Spacecom, operator of the AMOS satellite fleet, is providing SPI International with a full service uplink, encryption and capacity on the AMOS-3 satellite at the 4°W prime orbital position for SPI International’s activities in Europe. This multi-year, multi-million dollar deal provides services for SPI International’s European HD and SD channels. Spacecom is working closely with TTCOMM, its partner […]
Luxembourg-based SES’s Q1 results were revealed on April 30th with CEO Karim Michel Sabbagh saying the satellite operator had made a “productive start” to 2015. He said that SES was now serving 312 million homes worldwide, up 7 per cent on a year ago. SES was now transmitting 6526 channels, up 5 per cent y-o-y, […]
Intelsat’s Q1 numbers showed some revenue reductions in most of its divisions. The one sector that showed an increase was its ‘media’ business, which saw revenues grow 1 percent to $224.8 million compared with Q1/2014. The reduced revenues in its other key divisions affected the overall fill rate, down to 75 per cent as at […]
A few months ago Charlie Ergen’s Dish Network were successful bidders in the Federal Communications Commission’s auction of AWS-3 wireless spectrum (which overall raised billions of dollars for the US Treasury). Ergen/Dish paid $13.3 billion out of the total $44.9 billion raised by the auction. However, Dish Network received a significant $3.3 billion in financial […]
A report from research and consultancy firm NSR finds that, despite increasing concerns about OTT video, the linear TV via satellite market will continue to show solid growth. By 2024 the market will see an increase of over 21,000 channels across both DTH and video distribution platforms. The proliferation of Ultra-HD, HD and SD channels, […]
Denver-based Lockheed Martin has won a twin order from Saudi Arabia to build two satellites. Riyadh-based Arabsat-6A is one craft, and other also comes from the Arabsat-owned Hellas-Sat 4/Saudi GeoSat-1, which comprises a convention satellite with a payload from Saudi Arabia’s King Abdulaziz City for Science & Technology. The two new satellites – with a […]
Cairo-based Nilesat is paying shareholders a (US$) 50 cent dividend on each share held. The payment was approved at the company’s AGM on April 27th. Nilesat recently reported net profits of $73.8 million for 2014, compared with $46.6 million for the previous year. The company is capitalised at $186.6 million, distributed across 37.3 million shares […]
We are in ‘results season’ as far as the world’s three largest satellite operators are concerned. As a consequence investment bank Jefferies’ has issued a major report on the state of the satellite industry. Intelsat is considered to be market leader, just ahead of SES with Eutelsat in third-largest position. The bank’s Giles Thorne says […]
Human Rights Watch (HRW) is just one of many civil liberty organisations which have heavily criticised Turkmenistan’s new laws forbidding the ownership of satellite dishes. Last week Turkmenistan banned satellite dishes saying they are “unsightly”. HRW says that this latest action in not the first time the Turkmenistan authorities have attempted to curb its citizens’ […]
Sky UK is closing its dedicated 3D channel from June 9th, leaving viewers wanting 3D content having to download movies and programming via Sky’s on-demand service. Closing the channel is expected to help create extra satellite bandwidth for Sky’s planned 4K service. Sky’s brand director of TV Products, Luke Bradley-Jones explained: “From June, Sky 3D […]