Satellite broadcaster SES has confirmed that Ceska Televize (CT), RTVS and Ceske Radiokomunikace are to begin test broadcasts of Ultra HD content via SES’s ASTRA 3B satellite. The Czech Republic public TV provider CT and Slovakian public broadcaster RTVS, in co-operation with leading Czech provider of digital infrastructure Ceske Radiokomunikace, are spearheading the first Ultra […]
Airbus Defence & Space, formerly known as EADS and the part owner of the Arianespace rocket company, has been roundly criticised by the French Parliamentary Space Group. A French Senator, and member of the Space Group, Alain Gourac, has protested to France’s Economy & Industry Minister, Emmanuel Macron, about Airbus and its past attempt to […]
Malaysia’s Astro DTH pay-TV operator is performing well, with its latest Q3 numbers showing profits up 12 per cent y-o-y, at $108 million ($96.2m last year). Revenues were $1.1 billion for the quarter, up 10 per cent on last year, with ARPU up 3 per cent to $28 per month. Astro says the improved numbers […]
Investment bank Berenberg, in a 10-page report on satellite operator Eutelsat, says it is increasingly difficult to accurately compare and contrast Eutelsat with its Luxembourg rival SES. The bank’s headline advice is for investors to “HOLD” their positions in Eutelsat despite the operator paying “well over two-times the tax rate of SES” and also having […]
Bolivia’s embryonic Empresa Nacional de Telecomunicaciones (Entel) DTH pay-TV service is increasing the number of channels on offer, and repackaging the bundles available. Barely six months ago in June it offered 102 channels. A December relaunch has seen that number jump to 132 channels. A new pricing structure sees the basic bundle offer 84 channels […]
French satellite builder Thales Alenia is suspending an agreement with Russia to supply satellites. The first craft to be affected by the decision is a military so-called ‘Spy’ satellite for the Russian military. The decision follows on from a report by the US intelligence services suggesting that the French satellites contain US-designed or supplied space […]
Russia’s Mobile Tele Systems (MTS) is test broadcasting 4K signals on its satellite-based pay-TV service. MTS says that it will debut full transmissions once reception equipment is available for consumers. According to Comnews.Ru the broadcaster plans to use the more efficient DVB-S2 transmission standard, and to also boost the number of HDTV channels carried. MTS […]
Alcohol-free Saudi Arabia has totally banned youngsters and teenagers under 18 from visiting coffee bars, and the government is warning the coffee shop owners that they must only screen TV programming from Arabsat. Coffee bars are favourite places for youngsters to hang out, and frequently will be packed out with viewers watching soccer matches. But […]
DirecTV’s latest satellite, its fourteenth, was successfully launched out of French Guyana on December 6th, and will be a “significant milestone” in DirecTV’s build-up of its 4K/Ultra-HDTV services. Phil Goswitz, DirecTV’s SVP/Space and Communications, speaking from the launch, congratulated rocket company Arianespace as well as Space Systems/Loral, the satellite’s builder on the success, adding: “Today […]
Surrey Satellite Technology (SST) has won a contract from Eutelsat for one of SST’s speciality craft. Eutelsat Quantum, the new satellite, will not launch until 2018, but is of a revolutionary design. Financed in part by the UK government’s Space Agency and the European Space Agency, the satellite will be ‘small’ compared to the usual […]