So far in 2011, the billionaire chairman and founder of Dish Network and EchoStar has made $2.3 billion in acquisitions of wireless and satellite companies, among other internationally branded corporate entities. Charles Ergen has already bought satellite companies DBSD North America and Hughes Communications, and is currently looking to purchase a third satellite company, and direct tv service competitor, TerreStar. Ergen has also acquired video services and store brands Move Networks and Blockbuster, with the latter having the asset of thousands of national store locations and international branding. The one thing all of these new acquisitions have in common is content delivery, raising speculation that Mr. Ergen is preparing to establish a hold on the mobile video market, or even that he plans to build out a nationwide wireless broadband network. Whatever the speculation, one thing remains certain, and that’s that “the only person who truly knows what Charlie is doing is Charlie,” as Barclays Capital analyst James Ratcliffe so candidly observed.

The product of the acquisitions is most likely going to be a service that involves video, data, broadband, and voice all together, or in some form or another integrated with one another. The only clue the 58 year old Dish Network founder will give up is that the reshaping of his companies is an acknowledgement of the need to evolve. As internet content streaming services such as Netflix and Hulu threaten to take an even larger portion of market share, Ergen is gearing up to transition into a new time when his currently highly profitable services will no longer be as relevant.

The one area Dish Network seems to lack when it comes to acquisitions in telecommunications and data industries is a seriously popular content provider. This would complete Ergen’s portfolio and compliment the global brand Blockbuster, which has a very wide customer base of support. Blockbuster’s physical stores could serve as Dish Network repair centers with stocked equipment, or could even remain as rental stores for at least sometime and serve to reach new Dish Network customers.

Despite all the mystery about Charlie’s long-term plans for his recent acquisitions (most of the companies he picked up were either bankrupt or nearly there), one thing is certain: Mr. Ergen is preparing for something big, and will be ready for almost anything as content delivery mediums and the content delivery industry itself is rapidly changing. So don’t be surprised if Dish Network, EchoStar, or whatever the conglomerate of satellite and wireless broadband services amount to, sticks around for a while.