Advanced Television

Inside Satellite

Chris Forrester

Chris Forrester is one of the most experienced and highly regarded journalists in the field. His insight and analysis, particularly in the satellite and pay-TV arena, is highly prized. He has written for all the major business journals in the sector as well as several national newspapers.

Ghana makes MultiChoice fee decision

MultiChoice’s predicaments in Ghana are many. It has been involved in a bitter dispute with local government, but also where it is commonplace for cross-border (grey-market) imports and where piracy is reported to be rife. The local problem is not helped by adjacent Nigeria’s subscriber fees to MultiChoice and its DStv broadcast are about half […]

October 1, 2025

SES announces €0.25c dividend

SES will pay its shareholders its dividend of 25 Euro-cents on October 16th “in line with its commitment to shareholder returns”. The 25 cent payment is the same as has been paid for a number of years. However, SES has over the past year or so promised an improved rate of dividend payments. Its announcement […]

September 26, 2025

Russia “blinding and destroying” German satellites

Germany’s Foreign Minister Boris Pistorius said that his country’s army is already targeting Russian satellites by jamming attacks launched by them and is very worried about Russian activity in space. He says that Russian satellites are also deliberately “shadowing” SES/Intelsat satellites used by Germany. “Russia and China have expanded their capabilities for warfare in space […]

September 25, 2025

Bank: AST, Starlink, Kuiper targeting $200bn market

A detailed report from analysts at Bank of America (BoA) says that the global Total Addressable Market (TAM) is currently worth around $200 billion (€169.5bn) annually for the planet’s telcos. The bank suggests that the satellite operators with global coverage with their low Earth orbiting (LEO) satellites are potentially targeting every dollar’s worth of these […]

September 23, 2025

Rivada: Is no news good news?

Executives from Rivada Space Networks were present last week at the World Space Business Week in Paris and, as ever, were diligently explaining what their planned ‘Outernet’ highly-secure, laser-linked satellite scheme could provide. However, there was no news from the event as to how the billion-dollar constellation could be financed, nor on whether Rivada would […]

September 23, 2025

SES celebrates Intelsat acquisition

SES has hosted a gala evening to commemorate its acquisition of Intelsat and what the combined business means for the company’s future. Held at Luxembourg’s Mudam (The Grand Duke Jean Museum of Modern Art) the event brought together staff, clients and VIP guests. CEO Adel Al-Saleh told guests and local media that the combination marked […]

September 22, 2025

Pakistan halts broadband direct-from satellite

India has been reported to be slowing down its permissions for the likes of Starlink, OneWeb, Kuiper and SES/Jio to start services. Now it seems Pakistan – no friend of India – is also stuck in what has been described as “bureaucratic limbo”. Evidently, various Pakistani federal institutions are creating obstacles, stalling the companies’ plans […]

September 19, 2025

India stymies Starlink launch

India’s Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has thrown a spanner in the launch plans for Starlink in the country. A cynic might suggest that India doesn’t really want Starlink in its neighbourhood. Specifically, the DoT is requesting more information. The telecom department’s highest decision-making body has sought clarification from the Telecom Regulatory Authority (TRAI) on certain […]

September 18, 2025

Starlink, AST SpaceMobile race for cellular consumers

The next battleground, according to expert speakers at the World Space Business Week in Paris, is the fight for Direct-to-Device connectivity from satellite. Starlink has more than 7 million customers, but has “little or no chance” to extend its service to voice services for at least two years, said Starlink president and COO Gwynne Shotwell. […]

September 17, 2025

Trouble ahoy for foreign D2D satellites over India?

Starlink, Amazon’s Project Kuiper, Eutelsat’s OneWeb and the SES/Jio plans for their satellite direct-to-consumer schemes might have an extra hurdle. Reports from India say that the government, which has been slow in issuing the necessary permits for these services to start, might now want to ‘cap’ or limit the number of subscribers they sign up. […]

September 16, 2025