Advanced Television

Spectrum

ICASA licenses 5G spectrum to newcomers

South Africa’s spectrum regulator, ICASA, has awarded spectrum licences to a cluster of smaller operators but not to the nation’s established players. The new bandwidth is likely to be used for 5G services. Newcomers Comsol Networks, Nthinte Communications, Real Time Communications, Marion Technology and One Telecom have reportedly been granted 60 MHz of bandwidth each […]

May 24, 2021By Chris Forrester

Viasat receives Nigerian satellite licences

Viasat has been authorised to offer satellite broadband services to and from Nigeria. The company has kicked off a consumer and community trial to connect about 15,000 people. Viasat says it now holds a full suite of broadband licences including those of a conventional ISP as well as VSAT licences. Nigeria’s Communications Commission (NCC) granted […]

May 21, 2021By Chris Forrester

GSMA calls for licensing of 6 GHZ to power 5G

The global future of 5G is at risk if governments fail to align on licensing 6 GHz spectrum, according to mobile operator trade body the GSMA. The full speed and capabilities of 5G depend on the 6 GHz mid-band spectrum, it asserts. Yet governments are already diverging: China will use the entire 1200 MHz in […]

May 18, 2021By Colin Mann

Telesat wants speedy C-band decision

Ottawa-based Telesat is sitting on some valuable C-band spectrum, and completely favours selling off some of that spectrum itself. The sale of 200 MHz of capacity would generate cash to help pay for its fleet of Low Earth orbiting (LEO) satellites, called Lightspeed. Telesat’s CEO Dan Goldberg told analysts that it would like to handle […]

May 17, 2021

SES Q1: €100m share buy-back

SES used its Q1 results statement to announce a €100 million share buy-back programme, declaring that it had made a strong start to this financial year. Its currently all-important Video division is moving steadily forward. SES has seen Video revenues grow from a minus 8 per cent overall y-o-y fall to a minus 4.6 per […]

May 6, 2021By Chris Forrester

Verizon C-band spectrum speed success

US multiplay telco Verizon is continuing to prepare for 5G Ultra Wideband expansion across its newly-acquired national footprint of C-band spectrum. In a recent lab trial, Verizon worked with Ericsson and MediaTek to aggregate C-band spectrum with mmWave spectrum, achieving speeds of 4.3 Gbps in the trial. “The depth of our spectrum portfolio, now the […]

May 6, 2021

UK 5G spectrum auction final results

UK comms regulator Ofcom has announced the final results of the auction for spectrum in the 700 MHz and 3.6-3.8 GHz bands, following completion of the remaining stages. In March 2021, it announced the results of the principal stage, which determined how much spectrum each of the four bidders – EE Limited, Hutchison 3G UK […]

April 27, 2021By Colin Mann

C-band pay-out: Intelsat’s complex subsidiary structure

Intelsat has dozens of inter-related subsidiary and sister companies. These associated business are creating significant headaches for its bankruptcy court, Intelsat’s many debtors and arch-rival SES. SES, and some bond holders, are arguing that Intelsat is deliberately using these sister businesses to hide its current and especially future assets. Those future assets include the much-anticipated […]

April 19, 2021By Chris Forrester

Verizon signs C-band tower deals

US multiplay telco Verizon has agreed deals with Crown Castle and SBA, two tower companies already hosting Verizon infrastructure equipment, to speed deployment of C-band equipment in preparation for the launch of 5G Ultra Wideband and fixed wireless broadband service on this newly acquired spectrum. Verizon secured an average of 161 MHz of C-band spectrum […]

April 13, 2021

WBA praises Saudi Arabia’s spectrum designation

The Wireless Broadband Alliance (WBA), the body leading development of next-generation Wi-Fi services, commends the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC) for their spectrum designation of the entire 6 GHz band (5.925-7.125 GHz) for licence-exempt use. Saudi Arabia is the first country in the Middle East, Europe, or Africa to designate […]

March 31, 2021