Hispasat is certainly on a fast-track to co-operation with its satellite rivals. Madrid-based Hispasat is to create a joint-venture with Intelsat to extend its current joint occupation of the 55.5 degrees West position. Currently Hispasat’s Amazonas-1 satellite and Intelsat’s Galaxy-11 satellites share the orbital slot in an agreement which lasts until the end of next […]

The ITI Group and CANAL+ Group have been approached in recent months by various strategic and financial investors expressing an interest in acquiring the controlling stake in TVN Group, should it become available. In response to such interest, both the ITI Group and CANAL+ Group have decided jointly to review their strategic options regarding the […]

A giant Ariane rocket successfully lifted two satellites into orbit, and was the 62nd consecutive success for the Ariane system (and the 220th since Ariane rockets were first introduced in 1979). Launch occurred at 5.43pm EDT on October 16th. The heavier satellite was Intelsat-30, built by Space Systems/Loral, and which will host the Ku-band –based […]

United Group, a regional cable and DTH operator active in the former Yugoslavia, has become the majority shareholder of MMDS operator Broadband Montenegro (BBM). Through its Serbian cable TV unit SBB, United Group purchased 49.4 per cent of BBM shares on the Montenegro Stock Exchange (Montenegroberza) for €2.47 million, according to local media reports. Some […]

Freesat, the subscription-free satellite TV service jointly owned by BBC and ITV, has launched a new advertising campaign to promote the features of its Freetime service. The campaign will debut on ITV and digital platforms on October 20th. The new advertising campaign features Sheldon, a snail who regularly misses his favourite shows because life often […]

Measat Satellite Systems has signed agreement with iSAT Africa for capacity on the Africasat-1a satellite. Under the terms of their agreement, iSAT will expand their VSAT and broadcast solutions across Africa using Africasat -1a’s high-powered pan-African C-band coverage. Africasat -1a was launched in February 2013 and provides high-powered C-band satellite services and content across Africa […]

Reports are emerging that ABS-2, the new satellite operated by Asia Broadcast Satellite, is subject to a $200 million insurance claim, and that the claim will be based on an ‘in orbit” failure having occurred within one year of launch. ABS-2 operates from 75 degrees East. ABS-2 was launched back in February. Built by Space […]

Arabsat’s current procurement and RFPs include options for all-electric satellites, thereby saving weight and thus significantly trimming launch costs. Khalid Balkheyour, CEO at Arabsat, says that all options are open for discussion on the RFPs now being examined. “We also gave [the potential suppliers] the option of quoting for one large satellite or two smaller […]

Indonesian pay-TV operator Indonusa Telemedia is setting aside $150 million for a satellite project. Indonusa is owned by Trans Corp and markets itself as Transvision. A July 16 half-year report said the broadcaster is anticipating 800,000 subscribers by the end of this year, helped by English Premier League football. Currently the broadcaster uses Telkom-1 (108 […]

The combination of five different services in a package (mobile and fixed telephony, mobile and fixed Internet access and pay-TV) is increasingly boosting the take-up of pay-TV services. In the first quarter of the year, the convergent packages with 5 different services