US giant telco AT&T, stymied in its $39 billion bid to buy T-Mobile, may now mount a bid to buy US satellite DTH broadcaster Dish Network, founded by Charlie Ergen. Analysts at investment bank Stifel Nicolaus suggested in a note to clients that Dish Network, the USA’s second-largest satellite broadcaster, is now firmly in AT&T […]
Satellite operator SES says its ASTRA2Connect broadband-by-satellite service can now handle download speeds of up to 10 Mb/s. Following agreements with German Internet service provider Filiago and UK-based distribution partner BeyonDSL, end-users in Germany and in the UK and Ireland are now able to enjoy increased speeds with their satellite broadband Internet connection. Both companies […]
Canal+ Group, ITI Group and TVN Group have confirmed a strategic partnership to combine their Polish pay-TV businesses and for Canal+ Group to become a key shareholder in TVN. This combination of Cyfra+ and TVN’s ‘n’ creates a leading direct-to-home (DTH) platform with an expected combined base of 2.5 million post-paid customers by the end […]
Australian comms giant Optus has signed an 11-year agreement with satellite services provider GlobeCast. The deal, said to be worth millions of dollars, will see GlobeCast use the Optus D2 satellite to deliver DTH channels under the satellite’s footprint. GlobeCast has been serving Optus for 15 years, although according to Optus there was stiff competition […]
Venezuela’s CanTV pre-pay only DTH service has only been on air for three weeks, but says it is responding as fast as it can to requests for service and installation. CEO Manuel Fernández says that the state-backed enterprise had installed 2000 subscribers, and had another 6,000 households waiting for installation. “The success is outperforming our […]
With analogue switch-off in France completed on 29 November, Eutelsat’s Fransat service is firmly anchored as a key digital platform delivering national free-to-air channels to viewers beyond range of over-the-air, cable or ADSL reception. Launched in 2009 as a subscription-free platform, Fransat is available to homes in metropolitan France equipped with a dish, a Fransat […]
Space-X is perhaps the most exciting new concept in rocketry and could dramatically alter satellite launch costs. Backed by Pay-Pal founder Elon Musk, Space-X is building its Falcon rockets and looking to trim launch costs for satellite operators. However, another venture has now emerged which will create another low-cost reusable launch vehicle. Musk’s Space-X is […]
Measat Global has awarded the satellite launch for its Measat 3b contract to Arianespace. An Ariane 5 rocket will launch the satellite into orbit during Q4 of 2013. Measat-3b is being built by Astrium using a Eurostar E3000 platform, has been designed to provide 48 Ku-band transponders to support direct-to-home (DTH) broadcast services for Malaysia, […]
UK-based Ka-band satellite operator Avanti Communications won a 3-year contract from capacity re-seller Bentley Walker worth at least $1.1 million. The capacity will be used to serve Bentley Walker clients in Iraq. The news comes 24-hours after another contract win for Avanti in the shape of bandwidth for AfriGlobal, worth $4.65 million spread over 5 […]
Al Jazeera English has unveiled its presence on both Google TV and Google Chrome. Its updated Google TV application allows users to read the latest news headlines, and watch the latest Al Jazeera programmes in HD quality. Rotating at the bottom of the screen are updates from the Al Jazeera twitter feed, providing convergence between […]