Q-Sat, a rural satellite-delivered broadband supplier in Ireland, is in a “six-figure” dispute with London-based satellite operator Avanti Communications. The Financial Times is reporting that bills have allegedly not been paid. Q-Sat is run by former Irish and Arsenal football international Niall Quinn, who told Irish broadcaster RTE that he had been in dispute with […]
Japanese media giant SoftBank has helped Intelsat sweeten its proposed debt-swap by a small amount in its drive to merge with Jersey-based OneWeb. SoftBank will put in a minuscule extra $61.6 million, which might sound a lot, but doesn’t add up to much when the total pitched by SoftBank now on the table is $1.79 […]
Eutelsat’s Q3 overall revenues were €364.3 million, down 4.2 per cent (at constant currency) and 4.9 per cent as reported. Eutelsat said that its channel count was up 3.2 per cent (same period last year) at 6,356, and with HD penetration also rising at 1,057 channels and now represented 16.6 per cent of the operator’s […]
Satellite operator Intelsat is looking to merge with Jersey-based OneWeb with help from Japanese media giant SoftBank. The deal needs Intelsat’s debt-holders to agree to new financial terms, and that agreement looks to be in doubt. The deadline for acceptances of new terms was at midnight yesterday, May 10th. New York-based Reorg Research, in a […]
The Dynamic Spectrum Alliance (DSA) has announced that ViaSat, a global broadband services and technology company, has become its newest member and the first broadband satellite service provider to join the Alliance. “ViaSat joining the DSA is a significant moment in the history of the Alliance,” said Kalpak Gude, president of the Dynamic Spectrum Alliance. […]
Elon Musk’s SpaceX rocket company has told a powerful Senate hearing in Washington DC on May 3rd that it intends having its super-constellation of orbiting satellites operating and supplying initial high-speed broadband within two years. SpaceX is planning a massive fleet of 4425 satellites to girdle the planet. SpaceX’s VP/government affairs, Patricia Cooper, told senators […]
SES is beginning to reap the rewards of extra capacity being utilised, and in reporting its Q1 numbers, says it has seen “substantial” growth in its contracted backlog (from €7.6 billion y-o-y to €7.8 billion). Net profit attributable to SES shareholders of €128.4 million (Q1 2016: €115.1 million) represented an increase of 11.5 per cent over the […]
Elon Musk’s SpaceX rocket company, which also has plans afoot to build and launch its own ‘super-constellation of more than 7500 V-band satellites, is objecting to Jersey-based OneWeb and its potential financial partner SoftBank of Japan with their plans for its 648-satellite constellation. SpaceX’s complaint is that the OneWeb/SoftBank financial structure is far from clear. […]
The European spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, is getting back to work. The industrial action which had caused a near-complete month-long closedown of the region ended on April 21 when the French government and strike leaders signed an ‘Accord de Guyane’ agreement. Officials at the spaceport, and from where Arianespace launch their rockets and satellites, […]
Apple has reportedly hired a pair of highly experienced satellite experts. Bloomberg Business News says the pair are John Fenwick, who led Google’s spacecraft operations, and Michael Trela, who headed up satellite engineering at Google. The two now report to Greg Duffy, co-founder of the camera company Dropcam, another former Googler, according to the Bloomberg […]