Advanced Television

Bank: “SES could suffer much lower revenues”

Earlier this week Giles Thorne, a media & telecoms analyst at investment bank Jefferies, gave Eutelsat a set of rosy expectations and a target share price of €18. A similar examination of prospects for satellite operator SES does not deliver the same optimistic forecasts… Indeed, the bank’s summary is pretty miserable, and despite a ‘Buy’ […]

September 4, 2020

Bank: Sky Italia deal could take Eutelsat to €18

Investment bank Jefferies, in its report on Sky Italia renewing their long-term distribution contract with Eutelsat,  says that the deal removes a “sword of Damocles” from Eutelsat’s prospects. “It removes a huge overhand for the stock,” says analyst Giles Thorne. Eutelsat’s share price has been in the doldrums for months, and the renewal news lifted […]

September 3, 2020

Gilat, Comtech agreement in jeopardy

Israel-based Gilat Satellite Networks has reported Q2 revenues of $38.3 million – down 36 per cent on the same period last year. The company also confirmed that the purchase of Gilat by Comtech Telecommunications remains at considerable risk. Gilat and Comtech are involved in litigation against each other. The purchase was originally priced at $50 […]

September 2, 2020

FCC denies C-band objectors

The FCC has firmly turned down objections from a few satellite operators who were not included in its 5G reallocation of C-band satellite frequencies. The three, collectively known as the ‘Small satellite Operators’ and comprising ABS Global, Empresa Argentina de Soluciones Satelitales, Hispamar and Hispasat of Madrid, had filed their objections to the FCC’s auction […]

September 1, 2020

Intelsat confirms it wants to buy

Intelsat, despite its Chapter 11 bankruptcy position, is looking to acquire a business. There are already market rumours that in-flight connectivity company Gogo is the target company. Intelsat, in its court documents, say: “The Debtors believe that, in order to remain competitive and to maximize their value as a go-forward enterprise, they must be able […]

August 28, 2020

Gates buys into satellite antennas

There are now three major would-be mega-constellation low Earth orbit satellite developers: Elon Musk’s Starlink, Jeff Bezos’ Project Kuiper and the UK/India joint-venture OneWeb (should it emerge from bankruptcy).  The missing link for each of them is a very low-cost phased array antenna to bring satellite broadband to the mass market. Which is perhaps where […]

August 27, 2020

KIPCO delays OSN sale

Kuwait Projects Co, (KIPCO) the ultra-patient investor in Dubai-based pay-TV operator OSN (the former Orbit Showtime Network), will stay with the broadcaster a little longer. It has been looking to sell the business, or bring new partners on board, since 2018. KIPCO says the Covid pandemic has created a downturn in in the local markets […]

August 25, 2020

Objections to OneWeb reorganisation plan

The official Committee of OneWeb’s unsecured creditors is objecting to the current Chapter 11 exit reorganisation plan for OneWeb. In a filing to the US Bankruptcy Court they argue that the disclosure statement from OneWeb “lacks adequate information of particular importance to the unsecured creditors.” The submission to the Court stresses that they are in […]

August 24, 2020

Bharti requests ISRO’s help for OneWeb terminals

Sunil Mittal, chairman of the Bharti group of business, has spoke at length about its involvement in bankrupt satellite operator OneWeb. Bharti has committed to investment $500 million in OneWeb. The UK government is matching the investment, while a smaller sum ($50 million) will come from EchoStar’s sister company Hughes Network Systems. Japan’s SoftBank and […]

August 21, 2020

$2bn of fresh finance for SpaceX

SpaceX has generated some $1.9 billion of fresh funding during August, and according to reports, is still looking to raise more cash. The initial target was to raise $2.066 billion. The cash-raising exercise follows on from SpaceX raising $346 million in May. The news comes as Musk achieves 4th position as the world’s richest person […]

August 20, 2020