Industry At Large
People
COMMUNICATIONS CENTER
Founder Passes Away
Walter Morgan, a well-known international consultant specializing in satellite communications, died on June 19, 2002, from pancreatic cancer in Clarksburg, MD.
Morgan, 71, was CEO of his 10-person consulting firm, the Communications Center, which he founded in 1980. Previously, he was senior staff scientist for several years with Comsat, the Communications Satellite Corp., now part of Lockheed Martin Corp.
TACHYON
Appoints Vice President Of Sales
Tachyon Inc. named Jason Bradlee vice president of worldwide sales. Bradlee will be responsible for driving the company’s revenue and enterprise account penetration targets on a global basis.
Bradlee joins Tachyon from Global Crossing where he was senior vice president of sales for the Northeast and mid-Atlantic regions.
Services
AIRTV
Will Deliver BBC To Airlines
BBC World will soon be available to audiences though the AirTV global satellite network, which will deliver television broadcasts to airlines flying all major global routes.
BBC World’s programming line-up will be delivered live to airliners through AirTV’s network of four geostationary S-band satellites. Each of these platforms will deliver 60 channels of satellite television, plus e-mail and Internet connectivity. AirTV plans to start its direct-to-aircraft service in 30 months.
GLOBECAST
Adds Channels To Its Platform
Globecast has added the Albanian network RTV 21 and Farsi-language network, Persian TV Channel 1, to its WorldTV Direct-to-Home (DTH) satellite platform on Telstar 5.
The WorldTV platform is an independent DTH platform dedicated exclusively to delivering international broadcast services, now offering 46 television and radio channels from Europe, the Middle East and Asia.
RTV 21 is an Albanian-language channel available to viewers in North America, broadcasting news and information direct from Kosovo. Persian TV Channel 1 is a U.S.-based Farsi- language network offering a variety of programming free to air.
INTEGRAL SYSTEMS
Broadcasts NASA Information
Integral Systems Inc.’s Skylight direct broadcast ground terminal now automatically produces NASA science products such as fire detection maps, atmospheric profiles and volcano alerts.
Skylight is an end-to-end system that includes an antenna, data capture hardware and software, data processing to create and analyze calibrated Earth images, and archiving and distribution of the images for users. The automated system tracks, downlinks and processes data from numerous remote sensing spacecraft, including the two NASA flagship Earth observation system satellites, Terra and Aqua.
NEW SKIES
Provides Services In Brazil
New Skies Satellites N.V. was authorized to deliver satellite communications services throughout Brazil from the new NSS 7 Atlantic Ocean region satellite.
NSS 7 will offer Brazilian customers services in both C- and Ku-band, facilitating full- and part-time video distribution and contribution transmissions, Internet backbone connectivity and business communications, as well as data and telephony services.
Contracts
IDIRECT
Selected By Solacomm
iDirect Inc. was selected by Sola Communications Inc. (SOLA) to provide a satellite system for both quality of service and bandwidth allocation.
To offer this new communication solution, SOLA turned to iDirect to deliver this platform by way of its integrated control channel that facilitates bandwidth on demand and its network management system “iMonitor.”
KINGSTON
Signs Agreement With Zamnet
Kingston inmedia signed a three-year contract to provide Internet backbone connectivity by satellite for Zamnet Communications Ltd., Zambia’s Internet service provider.
Kingston will provide Zamnet with a European route through Kingston inmedia’s Bedford teleport.
KVH TRACVISION
Chosen By Rexhall Motorhomes
Consumers purchasing a 2003 model year motorhome from Rexhall Industries Inc. will now have the option to equip their new vehicle with a KVH Tracvision in-motion or stationary satellite television system, following Rexhall’s selection of Tracvision as its exclusive satellite TV solution.
Rexhall will offer a choice of two new Tracvision systems: the Tracvision LF, a fully stabilized in-motion system and Tracvision SF, a stationary, self-acquiring system for use when the vehicle is parked.
MARCONI
Joins Forces With 3I
Marconi Applied Technologies announced a GBP72million (U.S.$46 million) management buy out with one of Europe’s leading venture capitalists, 3i. The move will help secure jobs and aid future development of the business across its locations worldwide and will be re-named “E2V Technologies.”
Chief Executive Keith Attwood and the existing management team will be joined by 3i partnership program appointees, Mike Hassall and Ian Slaughter, who have worked with the company to create this investment opportunity.
NORSAT
Receives Order For 500 ODUs
Norsat International Inc. received an order from Dynamic Engineers Inc. to purchase up to 500 of Norsat’s VSAT Ku-band ODUs.
Delivery of the ODUs, which will be used for broadband communication to remote locations, has begun and will continue throughout the next several months.
O’GARA
Wins Mobile Satellite Contract
O’Gara Satellite Systems has won a 10-year firm fixed price, indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity contract to provide mobile satellite communication services and equipment for the Defense Department and other U.S. government agencies.
O’Gara is one of five companies included in the contract, which is valued up to $1 billion for the three-year base period and seven-year annual options.
The contract calls for O’Gara to supply a full range of satellite communication services through the global Inmarsat satellite network, including voice, data, fax, messaging and paging. It includes airtime, equipment and maintenance.
SED SYSTEMS
Awarded Inmarsat Contract
SED Systems has been awarded a contract from Inmarsat Ltd. of London, England. Under the terms of the contract, SED will provide in-orbit test systems to verify the performance of the C-/L-band communications payloads operating on Inmarsat’s satellites. The SED-provided systems also support routine payload monitoring, communication measurements and land earth station verification measurements.
SHIN SATELLITE
Seals Deal With Samtel
Shin Satellite Public Co. Ltd. signed a contract with Samart Telcoms Plc, (Samtel), one of Thailand’s largest VSAT providers. Under the cooperation agreement with Shin Satellite, Samtel will act as a national service provider of iPSTAR technology to provide broadband networks for both corporate and individual customers.
SKYSTREAM
Selected By Eutelsat
Skystream Networks has signed a deal with Eutelsat to provide its Z-band content delivery platform for a new business-to-business content delivery network through Eutelsat’s multimedia platform in Turin, Italy.
Under the agreement, Eutelsat will use Z-band as the primary content delivery platform for the new service offered through its subsidiary, Skylogic Italia. It will offer access to corporate training, e-learning and telemedicine information via satellite transmission.
STELLAT
Signs Deal With Africa N degrees1
The Stellat 5 satellite has been chosen by Africa N degrees1 for broadcasting and distributing a television and radio bouquet throughout Africa.
Africa N degrees1 is a general international radio service for Africa, broadcasting African news and entertainment. It is one of the only French speaking Pan-African radio channels, reaching over 30 million listeners.
STM WIRELESS
Earns NATO Contract
STM Wireless Inc. (STM) has been awarded a contract for the supply of a broadband network for high-speed Internet connectivity in Central Asia. The project, which is being sponsored by NATO’s Science Program, provides delivery of a DVB-based broadband system, in collaboration with Eurasiasat and Kalitel. The system will serve eight countries in Southern Caucasus and Central Asia with Internet connectivity via a hub in Hamburg, Germany.
TANDBERG
Provides Digital Solution To RSCC
Tandberg Television is providing an end-to-end, fully integrated digital solution to the Russian Satellite Communications Co. (RSCC).
Tandberg Television, working in partnership with Russian distributor Elogar, is offering compression equipment, ATM transmission, modulation, filtering and monitoring solutions.
Technology
AXIOM
Unveils Tracking Products
Axiom Navigation Inc. released its new Accu-Tracker FMS-3000, 3100, 8000 and 8100 devices for fleet management and asset tracking. By combining GPS satellite technology with Cellemetry or Aeris.Net Microburst wireless data delivery, these devices can automatically report the exact location of mobile assets virtually anywhere in the United States, Canada, Mexico and some areas of Central and South America. (Axiom Navigation Inc., 3545 Howard Way, Costa Mesa, CA 92626; Tel: 714/444-0200; Fax: 714/444-0260; Web: http://www.axiomnav.com)
HELIUS
Releases IP Encoder
Helius Inc. has released its Helius IP Encoder. The IP Encoder offers a mid-tier solution for businesses, schools and corporations that want to incorporate multicasting services on local area networks. The encoder converts audio and video from sources such as DVD players, VCRs, or cameras into MPEG1 or MPEG2 format and encodes it into IP packets that can be fully routed across standard local area networks. (Helius Inc., 333 S. 520 W., Ste.330, Lindon, UT 84042; Tel: 801/764-9020; Fax: 801/764-9022; Web: http://www.helius.com)
PREDIWAVE
Introduces Content Delivery System
Prediwave introduced its video on demand (VOD) system enabling the delivery of VOD to an unlimited number of consumers at any time. Prediwave’s Digital Broadband Delivery System is a VOD offering sized for the number of movies supported, rather than the peak number of customers a cable operator plans to serve at one time. Using a technique the company has coined the “predictive statistical method,” Prediwave’s system utilizes one stream of bandwidth per piece of content, rather than one increment per customer. (Prediwave, 48431 Milmont Dr., Fremont, CA 94538; Tel: 510/252-4400; Fax: 510/252-4401/02; Web: http://www.prediwave.com)