Advanced Television

C-band

SES loses Intelsat claim

A Virginia bankruptcy court has ruled (“disallowed”) the action by SES against Intelsat for a 50 per cent share of the FCC’s C-band incentive payments. The Court has allowed SES to appeal the decision if it so wishes. SES says it is disappointed with the ruling. “It is reviewing with outside counsel its options to […]

October 3, 2022By Chris Forrester

Boeing delivers 2 SES satellites

Aerospace company Boeing has delivered two satellites for connectivity service provider SES to their launch site in Cape Canaveral, Florida, ahead of the upcoming launch of the twin spacecraft on a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket. “SES-20 and SES-21 are the first commercial satellites we’ve delivered since the start of the global pandemic,” […]

August 24, 2022

Study: C-band usage by satellite networks

A report from Euroconsult has explored the current and future supply and use of the extended C-Band, the planned C-Band and the 7025-7075 Mhz Band for satellite services. It has considered for each band the uplink and downlink frequencies, including the frequency bands 3400-3700 and 6425-6725 MHz (‘extended C-band’), 4500-4800 and 6725-7025 MHz (‘planned C-band’) […]

June 2, 2022

Inmarsat seeks new Greek Teleport licence

Inmarsat has to move one of its Teleports from the Netherlands to Greece. It has been arguing its case before a Dutch court to stay in the Netherlands and is seeking an alternate Greek licence to establish an Earth station in Greece. Inmarsat is currently using C-band frequencies in the Netherlands, but the authorities are […]

May 17, 2022By Chris Forrester

SES unseals Court docs for April 19 hearing

Lawyers for SES in its action against Intelsat over the division of C-band proceeds, have unsealed 142 pages of evidence, many of which had previously redacted segments. The document, filed last week and now in the public domain, goes into considerable detail over the $9.7 billion (€8.9bn) in Accelerated Relocation Payments from the FCC. SES […]

April 12, 2022

Moody’s down rates some SES debt

Moody’s Investors Service credit ratings agency has given a “negative outlook” to certain debt owed by satellite operator SES. Moody’s overall rating is their Baa2 rating on SES SA and SES Global Americas Holdings GP. Moody’s says the outlook for both entities remains negative. “The ratings affirmation reflects the slower reduction in the company’s revenues, […]

March 7, 2022By Chris Forrester

Eutelsat still under revenue pressure

Eutelsat released its first half-year results on February 17th and reported that like-for-like revenues had fallen 4.2 per cent. The satellite operator also cautioned that its full-year numbers would be at the lower end of guidance. However, drilling down into the numbers, it reported that actual revenues of €628.5 million (for the half-year to December […]

February 17, 2022By Chris Forrester

SES vs Intelsat: Down to the details

The long-running dispute between SES and Intelsat over the SES claim for a full 50 per cent share of the FCC’s C-band accelerate incentive payments is now getting to the focal point in their arguments. Intelsat’s lawyers submitted 134 pages of Exhibits that they depend on and potentially used to support their rebuttal of the […]

January 14, 2022

Intelsat meets C-band key date

Intelsat has wrapped the first stage of the FCC-mandated clearance of C-band spectrum over the US. Intelsat qualifies (as does SES) for the FCC’s Phase 1 of the clearance scheme ahead of the December 5th deadline. Phase II must be completed by the end of 2023. Intelsat’s overall payment from the FCC for clearing both […]

November 26, 2021By Chris Forrester

SES earns $1bn from FCC

SES says it has received validation from the FCC in regard to the satellite operator’s Phase I C-band clearing obligations. It means that SES will receive $1 billion (€0.89) in an incentive payment from the FCC during the next few months. There’s another almost certain $3 billion due to be paid by the end of […]

November 25, 2021