Sami Kassab, satellite analyst at investment bank Exane/BNPP, says that Covid-19 was not helping SES achieve its target revenue numbers, but the 9 per cent tumble in SES Video was the worst quarter of the year, and a worry. In a report to clients, Kassab recognised that SES had signed new and renewed orders worth […]

During its results call with analysts, SES explained that its “unparalleled reach” continued to expand. Back in 2016, it reached some 325 million homes (more than a billion people) and was delivering about 7,741 channels. By Q3/2020 its channel count had expanded to 8,157, the Number 1 supplier of channels in the industry. Drilling down […]

Covid-related production problems have hurt the planned launch of EchoStar and Hughes Network’s giant Jupiter 3 satellite. It has now slipped to H2/2022 after originally being scheduled for some time this year. EchoStar 24/Jupiter 3 is a large, multi-spot-beam Ka-band craft and described as one of the world’s highest capacity broadband satellites. It is being […]

A report from investment bank Jefferies says that despite Vivendi’s plan to spin-off its Universal Music Group (UMG) before the end of the year – and to distribute 60 per cent of the new share capital to existing Vivendi shareholders – their overall view is that Vivendi’s current share price is “fully valued”. “Even adopting […]

Israel-based Gilat Satellite Networks has already delivered successful in-orbit testing of its 5G/Low Earth Orbiting VSAT technology. Now marketed as ‘Aquarius’, the system was on board Telesat’s first pair of test satellites and delivered connectivity as the first ever demo of 5G over a LEO satellite, and then the fastest-ever modem speeds of 1.2 Gb/s […]

Elon Musk’s broadband-by-satellite Starlink business is readying to open for business in Europe. The markets invited include France, Germany, Austria, Ireland, Italy and others. It plans to launch its service in these European markets in mid to late 2021 on a “first come, first served basis”. Its service will deliver broadband internet connexions at 50-150Mbps […]

More detail has emerged from Intelsat’s 195-page filing to its Chapter 11 bankruptcy court and addressing its plan to emerge from bankruptcy. Intelsat is looking for approval which would result in it cutting its debt obligations by about half from today’s near-$15 billion to $7 billion. The statement to the court includes and outlines the […]

Washington DC-based Omnispace is a relatively new name in the satellite industry. It says in its mission statement that it wants to “redefine mobile connectivity for the 21st century”. It has recently raised $60 million (€49.3m) in equity financing. Omnispace says it wants to build a global 5G hybrid mobile network. It has already booked […]

Eutelsat enjoyed a near-spectacular market trading day on February 12th when its share price rocketed more than 6 per cent to end the day at €10.31. The rise reflected a sense of buoyancy from CE Rodolphe Belmer despite his alerting the market that its much-needed super-satellite Konnect Very High Throughput Satellite (VHTS) would be around […]

Satellite operator SES will unveil its half-year numbers on February 25th. Analysts at investment bank Berenberg have upgraded their advice on the company to clients to “Hold” but has more than a few cautions in a report. Currently SES shares are trading at sub-€7 levels (€6.84), a little better than its yearly low which was […]