Advanced Television

Intelsat

FCC wins C-band spat with ‘small sat’ operators

A court case has been heard by the US Court of Appeals between ABS, Hispasat and Arsat which had been arguing that the FCC should pause the date of Commission’s Dec auction of C-band frequencies over the US. The trio were deliberately excluded by the FCC from its incentive plan for C-band compensation given to […]

June 24, 2020By Chris Forrester

Intelsat, SES file spectrum transition plans

Both Intelsat and FCC filed their C-band accelerated spectrum transition plans with the FCC on June 19th. The schemes outline how their clients will be moved in order to free up spectrum for the FCC’s 5G adoption. The plans show how some 3,500 cable head-ends and 13,500 Earth stations will have 60,000 blocking filters changed […]

June 22, 2020By Chris Forrester

Bankrupt Intelsat leads satellite world in salaries

Despite being in bankruptcy protection, Intelsat’s executives are seeking to continue receiving impressive salaries and compensation packages. Intelsat is continuing to operate its business as a ‘debtor in possession’. On June 30th, the bankruptcy court will consider a motion to allow Intelsat to continue paying senior staff under its Key Executive Incentive Plan (KEIP) which […]

June 18, 2020

C-Band: 10 new US satellites

The C-band replacement satellite orders for US coverage are being confirmed. Intelsat has ordered up at least six satellites. Four are to come from Maxar Technologies and will be built at Maxar’s Palo Alto plant (the former Space Systems/Loral facility). Two others will be supplied by Northrop Grumman. There will also be an additional seventh […]

June 16, 2020By Chris Forrester

Busy bankruptcy court for Intelsat

As well as approving a $1 billion ‘debtor in possession’ loan, Intelsat’s bankruptcy court had an extremely busy ‘omnibus’ day on June 9th dealing with dozens of applications and motions. The court approved the rate of interest that Intelsat must pay to the lenders Credit Suisse on the $1 billion loan. Intelsat has to pay […]

June 11, 2020

Intelsat wins access to $1bn

Intelsat is in Chapter 11 bankruptcy and is restructuring itself. On June 9th, it gained bankruptcy court approval to access a $1 billion loan under ‘debtor in possession’ rules and post-petition financing. Judge Keith Phillips granted Intelsat immediate access to $500 million (out of the $1 billion) in order to keep its day-to-day operations going […]

June 10, 2020By Chris Forrester

Intelsat rejects ITSO claim

Last month it was reported how the organisation which supervises Intelsat’s public service obligations, the International Telecommunications Satellite Organisation (ITSO), had complained to Intelsat’s bankruptcy court that Intelsat had not been paying its dues to ITSO. ITSU had asked the court to authorise a special payment to fund its costs and services. Intelsat responded ahead […]

June 9, 2020

Intelsat Q1 loss $219m

Intelsat might be in Chapter 11 bankruptcy restructuring, but trading continues. The satellite operator’s revenues were $458.8 million for Q1 (to March 31st) down 13 per cent, and after interest payments and other obligations, that turned into a net loss of $218.8 million for the quarter. The company reported significant downturns in Network Services (down […]

June 5, 2020By Chris Forrester

Intelsat facing class action lawsuit

The Schall Law Firm has confirmed it has filed a class action against Intelsat citing violations of 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder by the US Securities and Exchange Commission. “Investors who purchased the Company’s securities between November 5th and November 18th 2019, inclusive (the ”Class […]

June 4, 2020By Chris Forrester

Report: Big 4 satellite operators could lose $400m in 2020

A report from Quilty Analytics makes tough reading for the world’s ‘Big Four’ satellite operators, and says that they could suffer combined adverse revenue losses of some $400 million (€357m) this year – mostly because of the Coronavirus impact on mobility. Quilty says: “The trough of Covid-19 end-user mobility impact occurs in Q2 (June 2020). […]

June 3, 2020By Chris Forrester