Advanced Television

cband

FCC wins C-band spat with ‘small sat’ operators

A court case has been heard by the US Court of Appeals between ABS, Hispasat and Arsat which had been arguing that the FCC should pause the date of Commission’s Dec auction of C-band frequencies over the US. The trio were deliberately excluded by the FCC from its incentive plan for C-band compensation given to […]

June 24, 2020By Chris Forrester

Eutelsat to order C-band satellite for US

Eutelsat has told the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) that it will clear its required C-band spectrum over the US, and will order a new C-band satellite to provide replacement capacity for existing services. Eutelsat is required to clear its spectrum and have a satellite in orbit by 2023 in order to qualify for the FCC’s […]

June 23, 2020By Chris Forrester

Intelsat, SES file spectrum transition plans

Both Intelsat and FCC filed their C-band accelerated spectrum transition plans with the FCC on June 19th. The schemes outline how their clients will be moved in order to free up spectrum for the FCC’s 5G adoption. The plans show how some 3,500 cable head-ends and 13,500 Earth stations will have 60,000 blocking filters changed […]

June 22, 2020By Chris Forrester

Nokia 5G C-band trial

Network technology provider Nokia has successfully completed a series of Over-the-Air (OTA) 5G NR (new radio) trials in C-band spectrum, in Dallas, Texas. The drive tests, which achieved stable peak throughput speeds of over 1 Gbps, confirmed that Nokia’s solution is ready for commercial deployment ahead of the US C-band spectrum auction in December. The […]

June 19, 2020

C-band: SES confirms 4 new satellites

As reported on June 16th, Luxembourg-based SES has ordered up four new satellites from US manufacturers to replace the C-band capacity it is giving up as part of the FCC’s accelerated C-band clearance plan. Northrop Grumman and the Boeing Company to manufacture and assemble the C-band only satellites in Dulles, Virginia and in Los Angeles, […]

June 17, 2020By Chris Forrester

US satellite builders prepare for sales bonanza

The US satellite industry is about to get a few billions-worth of order for new craft. The new satellites will provide the fresh bandwidth to replace the C-band frequencies being given up as a result of the FCC’s push for 5G adoption in the US. Maxar Technologies has already said it has received a “multi-satellite” […]

June 12, 2020

Report: Satcoms will recover, but investment needed

A report from Northern Sky Research (NSR) forecasts an eventual recovery for the satellite communications (satcom) market from the Covid-19 virus, but it is going to take time and investment to get back to normality. NSR says that the Covid-19 challenges will have a “deep impact” in the short to medium terms, which it expresses […]

June 10, 2020By Chris Forrester

Brazil: TV TEM selects Eutelsat 65 West A

TV TEM, an affiliate of TV Globo, has signed a multi-year contract with Eutelsat Communications for capacity on its Eutelsat 65 West A satellite to distribute its programming within its concession region in the São Paulo state. The partnership has enabled TV TEM to seamlessly migrate its feeds from traditional C-Band (3.7 GHz to 4.2 […]

June 8, 2020

Intelsat Q1 loss $219m

Intelsat might be in Chapter 11 bankruptcy restructuring, but trading continues. The satellite operator’s revenues were $458.8 million for Q1 (to March 31st) down 13 per cent, and after interest payments and other obligations, that turned into a net loss of $218.8 million for the quarter. The company reported significant downturns in Network Services (down […]

June 5, 2020By Chris Forrester

C-Band: Eutelsat complains over Intelsat/SES ‘incentives’

Eutelsat, not for the first time, has formally complained to the FCC over the Commission’s ruling that it would pay around $5 billion to both Intelsat and SES in ‘incentive payments’ for clearing certain C-band frequencies over the USA. In essence, Eutelsat is fearful that the payments – and the related reimbursements of actual costs […]

June 3, 2020By Chris Forrester