Advanced Television

SES

SES extends Motor Presse TV partnership

German pay-TV broadcaster Motor Presse TV, a subsidiary of Motor Presse Stuttgart, has extended its long-term partnership with satellite operator SES. Motor Presse TV will start using SES’s end-to-end video cloud services, including its new Cloud Playout solution, to manage and distribute its two channels to Germany and Norway – ‘Auto, Motor & Sport TV’ […]

May 4, 2021By Chris Forrester

Bank modifies Eutelsat outlook

This week Eutelsat confirmed it would invest $550 million in broadband constellation OneWeb in return for a 24 percent stake in OneWeb. Ratings agency Fitch has given a “BBB” rating for Eutelsat with a “Stable Outlook”. The ratings report comes as investment bank Exane/BNPP also slightly modified its view of the deal, saying: “This initial […]

April 30, 2021

Musk gets FCC approval to lower Starlink orbits

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has granted Elon Musk permission to lower the orbital heights of its Starlink broadband satellite system. “Specifically, we modify the license by reducing the number of satellites from 4,409 to 4,408; modifying the primary operational altitude specified for 2,814 satellites, to change it from the 1,100-1,300 km range to the […]

April 28, 2021By Chris Forrester

Bavaria’s bmt extends SES deal

Satellite operator SES says it has signed a multi-year extension agreement with German regional public broadcaster Bayerische Medien Technik GmbH (bmt) for its 14 free-to-air channels. The agreement extends the existing relationship for HD capacity from Astra’s satellites at 19.2 degrees East. bmt is a subsidiary of the Bayerische Landeszentrale für neue Medien (BLM), the […]

April 27, 2021By Chris Forrester

SES vs Intelsat disputes ‘narrowing’

There’s to be a hearing at Intelsat’s bankruptcy court tomorrow (April 27th) where the judge will hear motions including those from SES which is looking for the court to compel Intelsat to release more documents (and to hear the related Intelsat replies). The SES requests are firmly denied by Intelsat. However, the court was informed […]

April 26, 2021By Chris Forrester

Intelsat’s bankruptcy judge sets new date for SES

The bitter C-band dispute between SES and Intelsat, and where SES is arguing for a greater share of the FCC’s incentive payments, will now be heard by Intelsat’s bankruptcy judge on April 27th. The hearing, according to Judge Phillips’ decision, will be heard in camera. The full transcript of the judge’s April 20th hearing has […]

April 22, 2021By Chris Forrester

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

SES signs MoU with Kazakhstan

Just days after OneWeb signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Kazakhstan, SES has done the same. SES has signed a MoU with Kazakhstan for its O3b mPOWER satellite fleet. The agreement has been signed specifically with the country’s Republican Center for Space Communications (RCSC), a subsidiary of the Ministry of Digital Development, Innovation and […]

April 19, 2021By Chris Forrester

Intelsat gets tough in C-band dispute

The avalanche of legal filings and motions in the increasingly bitter dispute between SES and Intelsat over the division of C-band ‘incentives’ from the FCC is simply immense. April 14th saw another flood of documents, but one stood out, which contained Intelsat’s strong rebuttal of some of SES arguments. The opening paragraph says it all: […]

April 16, 2021By Chris Forrester

SES claims Intelsat withholding vital documents

Satellite operator SES is maintaining pressure on Intelsat and its lawyers over the upcoming trial between the two regarding the disputed division of FCC C-band incentive payments. SES, in its filing to Intelsat’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy court on April 8th, asked the court to compel Intelsat to supply documents ahead of the trial. SES says […]

April 12, 2021By Chris Forrester