The International Telecommunications Union (ITU) is facing some urgent requests to authorise delays for satellite operators and their launch plans. The reasons are mostly caused by the pandemic and the impact of staff shortages at assorted satellite builders and their suppliers of components. The ITU has to decide whether to approve some extreme delays from […]
Pandemic-related issues, plus general supply side component difficulties, have severely delayed the launch of a Viasat satellite designed to operate over Europe and the MENA regions. Viasat-3/EMEA had been originally planned to launch on an early flight of an Ariane 6 rocket around the middle of 2022 and as part of a trio of Generation […]
California-based satellite operator Viasat has been suffering from alleged electronic warfare emanating from Russia. Reports suggest that hackers have deliberately disrupted satellite signals to and from Ukraine and in particular using the (formerly Eutelsat-owned) KA-Sat. Reuters, for example, is reporting that the cyber attacks have affected about 10,000 terminals. The attacks started as long ago […]
SES has received a favourable review from Fitch Ratings for its borrowings. Fitch says that SES’s long-term debt is rated at ‘BBB’ and its subordinated borrowings are rated at ‘BB+’. Fitch highlights the options that SES will shortly have from the FCC’s next C-band incentive payments of some $3 billion. Sandeep Jalan, CFO at SES, […]
Back in November 2021, California-based Viasat, a major broadband satellite operator, announced it had reached an agreement to acquire London-based Inmarsat. The deal was worth some $7.3 billion (£6.3bn) in a mix of cash, shares and assumption of Inmarsat’s debt. Now the acquisition is under threat according to reports. The problem is that small print […]
California-based Viasat saw double digit organic revenue growth in Q3, reported Virgin Atlantic as a new in-flight connectivity (IFC) customer, and continued to expand its fixed broadband presence internationally. The operator is also in the midst of acquiring London-based Inmarsat. For Q3 FY2022 Viasat earned record revenue of $720 million (€627.9m), a 25 per cent […]
Between now and the end of 2023, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will pay out almost $10 billion (€8.8bn) in ‘accelerated clearance payments’. The FCC cash rewards the world’s four largest satellite operators for freeing up some of their C-band spectrum over the US. The question now is whether this windfall cash will be spent, […]
Bloomberg, in what investment bank Exane/BNPP describes as an “informal survey”, has suggested that Eutelsat and ITV are “most likely takeover” candidates. The bank suggests that ITV has been in the Bloomberg poll fairly frequently over the past ten years. Other companies named as possible takeover targets include KPN, Telecom Italia, Invit, Nokia, ProSiebenSat. 1 […]
Data from internet speedtest provider Ookla show a decline of around 100 Mb/s over the past quarter for SpaceX’s Starlink broadband by satellite system. Ookla says that during Q2 this year the median download speed for Starlink users was 97.23 Mb/s. During Q3 the median speed had dropped to 87.25 Mb/s. Ookla’s head of content, […]
London-based Inmarsat has successfully tested a demonstration payload for its Orchestra low Earth orbiting (LEO) concept. Orchestra calls for a constellation of LEO satellites which, says the company, will create a global, multi-dimensional, dynamic mesh network that will redefine connectivity at scale with the highest capacity for mobility worldwide and at hot spots across the […]