The C-Band Alliance (CBA) is talking with the FCC over proposals to use satellite’s C-band frequencies to help boost take-up and deployment of 5G cellular, but the plan is not going down well with some satellite operators. CBA is made up of Intelsat, SES, Eutelsat and Telesat. The concerns are coming from Hispasat of Madrid, […]

The International Telecommunications Union (ITU) says that its studies show that satellite-based Ka-band is much more robust and less affected by tropical rain-fade than previously anticipated.  The ITU’s studies remove a significant issue which has seen satellite operators and telcos favouring Ka-band, and its ‘spot beam’ technology over more conventional C-band and Ku-band spectrum (at […]

Hispamar, the Brazilian subsidiary of the Spanish satellite-based telco Hispasat, and Gilat Satellite Networks, a specialist in satellite networking technology, solutions and services, have joined together to offer a new satellite-based broadband connectivity service, focusing on both the residential and corporate market, in order to extend Internet access to the parts of the country that […]

OneWeb has confirmed that Eric Berenger has left the company barely one month after he was ‘sideways’ promoted to the position of president/COO (from CEO). OneWeb is the proposed mega-constellation of an initial 900 satellites, and the move could indicate some degree of unrest at the business founded by Greg Wyler, and backed financially by […]

Intelsat has made a strategic investment in Africa Mobile Networks (AMN).  The purpose of the investment is to accelerate the deployment of mobile connectivity to unserved communities across multiple countries in sub-Saharan Africa. AMN provides MNOs with a network-as-a-service (NaaS) solution in which AMN will fund, build and operate the ultra-rural network for the operators.  […]

A group of leading telecom CEOs have gathered in Brussels, on the occasion of the annual FT-ETNO Summit, to put forward their vision for Europe’s next policy agenda. As Member States and European political groups start discussing the future EU digital policies, CEOs put forward their support for a new, strong industrial policy aimed at […]

For some months it has been rumoured that Elon Musk’s plans to build a global mega-constellation of some 4425 low orbiting broadband satellites (Starlink) was paused, and even cancelled. ‘Not so’ implied a speaker at last week’s Satellite Innovation conference in Mountain View, California. Steve Jurvetson, a shareholder in SpaceX (and a number if other […]

Mark Rigolle, CEO of new satellite start-up LeoSat, says he expects existing partners Hispasat and Japan’s SkyPerfect JSAT to invest up to $300 million each into the venture. LeoSat estimates that its fleet of 84 satellites, being designed and specified by Thales Alenia, will cost about $3.6 billion. Rigolle, a former CFO at SES and […]

The reallocation of satellite C-band frequencies for 5G over the US, already supported by the FCC and likely to be approved by mid-2019 could well be extended to other nations, according to analysis by J. Armand Musey of Summit Ridge Capital. Musey explains the rationale in a highly detailed and compressive study in Summit Ridge’s […]

Delegates to the Satellite Innovation conference in Mountain View, California, heard speakers agree that there was probably enough customer demand for two and perhaps three of the proposed satellite mega-constellations to be built. However, and strong stressed, by panelists were the challenges raised by financing demands. Nick Flitterman, co-founder of London-based Portland Advisors, for example, […]