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Compromise idea for CBA solution

Tim Farrar of TFA, a leading satellite industry consultant, has shared an idea to help solve the C-Band Alliance’s (CBA) process to free up 200 MHz of their C-band satellite capacity over the USA to help 5G adoption. Farrar said it was “truly ironic” to see objections to the CBA’s scheme from Google linked with […]

February 13, 2019

Social media shape shifters

There are two things we know without doubt about social media platforms: they are big and their main purpose in life is to be engines of profit. Long gone is any naive belief in their patronising mission statements reminiscent of 1970s cola adverts. Just like big food, big oil, big pharma or big anything else, […]

February 11, 2019

Kerrisdale backs Intelsat again

Last June hedge fund Kerrisdale Capital solidly backed Intelsat and SES over the C-Band Alliance’s likely significant gains from the sale of their C-Band spectrum over the US. In January it emerged that Kerrisdale had largely cashed in on its profits from its stake in Intelsat selling 7.79 million of its 8.48 million shares, and […]

February 8, 2019

CBA faces opposition from Google

The C-Band Alliance (CBA), which is trying to restructure 200 MHz of satellite spectrum over the US, is facing additional negative pressures, including Google, cable operator Charter Communications and a few other lobby groups including the American Cable Association (ACA). Potentially, the ACA’s objection could have merit in that its members are drawn from the […]

February 7, 2019

Will Google’s Loon help or hinder?

Ottawa-based satellite operator Telesat has struck a partnership agreement with Google’s Alphabet business and in particular its ‘Loon’ division. The Loon project sees a fleet of high altitude balloons providing satellite-type links to and from the ground. Telesat clearly sees the relationship with Loon as helping in its expansion plans. The full statement from Telesat […]

February 5, 2019

Major risk of US falling behind in 5G race

Members of the C-Band Alliance (CBA), which is looking to see 200 MHz of C-band capacity reassigned over the US for 5G adoption, have met with FCC Commissioner Michael O’Rielly and Erin McGrath, legal advisor to Commissioner O’Rielly. It seems that the presentation to Commissioner O’Rielly was polite, but blunt, and covered the “real and […]

February 1, 2019

Bank: Music subscriptions shine

Spotify will unveil its Q4 numbers on February 6th, and Vivendi a week later on February 14th. A report from equity analysts at investment bank Deutsche Bank has looked at the streaming sector and found much to commend it to investors. The headline news from the report is that the music industry is fully embracing […]

January 29, 2019

Matching Pluto TV could bankrupt European broadcasters

This week, Viacom paid $340 million in hard cash to buy the US-based free streaming service Pluto TV. Investment analysts from Deutsche Bank say: “this represents another indicator of the potential size of reinvestment required from traditional broadcasters in respond to changing viewing habits.” While Viacom is best known for appealing to younger viewers (whether […]

January 25, 2019

Bank advises “stay focussed” despite C-band fatigue

The proposed realignment of some C-band frequencies over the US in order to boost 5G take-up has seemingly “lost lustre” these past few months as investors saw the FCC withdrawing into its ivory tower as reason to take profits after an electric year of out-performance [by the two main backers of the scheme: Intelsat and […]

January 23, 2019

Amazon, Facebook, Google still biggest threat

There’s been massive coverage of Netflix these past few days, with analysts agonising what impact a price hike might have on its revenues and profits and how quickly the price rises might spread to their International markets. That’s understandable, but a very timely report from the media team at investment bank Berenberg suggests that it […]

January 22, 2019