Cable and radio broadcasters are formally asking the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for “much more information” on the Intelsat, Intel and SES proposals to restructure some of their C-band bandwidth for 5G services over the US. To date the FCC has made some extremely supportive noises about reallocating some of the satellite spectrum to speed […]
In January, a new company, US-based Swarm Technologies, launched 4 tiny satellites (‘Space Bees’) each barely larger than a slice of bread. The FCC told Swarm in December last year that they could not launch the satellites from the US until such time that the company had coordinated their transmission frequencies, and specifically that the […]
Eutelsat, speaking at an investment conference June 13th, said it would shortly start experimenting with a new small satellite technology with a view to launching a new LEO constellation of low-cost, narrow band, small satellites aimed at providing Internet of Things services. Eutelsat told delegates to the Exane/BNPP that its new generation craft would be […]
Commercial rollouts of 5G and larger than previously forecasted deployments of cellular IoT are focal points in the latest edition of the Ericsson Mobility Report. The forecast for cellular IoT connections has nearly doubled since November 2017. It is now expected to reach an estimated 3.5 billion in 2023, driven by ongoing large-scale deployments in […]
A study from Juniper Research found that increasing adoption of in-flight entertainment and connectivity systems by airlines and private aircraft operators will drive annual service revenues from an estimated $3.7 billion in 2018 to over $8.4 billion by 2023. The research found that systems installation by Low Cost Carriers is a driving force behind this […]
Independent research based on over 3,000 European subscribers on behalf of Openwave Mobility has found that 1 in 3 football fans (31 per cent) will watch the 2018 Russia World Cup using mobile data. This is nearly double the number of people that watched the 2014 Brazilian World Cup (17 per cent) using mobile data. […]
Charlie Ergen, co-founder of the EchoStar and Dish Network businesses in the US, has offered to buy Inmarsat, the London-based global satellite company. Inmarsat, in a statement after the market had closed on June 8th, said that it had received “a highly preliminary and indicative non-binding proposal from EchoStar Corporation in relation to the potential […]
Canada is funding a new initiative for its “Connecting Families” concept, aimed at providing low-cost Internet to many thousands of families in rural and isolated areas of the country. Canada’s Innovation Minister, Navdeep Bains, speaking last week at the Canadian Telcom Summit Toronto, said that the government would allocate C$100 million (€65.3m) in this year’s […]
Long distance travellers using Air Canada’s international flights can now access satellite-based broadband from service provider Gogo. A statement from Air Canada said that its passengers on its fleet of Boeing 777-300ER and Air Canada Rouge aircraft can tap into Gogo’s service. The airline said that all of Air Canada’s wide-body aircraft will be equipped […]
Satellite operator SES has received FCC permission to expand its wholly-owned subsidiary O3b satellite constellation. The FCC permit allows SES to significantly “supercharge” its existing constellation of 16 MEO satellites and their operations over the USA and beyond. The authorisation opens significant additional frequencies to SES for use in its non-geostationary (NGSO) constellation and enables […]