UK senior civil servants have formally warned the government that its commitment to put $500 million into a joint venture with Bharti Global to buy bankrupt satellite operator OneWeb has a high risk of losing all the investment. OneWeb is currently totally unprofitable and it is likely to need considerable further investments for satellite building […]
Telco giant Orange is partnering with satellite operator Eutelsat to offer consumers satellite-based broadband. The agreement is a major commitment from Orange. Orange has purchased from Eutelsat all the available capacity on the recently launched Eutelsat Konnect satellite to cover the entire French territory. “It will enable Orange’s consumer customer base, even those living in […]
People suffering financial, health or emotional problems should be treated fairly and given the right support by phone, broadband and pay-TV providers, under best practice industry guidance issued by UK comms regulator Ofcom. The coronavirus pandemic has increased the potential for customers’ circumstances to change suddenly and providers are already offering additional support to people […]
In-Flight Entertainment and broadband communications supplier, Global Eagle Entertainment (GEE) has entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The company had been clear in the recent past that the near-total collapse of the world’s airline and related passenger traffic was putting the business under strain. Moody’s Investors Services had downgraded GEE’s rating to PD/LD which translates as a […]
Kacific Broadband Satellites Group (Kacific) has signed a 5-year agreement with the Government of Tuvalu to provide the Pacific Island nation with high-speed broadband internet connectivity via satellite. The bandwidth, supplied by Kacific’s high-throughput satellite Kacific1, will connect agencies, businesses, and communities across Tuvalu’s nine islands with high-quality internet. Under the agreement, Tuvalu, through the […]
BT is working with the Worcestershire 5G Testbed (W5G) as its lead technology partner to accelerate its vision of smart manufacturing delivered through the UK’s first live 5G factory installation. Building on its role in the development of the W5G Testbed over the last two years, BT is providing its expertise across 5G Private Networks, […]
SpaceX launched a South Korean military satellite on July 20th, and just 8 minutes after launch brought down the Falcon 9’s first stage onto a textbook landing onto its floating barge (‘Just Read The Instructions’) positioned some 645 kms down range. This was the 12th launch this year for SpaceX. Not satisfied with recovering the […]
London-based Avanti Communications has signed what they describe as a “significant” contract with Airbus, Israel-based GetSAT and Global RadioData Communications (GRC) to deliver hardware, training and support for GetSAT’s Microsat terminals on Avanti airtime, and “allowing users to access high-speed voice and data in some of the most challenging environments on the planet” according to […]
The Russian rocket launch city at Baikonur, Kazakhstan is suffering a major increase in Covid-19 cases according to local media. The city and its associated launch facilities has a population of some 40,000 almost all of whom live in Russian housing in the form of cramped apartment blocks. The local authorities say that the official […]
These days, for any aircraft-based In-Flight Connectivity (IFC) broadband system to be considered a success, the aircraft need to start flying again and carrying passengers. A report from Northern Sky Research (NSR) sums up the problem perfectly, saying: “While most of the aviation industry is treading water in the ongoing travel deterrence scenario by focusing […]