Advanced Television

Broadband

SES chooses ULA & SpaceX for C-band launches

SES has made its decision for the upcoming launches for five of its planned C-band satellites. It has chosen the United Launch Alliance (ULA) to place two of its C-band satellites into orbit in 2022, whilst SpaceX gets an order for the launch of three C-band satellites. The ULA will use one of its giant […]

August 5, 2020By Chris Forrester

Liberty Q2 down 4% in “unprecedented times”

Liberty Global has published its Q2 2020 financial results. CEO Mike Fries commented: “Against the backdrop of the Covid-19 pandemic, we continue to effectively navigate through these unprecedented times. Our core focus will always be on ensuring the health and safety of our employees, while delivering an unparalleled connectivity experience for our customers. On that […]

August 4, 2020

5G advances in Spain

Orange will start its 5G launch in September in five Spanish cities – Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Sevilla and Malaga – becoming the second Spanish telco after Vodafone to provide such services, according to Expansión. The operator will initially focus on the centre of those cities, offering about 20 per cent coverage in the first phase. […]

August 4, 2020From David Del Valle in Madrid

Ofcom confirms 5G spectrum auction plans

UK comms regulator Ofcom has confirmed plans to auction spectrum to help improve mobile broadband and support the rollout of 5G, with bidding set to start in January 2021. According to Ofcom, the auction will increase the total amount of spectrum available for mobile in the UK by nearly a fifth (18 per cent) – bringing […]

August 4, 2020By Colin Mann

Gigabit speeds for further UK cities

Liberty Global has confirmed the launch of gigabit broadband services from its Virgin Media quadplay operation to almost 1 million homes in the UK cities of Glasgow, Leeds and Bradford. Following the addition of the cities and their surrounding areas to Liberty Global’s gigabit capable footprint, a total of more than 12 million homes across […]

August 4, 2020

Bank praises Eutelsat results, lowers share price target

Investment bank Exane/BNPP followed up Eutelsat’s end-of-year results with a note to clients praising the satellite operator’s “solid Q4 revenue performance”. The bank’s satellite analyst Sami Kassab welcomed Eutelsat’s improving volume trends in Fixed Data and Maritime as well as one-off benefits in Government. “The bread and butter Video business was in line,” said Kassab. […]

August 4, 2020

Ariane’s triple launch scrubbed for a week

The planned flight of an Arianespace rocket from French Guiana carrying three important communications satellites has been further postponed until next week. “The progress of operations currently underway at the Final Assembly Building has enabled August 14th to be envisioned as the launch date for Ariane Flight 253 (VA253), with the possibility of an optimisation […]

August 4, 2020By Chris Forrester

FCC approves Bezos plan for 3,236 satellites

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has approved Amazon’s plan for its Project Kuiper scheme to launch 3236 satellites into orbit for a global ‘broadband by satellite’ Ka-band system. The FCC approval is an important regulatory step for Jeff Bezos who has earmarked $10 billion for Kuiper. In previous comments Jeff Bezos has said that he […]

August 3, 2020By Chris Forrester

Telesat cautious on LEO plans

Ottawa-based Telesat’s revenues for the quarter-year to June 30th were down 10 per cent at C$208 million (€131.8m). The company, the world’s fourth-largest satellite operator, said: “Revenue decreases were primarily due to a reduction of service for one of Telesat’s North American DTH customers and lower revenue due to the completion of the term for […]

August 3, 2020By Chris Forrester

Ariane’s triple launch on hold

A planned July 31st launch of an Ariane 5 rocket carrying three important communication satellites was cancelled with less than two minutes to launch. The launch should have happened at 5.29pm French Guiana time. The problem was related to “unexpected behaviour” in the rocket’s main cryogenic stage and efforts to restart the countdown within the […]

August 3, 2020By Chris Forrester