[Satellite TODAY 03-03-10] EchoStar Satellite Services CEO Dean Olmstead hailed the company’s move to acquire Mexican satellite operator, Satmex. EchoStar announced Feb. 26 that EchoStar Satellite Services, a subsidiary of EchoStar, would acquire an ownership interest in Satmex along with MVS Comunicaciones, a Mexican media and telecoms company. The deal is expected to close later this year.
    Olmstead told Satelilte Today that the deal would bring Echostar a great deal of flexibiity with its satellite fleet. “The deal does fit nicely. If you are looking at FSS acquisitions, this probably fits better than any other, or at least any others that were available. It is not just about Dish Mexico, but if you look at the slots and if you look at the assets that are being operated, then you see that we have five adjacent Ku slots, and I don’t think you find that anywhere else in the world. We would be at (approximately) 113, 115, 117, 119 and 121. There are some interesting things we can do with how we interlace the satellites between north and south to enhance their capabilities,” he said.

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