be used for locals in the WA. Putting QuetzSat-1 any place but 77 W would be a big disappointment for folks in Mexico who have been anticipating satellite service from this satellite.
Quetzsat 1 Successfully Launched!
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My guess is that it stays there since the Dish Mexico service is expanding rapidly (the land of refurbished Dish boxes). If you travel in Mexico, you will notice the little red DBS Dish sitting next to the much bigger FSS dishes used by their competitors.
Quetzsat allows them to expand coverage all the way down thru Panama, adding local stations when available and providing English language programming if they want to (a big market all by itself).
I missed the appeal on 86.5W but if they did and prevail, they would have a two satellite dish for the Latin North American market.
Perhaps more significantly, their statement is a hint that the combination of the Echostar 16 spot satellite, Directv moving off 72.5W, and the move to MPRG4 is sufficient to meet most of their bandwidth needs with less than 3 orbital locations.
When I went to the Southern Caribbean, and Chile in South America, Direct TV was everywhere, but no Dish.
Funny, I believe its still in testing but the following press release just came out...
SES' QuetzSat-1 Satellite Now Operational
LUXEMBOURG --(Business Wire)--
SES (News - Alert) S.A. (Paris:SESG) (LuxX:SESG) announces that the QuetzSat-1 satellite is fully operational and ready for service as of November 10th. QuetzSat-1 was successfully launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on board an ILS Proton Breeze M booster on September 30th, 2011.
QuetzSat-1 is fully contracted to a subsidiary of EchoStar Corporation. The spacecraft is an all Ku-band high-powered (20-kilowatt) communications broadcasting satellite with coverage of Mexico, USA, and Central America. QuetzSat-1 is based on Space Systems/Loral's highly reliable 1300 satellite platform and carries 32 Ku-band transponders. It provides the flexibility to support a broad range of applications and technology advances and provides high power for advanced DTH televiion. The satellite is designed to deliver service for 15 years or longer.
Romain Bausch, President and CEO of SES: "We are delighted to provide EchoStar with a state-of-the-art new satellite to support their service offer to their customers and to continue our longstanding partnership. QuetzSat-1 is the first satellite fully leased to EchoStar, and joins three satellites fully leased by SES to EchoStar's sister company DISH Network."
SES' QuetzSat-1 Satellite Now Operational
LUXEMBOURG --(Business Wire)--
SES (News - Alert) S.A. (Paris:SESG) (LuxX:SESG) announces that the QuetzSat-1 satellite is fully operational and ready for service as of November 10th. QuetzSat-1 was successfully launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on board an ILS Proton Breeze M booster on September 30th, 2011.
QuetzSat-1 is fully contracted to a subsidiary of EchoStar Corporation. The spacecraft is an all Ku-band high-powered (20-kilowatt) communications broadcasting satellite with coverage of Mexico, USA, and Central America. QuetzSat-1 is based on Space Systems/Loral's highly reliable 1300 satellite platform and carries 32 Ku-band transponders. It provides the flexibility to support a broad range of applications and technology advances and provides high power for advanced DTH televiion. The satellite is designed to deliver service for 15 years or longer.
Romain Bausch, President and CEO of SES: "We are delighted to provide EchoStar with a state-of-the-art new satellite to support their service offer to their customers and to continue our longstanding partnership. QuetzSat-1 is the first satellite fully leased to EchoStar, and joins three satellites fully leased by SES to EchoStar's sister company DISH Network."
This announcement probably means the sat has completed testing and is being turned over to Dish as it moves to its final location.
Thur Nov 10, 6:39 PM Mountain
Location: 67.1 Test Site
I had not bothered updating since it was still there on the 10th.
They said 30 days testing in the initial filing and the 10th was the 30th day so things must be on schedule.
The next Space Command update will probably show it drifting west (none since the 10th).
Good news for all
Location: 67.1 Test Site
I had not bothered updating since it was still there on the 10th.
They said 30 days testing in the initial filing and the 10th was the 30th day so things must be on schedule.
The next Space Command update will probably show it drifting west (none since the 10th).
Good news for all
they hint some more in their q&a on the earnings call and explain their logic.
Echostar's CEO Discusses Q3 2011 Results - Earnings Call Transcript - Seeking Alpha
Monday Nov 14, 5:59PM Mountain
Location: 67.1W
Hmmm!
Press release said tests completed on the 10th but it remains at 67.1W.
Could it be that it is being shifted to using their new Brazilian slot for service to Brazil/South America?
They said in their earnings call that they were considering this option since 77W had old but serviceable satellites working satisfactorily at that slot.
Location: 67.1W
Hmmm!
Press release said tests completed on the 10th but it remains at 67.1W.
Could it be that it is being shifted to using their new Brazilian slot for service to Brazil/South America?
They said in their earnings call that they were considering this option since 77W had old but serviceable satellites working satisfactorily at that slot.
Wouldn't they have to refile and get approval to move before doing so? That said moving the sat to service CA and SA wouldn't be a big surprise.
The last communication with FCC was last Tuesday, Nov 8, and regarded locating 0.05 degrees off final 77w location for 6 months so as of the 8th, things were still on schedule to move to 77w.
http://licensing.fcc.gov/myibfs/download.do?attachment_key=925337
Additional, FCC issued the operational license for 77W, effective Nov 15.
Quetzsat 77W operating license
http://licensing.fcc.gov/myibfs/download.do?attachment_key=925337
Additional, FCC issued the operational license for 77W, effective Nov 15.
Quetzsat 77W operating license
Well they would be filing with other athorities first since this satellite belongs to Mexico, not the US. Quetzsat would have to file with the FCC only if they want to transmit programming into the US. Even if the satellite happens to blanket part of the US with signal does not mean they have to operate in the US. Technically in situations like this, Dish is just leasing space from them, they own the satellite.
Echostar provides command and control for Quetzsat. And, they provide uplink services for the their Dish Mexico retail partner (MVS). Both services require FCC licenses.
True Dish is the "subcontractor" that Quetzsat has selected to provide them with these services, and Dish happens to be in the US. Yes I know this satellite is really a Dish venture venture through and through, just pointing out the technicality that this is supposed to be a Mexico venture, just like 72.7/129 are Canadian ventures. The satellite requests have to happen in the foreign country first then be run through the FCC for any US portion of the venture (like uplinks from the US).
And to make it a little more complicated, SES is also a major partner in the deal and Quetzsat 1 is registered as a United Kingdom satellite located at a Mexican licensed slot.
Echostar has stepped out quite well on their own since spinning off Dish and acquiring Hughes. Not only are they expanding their satellite and uplink services, they are also creating a demand for their set top boxes and are clearly making an effort to separate themselves from Dish so as to obtain more customers for their products.
