There are going to be 32 TPs on Nimiq5, which is the standard for KU BSS.
While selling 16 of the TPs to Dish network does limit the bandwith, there are four things to note about it.
1. Right now at 72.5, DirecTV has 16 TPs but that agreement expires WHEN Nimiq 5 gets into position. This agreement brings in extra cash flow for Expressvu. By making this, Expressvu does get cheaper MPEG 4 recievers as well as some cash flow. Since MPEG4 is the wave of the future and there are serious costs associated with changing out customers MPEG 2 recievers and getting them MPEG 4, this will keep those costs down.
2. MPEG4 is a MUCH better way, especially with 8PSK, of compressing the stations. Dish Network has been playing with this in the USA and are able to get much more channels per transponder active at BETTER quality, both on the SD and HD side.
3. This MAY setup some services that Dish Network and Expressvu could join together in for an MPEG 4 service. There are a lot of channels that are available on both providers, and having them on one satellite that both the US and Canadian subs can use would be huge for cost cutting. Just off the top of my head, some of those channels include CNN, Fox News, CNBC, SpikeTV, Headline News as well as the NHL Center Ice package.
4. Dish already has an agreement with Ciel to use 16 TPs @ 129w. Expressvu is expected to get to use the other 16TPs when Ciel-2 is launched later this year. As a result, that means 16TPs on 72.5 - the east coast, and 16TPs on 129w - the west coast. Seems like both providers are setting it up for some mirroring...