Advanced Television

Satellite

Yahsat partners with X SAT FZE  

Satellite operator Yahsat has announced a long-term strategic partnership with UAE communications solutions company X SAT FZE. Under the agreement, X SAT is committed to capacity on Yahsat’s upcoming Ka-band satellite, Al Yah 3, to be launched later in 2017. The two companies signed the agreement during the second day of cable, satellite, broadcast, content […]

March 22, 2017Nick Snow @ CABSAT

SES, Intersat provide Internet across Africa

SES and Intersat have signed a multi-year agreement to deliver internet services across Africa. Intersat, one of the largest providers of internet solutions on the African continent, will be providing broadband connectivity to businesses and consumers via SES’s NSS-12 satellite, located at 57 degrees East. The latest agreement with SES includes a new C-band capacity […]

March 21, 2017

FCC, ITU anxious over satellite constellations

Currently a would-be satellite operator has to make its application to place a satellite through an approved licensing process, usually via a national agency which then submits the application to the ITU where it is formally registered. The FCC, for example, demands a returnable bond from applicants which is only repaid once the satellite is […]

March 17, 2017

OneWeb breaks ground on 2000 satellite factory

March 16th saw senior officials from Jersey, Channel Islands-based OneWeb and its Airbus partner break ground on a new factory site at Exploration Park, Florida, where it intends building “thousands” of new satellites. The $85 million (€79.16m) facility is planned to be in production within a year. OneWeb Satellites CEO Brian Holz told journalists that […]

March 17, 2017By Chris Forrester

Eutelsat CEO: “No plans” for MEO/LEO

Eutelsat’s CEO, Rodolphe Belmer, speaking at the Washington Satellite 2017 show, said he had no plans at the moment to seek a MEO/LEO fleet of satellites, although also added “at this time”. Belmer stressed time and again that Eutelsat did not see the world’s viewers – or broadcasters – abandoning their satellite delivery of video […]

March 8, 2017From Chris Forrester @ Satellite 2017

SES thinking about LEO

SES’s CEO Karim Michel Sabbagh says that despite its ownership of Mid-Earth Orbiting (MEO) satellite with the O3b brand, it is also actively looking at lower orbiting satellites. He said that SES no longer thought about its GEO and MEO fleet as separate entities. In an interview carried on the SES website with Satellite Finance, […]

March 8, 2017From Chris Forrester @ Satellite 2017

5G dominates MWC discussion

Platform Communications, the media and technology communications expert, has announced that the inaugural ‘Platform Media Index’ shows press coverage of Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2017 was thoroughly dominated by discussion of ‘next generation networks’, with 5G being the overpowering focus. The newly launched index is designed to assess the main drivers of conversation in bellwether […]

March 8, 2017

Eutelsat, Viasat reshape broadband JV

Eutelsat Communications and ViaSat have closed their partnering arrangement combining Eutelsat’s European broadband business with ViaSat’s Internet Service Provider (ISP) business expertise. Building on a decade-long relationship, Eutelsat and ViaSat are now creating a partnership that will expand Eutelsat’s current wholesale broadband business and launch a new consumer retail service in Europe. Headquartered in Lausanne, […]

March 6, 2017

Millicom, Airtel combine operations in Ghana

Millicom International Cellular and Bharti Airtel have, through their respective subsidiaries, entered into an agreement for Tigo Ghana and Airtel Ghana to combine their operations in Ghana. As per the agreement, Millicom and Airtel would have equal ownership and governance rights in the combined entity. The combined business would serve nearly 10 million customers, of […]

March 3, 2017

Intelsat and OneWeb “a defensive merger”

The post-announcement comments of the SoftBank-engineered merger between Intelsat and OneWeb are coming in, and they are not all favourable. For example, Sami Kassab, an equity analyst at investment bank Exane/BNP-Paribas, while praising Intelsat’s results said there are still major risks to the deal, not least Intelsat’s existing bondholders agreeing to a severe financial haircut […]

March 1, 2017