Advanced Television

Inside Satellite

Chris Forrester

Chris Forrester is one of the most experienced and highly regarded journalists in the field. His insight and analysis, particularly in the satellite and pay-TV arena, is highly prized. He has written for all the major business journals in the sector as well as several national newspapers.

Tensions in South Africa over Starlink approval

Elon Musk’s previous comments that South Africa’s government was allegedly “racist” were raised during the tense meeting between President Trump and President Cyril Ramaphosa in the White House last week. Musk was present during the meeting but did not speak. South African billionaire Johann Rupert did speak and moved to quell tensions with remarks that […]

May 27, 2025

Starship #9 authorised for launch

The upcoming launch of SpaceX’s giant Starship has been approved by the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA). The FAA has examined SpaceX’s history on the anomaly which led to the loss of Starship #8 and has now cleared Flight 9 for launch. “The FAA conducted a comprehensive safety review of the SpaceX Starship Flight 8 mishap […]

May 26, 2025

Banks enthusiastic for AST SpaceMobile

AST SpaceMobile (AST) is expected to launch the first of its giant ‘second generation’ BlueBird satellites in July, and eventually will have around 250 satellites in orbit and will provide global direct-to-cellular and other broadband services. Bankers are getting increasingly enthusiastic about the company. Deutsche Bank, for example, in one of its ‘Stocks in Focus’ […]

May 22, 2025

Bank excited by C-band prospects

A report on the satellite industry from investment bank BNP-Paribas highlights that a new auction of satellite C-band spectrum (in particular for US 5G use) “is back and too big to ignore”. The report continues: “As is the €800 billion ReArm Europe plan, with its focus on satellite communications. Geopolitical tailwinds are supportive. But amid […]

May 21, 2025

NHK Labs readies futuristic open house

Visitors to Japanese public broadcaster NHK and its NHK Labs R&D division’s Tech Expo 2025 (opening May 26th) can take an early look at some of the company’s broadcasting developments. Top of the list is NHK’s Scene-adaptive camera. When capturing wide field-of-view footage like 360-degree videos, you often encounter various subjects in bright, dark, or […]

May 20, 2025

Bank: “More headwinds ahead for Eutelsat”

Satellite operator Eutelsat saw its share price fall by almost 12 per cent on its Q3 revenue statement last week. BNP-Paribas, the financial services company, has now issued a report on the satellite operator. Sami Kassab, analyst at BNP-Paribas, headlined his note to clients as “More headwinds ahead” and while stressing that Eutelsat’s financial reports […]

May 20, 2025

BT, Avanti in legal spat

Last week the UK’s High Court rejected an application by cellular operator EE (which was acquired by BT in 2016) for an interim injunction against London-based speciality satellite operator Avanti Communications. The application concerned Avanti’s alleged threat to withdraw its satellite links for EE, unless EE agreed to a “substantially increased fee rate” for its […]

May 19, 2025

SpaceRISE: “IRIS² moves to next phase”

IRIS² is the planned highly-secure satellite mega-constellation being engineered by the European Union and where Europe’s key satellite operators are working together in the SpaceRISE consortium to achieve the flagship scheme. SpaceRISE has issued a statement saying: “At SpaceRISE we are committed to the timely development and implementation of the multi-orbit system, and are delighted […]

May 15, 2025

EchoStar in trouble with FCC

Reports from the US say that Charlie Ergen-backed EchoStar is being investigated by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) over alleged compliance issues over federal requirements linked to EchoStar’s building of a nationwide 5G network. The news hurt EchoStar’s share price which crashed 17 per cent (by $4.01) and in the words of lawyers from the […]

May 14, 2025

Abu Dhabi clamps down on satellite TV users

CABSAT Dubai is now in flow with the event focused on satellites – whether for TV, for Earth observation or other uses. However, the Dubai Emirate is different from its neighbours in the Emirates capital city Abu Dhabi, which is not so keen on unsightly satellite dishes. Last week saw Abu Dhabi’s Department of Municipalities […]

May 13, 2025