Normally satellite operators go to huge lengths to ensure that adjacent spacecraft do not interfere with their near-neighbours. But Singapore Telecom-owned Optus, which operates over Australia, has caused major headaches for satellite giant Intelsat. According to local reports Optus is causing interference to users of Intelsat-19. Optus-10 was launched last September and completed its in-orbit […]
At 6.47am (GMT) on May 16th a Russian Proton rocket exploded shortly after take-off from the Kazakhstan cosmodrome. It was carrying the Centenario/Mexsat satellite for the Mexican government. This is the fourth such explosion and the various investigation boards now examining what went wrong will severely delay upcoming launches planned by Eutelsat, Inmarsat and Intelsat. […]
Findings from broadband, media and entertainment industries analysis firm Leichtman Research Group (LRG) indicate that the thirteen largest pay-TV providers in the US – representing about 95 per cent of the market – added fewer than 10,000 net video subscribers in 1Q 2015, compared to a gain of over 250,000 video subscribers in 1Q 2014. […]
Back on March 1st, a SpaceX rocket launched two satellites into orbit. One was Eutelsat’s 115 West B (and ordered as a Sat-Mex satellite), and the other for ABS of Bermuda. Both were ‘all-electric’ satellites built by Boeing. It is now clear that both the satellites will arrive on to their targeted orbital positions a […]
Brazil’s government says the entry price for an upcoming auction of satellite spectrum is being increased by 20 per cent to a minimum of BRL 27 million (about $9 million). The nation’s Court of Audit (TCU) approved the sum following on from recommendations from Anatel (the National Telecoms Agency) Brazil will sell access to 4 […]
DirecTV-15, the pay-TV broadcaster’s latest satellite, has been placed into position atop the giant Ariane-5 launch rocket in Kourou, French Guiana. It is currently scheduled to launch on May 27th. DirecTV-15 is the main passenger on the rocket. But just below it sits a smaller satellite, Sky Mexico-1, which will serve Mexico and is part-owned […]
Arianespace’s CEO Stephane Israel, in a briefing to the French National Assembly’s Economic Affairs Committee, has stressed that Arianespace can successfully compete with arch-rival Elon Musk’s SpaceX rocket system. SpaceX has been winning a significant amount of business from Arianespace over the past few years, while Arianespace has also been challenged by lower-cost (although not […]
Spanish satellite telecommunications operator Hispasat has announced a long-term agreement signed with the Mexican satellite service provider Spacenet to distribute movies and live shows over the country’s main movie networks. Thus, the more than 500 Mexican movie theaters covered by Spacenet’s services will be able to receive top-quality content with added speed and efficiency, thanks […]
French media group Vivendi has announced it is to offer €495 million for a controlling stake in pay-TV operator Canal Plus (Société d’Edition de Canal Plus). Vivendi already owns around 48.5 per cent of the company, and its supervisory board has approved a public tender offer of €7.60 per share. It says it is making […]
Satellite TV [DTH or DBS] revenues will overtake total cable TV revenues in 2015, according to Digital TV Research. Covering 138 countries, the Digital TV World Revenue Forecasts report estimates that satellite TV accounted for 44 per cent of the total in 2014, rising to 46 per cent by 2020. However, cable TV revenues