Two of the most litigious corporations on the planet look like cutting back on their lawyer’s bills. South Korea’s Samsung and the USA’s Apple are reportedly getting tired of the near-constant – and hugely expensive – patent battles. The Korea Times is saying that the pair are seeking to reach “common ground” so that they […]

BSkyB has selected two investment banks to advise it on its next steps forward in its plan to acquire, or merge, with 21st Century Fox’s other European pay-TV operators, Sky Italia (100 per cent owned by Fox) and Sky Germany (57 per cent owned by Fox). Morgan Stanley and Barclays have been hired to advise […]

Analysts at Berenberg Bank remain cautious over future prospects for BSkyB, retaining their ‘SELL’ advice to investors. The latest note from the bank comments on the new Sky Sports 5 channel, as well as BskyB’s ‘free’ broadband offer for two years. The bank’s note is blunt: “We do not see the channel as a driver […]

Yamal-201, a satellite serving Russia and owned by Gazprom Satellite Systems, has suffered technical problems. Some reports say it has failed completely.  Reportedly its transponders were switched off on June 5, and its broadcasting clients switched to other satellites in particular the Yamal-300 craft which is co-located with Yamal-201. Yamal-201 operated from the 90 deg […]

Arabsat is linking with Inmarsat to provide a joint-venture satellite at Arabsat-owned Hellas-Sat’s orbital slot. The twin-mission spacecraft will supply Inmarsat with extra, and valuable, S-band capacity for aircraft users to tap into in-flight services. The second mission will add 44 Ku-band transponders – and dubbed Hellas-Sat 3 – and part-replace the capacity on Hellas-Sat […]

For the last few years, M&A has been off the menu; recession tends to dull the corporate appetite, no matter how many dishes the desperate investment bankers offer up. But business doesn’t stop and many companies have harvested a lot of cash or shed a lot of debt. As economies uptick shareholders start expecting accelerated […]

Worldspace’s two tired and very aging satellites are again being used by founder, humanitarian and altogether good fellow Noah Samara. This time the genius, who according to the Wall Street cost investors a reported $2.5 billion in lost cash, is using the satellites for an India-based e-learning project. Samara’s post-bankruptcy company Yazmi acquired the two […]

A 14-page report from investment banker Berenberg on the prospects of BSkyB’s potential acquisition of Sky Deutschland and Sky Italia, which is in the bank’s view “in many ways not surprising” nevertheless, creates considerable food for thought for analysts at the bank. The bank cites slowing organic growth from BSkyB and increasing competitive and market […]

Arianespace’s already delayed launch of Measat 3b and its co-passenger Optus-10 satellite have been further impacted by the decision to send Optus-10 back from French Guiana to its manufacturers in California for examination. No fresh date has been given for the launch of Measat-3b. One option quoted is to bring forward the availability of an […]

The Middle East is again suffering serious interference to its satellite news channels. Arabsat itself reports that most of its news channels have suffered deliberate jamming over the past few days, with sources saying that the errant signals are coming from Ethiopia, “and hopping from one transponder to another”. Broadcasters such as the BBC’s Persia […]