Charlie Ergen’s Dish Network is raising $2.5 billion in fresh debt. The cash will be placed into a special escrow account ready to be used for Dish’s proposed purchase of US cellular giant Sprint Nextel. Ergen said that week that he would only make a firm financing commitment when it was clear that it was teh last obstacle in keeping [...]
The latest results of the survey produced by Eutelsat and Ipsos on TV reception modes and trends in Russia underscore the dynamic of its satellite broadcasting market and the stellar growth of homes watching channels broadcast from the longstanding 36° East neighbourhood. Of the 53 million TV homes in Russia, 24 per cent are equipped for DTH satellite reception, making [...]
India’s fast-growing DTH sector shows no sign of slowing down. The latest player to declare their numbers is Reliance Digital TV, which says that it now has 4.6 million subscribers (as at March 31st), which is 8 per cent of India’s DTH market. Reliance is one of the smaller players in the market. India’s TRAI regulator says that the country [...]
Latino media giant Claro has lost its DTH licence in Uruguay. The licence has been revoked, according to the country’s Minister of Industry, Roberto Kreimerman. Claro, a subsidiary of America Movil, had anticipated starting its DTH broadcasting services shortly, and is now threatening a “multi-million dollar” lawsuit on the government. The government action is reportedly based on concerns over the [...]
Madrid-based satellite operator Hispasat used its giant Amazonas 3 satellite to beam 4K Ultra-HDTV signals into Brazil. The test signals went to – at least one – 84” LG receiver at an event in Rio to help celebrate the coming into use of the new Amazonas 3 satellite. Hispasat hasd earlier trialled 4K/Ultra HDTV at the Mobile World Congress Event [...]
HD+, the encrypted high-definition service for Germany, is making progress. SES’s latest numbers to March 31st, say that it now has 1.1 million subscribers, up 158, 768 since December 31st (when the total stood at 944,933). Expressed as a percentage this represents growth of 17 per cent during the quarter-year. The growth means that the subscriber base has doubled in [...]
International Launch Services (ILS), the Russian-backed system that launches satellites from Kazakhstan, says it has received a launch order from EchoStar to place a massive satellite into orbit. The unspecified craft weighs some 6,900 kgs, which places it amongst the heaviest communications satellites ever launched. The satellite will be due for launch during the winter of 2015-16. Industry observers reckon [...]
India’s telecoms regulator (TRAI) says India’s six DTH platforms are now reaching more than 54.52 million pay-TV subscribers (as at Dec 31st) and well ahead of most forecasters’ expectations. In June 2012 the DTH numbers were no more than 48.1 million homes. Most industry observers now expect India’s 100 million DTH subscribers to hit 100 million homes by 2018 with [...]
Spacecom, operator of the AMOS satellite fleet, has announced that a leading Southern African Internet technology provider has expanded and extended its contract for capacity on the AMOS-5 satellite at the prime 17°E orbital position. The agreement increases the existing client’s C-band standard and extended beam capacity, and significantly extends its contract period. Together, the additions are worth about $3.2 [...]
Satellite giant Intelsat is buying 4 more Boeing high-throughput HS702 satellites. These 4 Intelsat ‘Epic’ craft will each cost more than $250 million to build, launch and insure. The surprise order is one of the largest ever placed for satellites, and is in addition to a similar 4-satellite order placed in 2009 with the first of that series likely to [...]
