EchoStar-owned Hughes Satellite Systems has admitted it does not have funding in place to cover its next 12-months activity. It has a $1.5 billion (€1.29bn) borrowing obligation to repay in August, and says one option is to declare Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Hughes has a declining asset in the form of 783,000 subscribers to its Jupiter […]
A slew of investment banks have come out decidedly in favour of would-be global direct-to-device satellite operator, AST SpaceMobile. For example, analysts at Deutsche Bank are forecasting free cashflow for AST reaching $1.44 billion (€1.24bn) by 2028. The bank has raised its price target to $81 (from $59) and reiterates its ‘Buy’ rating. Bank of […]
Fitch Ratings has examined the long-term debt for pay-TV broadcaster DirecTV. The downgrade is modest (at BB from BB+) but the result could make further borrowing slightly more costly. DirecTV is owned by AT&T and TPG (the former Texas Pacific Group). Fitch says: “The downgrade reflects secular pressures resulting in increased uncertainty around industry valuations. […]
Who will be the new DG of the BBC? It is hardly the most attractive job just now – there’s little upside reputationally or financially. However, they will not be short of candidates; the prospect of being a high-profile saviour – the $64 million question being what does it need saving from? – will bring […]
While some US potential subscribers can sign up for a new Starlink dish and connection for zero cost, others have to pay a significant ‘congestion’ fee to gain access. The low-cost concept sees SpaceX offering a ‘$0 Upfront’ cost plan, which effectively loans out a Starlink dish hardware as a free rental, instead of charging […]
Amazon’s broadband-by-satellite service, Project Kuiper, started launching its satellites in April. But a study by Analysys Mason says that even though only 153 Kuipers have been launched (out of a planned total of 3,232) the embryonic system is already topping Eutelsat’s OneWeb and has surpassed the 3.6 terabits/second that Eutelsat’s LEO system offers. Project Kuiper […]
OQ Technology, a Luxembourg-based pioneer in satellite 5G Internet of Things (IoT) and Direct-to-Device (D2D) connectivity, announced that it has received an official government concession from Luxembourg, marking a historic step in Europe’s advancement of 5G Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTN). The concession, issued by Elisabeth Margue, Minister Delegate to the Prime Minister for Media and Connectivity, […]
Reports from the Russian Space Web (RSW) say that heads continue to roll at Russia’s Roskosmos. The site says that the Director General at ISS Reshetnev, prime developer of military and communications satellites, is “voluntarily resigning”. On October 10th, Roskosmos announced that Evgeny Nesterov, the head of ISS Reshetnev, Russia’s prime developer of military and […]
Canada-based MDA Space suffered a dramatic fall in its share price, down 16 per cent, because of reports that an important order for satellites to be built could be cancelled. The order was announced back in February and involved a C$1.1 billion (€0.68bn) contract to build low Earth orbiting satellites for Globalstar. The sell-off was […]
The FCC unveiled plans earlier this week to again hold an auction of satellite C-band spectrum. It has now emerged that SES, the main satellite beneficiary of the restructuring, is firmly in favour of the FCC’s scheme. The FCC plan is to auction “at least” 100 MHz by July 2027. The FCC said the commission […]