Advanced Television

Satellite

Pakistan halts broadband direct-from satellite

India has been reported to be slowing down its permissions for the likes of Starlink, OneWeb, Kuiper and SES/Jio to start services. Now it seems Pakistan – no friend of India – is also stuck in what has been described as “bureaucratic limbo”. Evidently, various Pakistani federal institutions are creating obstacles, stalling the companies’ plans […]

September 19, 2025

Kuiper will start in 5 countries in March 2026

Amazon’s broadband-by-satellite service Project Kuiper says it will have broadband coverage in five countries by March 2026. Ricky Freeman, president of Project Kuiper’s Kuiper Government Solutions division at Amazon, speaking at the Novaspace World Space Business Week event in Paris, told delegates that his firm would have more than 200 satellites in orbit by the […]

September 18, 2025By Chris Forrester

WSBW: “Space industry is in great shape”

The overall sentiment at the Novaspace Paris World Space Business Week was one of optimism. Just about every sector talked about growing order books and increased demand for capacity especially from Government and Military customers. All the heavyweight operators spoke of growing confidence in their businesses. SES, fresh with its Intelsat acquisition, is looking to […]

September 18, 2025By Chris Forrester

India stymies Starlink launch

India’s Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has thrown a spanner in the launch plans for Starlink in the country. A cynic might suggest that India doesn’t really want Starlink in its neighbourhood. Specifically, the DoT is requesting more information. The telecom department’s highest decision-making body has sought clarification from the Telecom Regulatory Authority (TRAI) on certain […]

September 18, 2025

Space42, Viasat launch Equatys D2D venture

Emirates-based Space42 and California-based Viasat have created Equatys, described as a joint-held entity, to enable global Direct-to-Device (D2D) services and evolving existing and planned Mobile Satellite Services (MSS) to a 5G network environment. Equatys will serve to unite satellite and terrestrial networks leveraging a 3GPP Non-Terrestrial Network (NTN) Release compliant platform accessible to standard smartphones […]

September 17, 2025By Chris Forrester

Starlink, AST SpaceMobile race for cellular consumers

The next battleground, according to expert speakers at the World Space Business Week in Paris, is the fight for Direct-to-Device connectivity from satellite. Starlink has more than 7 million customers, but has “little or no chance” to extend its service to voice services for at least two years, said Starlink president and COO Gwynne Shotwell. […]

September 17, 2025

Lynk Global to test communications for South Africa

Lynk Global, a satellite-to-cellular operator which has SES as a major shareholder, has asked the FCC for a 60-day temporary authority to operate feeder links in the S-Band as part of a South African trial of its technology, with an unnamed local mobile operator (probably MTN), aimed at testing direct-to-device (D2D) voice calling. The test […]

September 17, 2025By Chris Forrester

SES delivers MEO satellite connectivity for French Navy

SES has announced that the French Navy’s aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle leveraged its secure and reliable O3b mPOWER satcom service – Managed Naval mPOWERED – during the Clemenceau 25 mission. This high-throughput, low-latency Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) connectivity solution supported all of the aircraft carrier’s operations, while facilitating collaboration with mission partners. During the […]

September 17, 2025

SES commits to MEO ‘next-gen’ MEO Sphere

Luxembourg-based satellite operator, now the world’s biggest player in the sector, used the Novaspace Paris World Space Business Week to announce an expansion of its Mid-Earth orbiting fleet. Adel Al-Saleh, CEO, SES, told delegates that despite it only being 2 months since the integration with Intelsat, and considerable progress was being made in terms of […]

September 16, 2025By Chris Forrester

WSBW panel: ‘Video DTH in decline’

The Novaspace World Space Business Week kicked off in Paris but the news for video DTH confirms that the sector is in decline. Telesat’s CEO Dan Goldberg told delegates that people are watching more and more video, but it’s streaming and TikTok. “Unfortunately, they’re not watching so much satellite TV. It has been steady decline, […]

September 16, 2025By Chris Forrester