The SES end of year ‘report card’ is in, and in general the results went down well with the market. As investment bank Jefferies’ Giles Thorne was typical and said in a note to clients that SES had a strong finish to the year. “SES outperformed 4Q/2018 expectations (+4.4 per cent ahead on revenue, +1.1 […]

Abu Dhabi’s Al Yah (YahSat) and its partner SES are examining various options under a “strategic review” now taking place. SES is due to announce its latest year-end financials next week (on February 27th) and more detailed news as to the next steps for the ‘Yahlive’ business division. However, CEO Sami Boustany explains it is […]

The second quarter of this year should see the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) make its ruling on whether the C-Band Alliance (CBA) of Intelsat and SES can restructure – and sell – 180 MHz of spectrum over the US for 5G take-up. Much of yesterday’s (February 20th) analyst call with senior staffers from Intelsat was […]

Eutelsat held a meeting and presentation in London on February 18th as part of their ‘road show’ series of post-result discussions. The meeting generated a more positive outlook for the satellite operator, and perhaps needed given that Eutelsat’s organic revenue decline was the worst for the past 10 quarter-year financial statements. Sami Kassab, an equity […]

A Luxembourg business event (EU Defence & Security) heard that just one year after its launch by SpaceX, GovSat has sold around 20 per cent of its military and government capacity. It launched on January 31st last year. There is a possibility that a second satellite could be bought. GovSat-1, itself a so-called ‘condominium’ satellite […]

Hispasat’s fleet of 11 active satellites, including the powerful Amazonas pair serving South America, are being bought by Red Eléctrica for €949 million. The Spanish electricity and telecoms company is buying 89.7 per cent of the business, subject to regulatory authority. Sami Kassab, an equity analyst at investment bank Exane/BNPP believes the deal is good news […]

Tim Farrar of TFA, a leading satellite industry consultant, has shared an idea to help solve the C-Band Alliance’s (CBA) process to free up 200 MHz of their C-band satellite capacity over the USA to help 5G adoption. Farrar said it was “truly ironic” to see objections to the CBA’s scheme from Google linked with […]

There are two things we know without doubt about social media platforms: they are big and their main purpose in life is to be engines of profit. Long gone is any naive belief in their patronising mission statements reminiscent of 1970s cola adverts. Just like big food, big oil, big pharma or big anything else, […]

Last June hedge fund Kerrisdale Capital solidly backed Intelsat and SES over the C-Band Alliance’s likely significant gains from the sale of their C-Band spectrum over the US. In January it emerged that Kerrisdale had largely cashed in on its profits from its stake in Intelsat selling 7.79 million of its 8.48 million shares, and […]

The C-Band Alliance (CBA), which is trying to restructure 200 MHz of satellite spectrum over the US, is facing additional negative pressures, including Google, cable operator Charter Communications and a few other lobby groups including the American Cable Association (ACA). Potentially, the ACA’s objection could have merit in that its members are drawn from the […]