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by Gerry Oberst Recently, the European Union published the new data protection directive for electronic communications services. This document applies to satellite operators just as much as it does to […]

European cultural channel ARTE is set to transfer to its analogue transponder on Astra (19.2 degrees East) on Oct. 1. According to the Strasbourg-based channel, the move will enable around […]

BT Broadcast Services is extending its collaboration with PanAmSat only weeks after the two parties announced a strategic alliance for the distribution of digital video services in Europe, the United […]

Gilat Satellite Networks reported second quarter revenues of $51.6 million, an almost 30 percent fall from the previous quarter. The results were dramatically below analysts’ expectations. Armand Musey, a satellite […]

By Christopher Baugh Make no mistake: Western Europe remains a top prospect for satellite delivery of telecommunications services. From international voice traffic decades ago to Internet platforms today, satellites are […]

90 degreesE: Yamal 102 D The Russian channel GTRK Dalnevostochnaya from the Far Eastern city of Khabarovsk has launched on 3725 MHz LHCP, SR 3200, FEC 3/4, VPID 4194, APID […]

The International Telecommunication Union’s process for reviewing applications for satellite systems is renowned for its bureaucracy, inefficiency, and glacial pace. To be fair, the organization has been working to reform […]

Spanish military operator Hisdesat has inked a deal with Arianespace to launch Spain’s first military satellite, SPAINSAT. The deal serves to emphasise the growing importance of military satellite communications to […]

BSkyB has inked a four-year deal with Telewest under which three of BSkyB’s channels – Sky One, Sky Sports News and Sky News – will be carried on Telewest. All […]

Canal+ Technologies, which is being bought by Thomson Multimedia, has launched an advanced version of its MediaHighway middleware. Canal+ said the new MediaHighway Advanced is first-to-market end-to-end MHP middleware for […]

Canal Satellite has concluded long-term contracts with SES Astra for two additional transponders at 19.2 degrees E. Canal Satellite has almost two million subscribers receiving up to 230 TV and […]

Israel-based Gilat Satellite Networks [GILTF] is installing a hub and two-way satellite communications network for JSAT, Japan’s largest satellite operator and the largest satellite operator in Asia. JSAT intends to […]

In its recently released study of the commercial satellite launch market for 2000-2003, Teal Group forecasts that 33 commercial satellites will be launched to Earth orbit in 2002 and 31 […]

New Skies Satellites N.V. [NSK], the global satellite communications company based in The Hague, The Netherlands, named Scott Sprague as its new senior vice president of global sales. Sprague is […]

Intelsat is planning to set up a video services unit in the next month as it plans to tap into that growing market. The satellite operator is increasingly looking to […]

By Stephen A. Blum The most complex satellite broadcasting system ever proposed is under development in a nondescript office building near Luxembourg’s airport. Global Radio intends to provide subscription radio […]

D = Digital A = Analog 80 degreesE: Express 6A D Kultura Telekanal and Muz TV have launched a stream share on 11540 MHz vertical, SR 5062, FEC 3/4, VPID […]

by Armand Musey The business of building new commercial satellites is severely depressed. A number of factors are driving this slow down. One main factor is that the satellite industry […]

James Careless Despite economic hard times, distance learning via satellite is alive and well. That is the message Via Satellite is hearing from one-way and two-way satellite carriers, equipment manufacturers […]

Several satellites have emerged as the best in the business for serving cable systems after years of development, and have aggregated attractive neighborhoods of top programmers. They include SES Americom’s […]

Then and Now–Some Parting Words From The Via Satellite Podium For the past 11 years, I have had the privilege of observing, analyzing and interacting with the commercial communications satellite […]

by Gerry Oberst China experienced its equivalent of “Captain Midnight” in late June this year. Although the facts are murky, and may never be fully known, it appears that the […]

by David Hartshorn When the meeting began, there were about 50 of us in the room, mostly regulators, who had flown in from emerging regions of the world–Africa, Asia, the […]

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 […]

Theresa Foley The biggest customers in the satellite world often control 20, 50 or even 100 transponders, giving them as much clout and influence over the industry as satellite operators […]

The third satellite owned and operated by Saudi Arabia will be launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in November.According to Prince Turki ibn Muhammed,who is in charge of the country ‘s […]

The merger between Spanish satellite pay-TV platforms Via Digital and Sogecable moved a step nearer completion after the European Commission announced earlier this month that it was up to the […]

Astrium is one of the main players in the European satellite manufacturing market. It has recently seen EADS take full control of the company. Astrium has undergone a widespread restructuring […]

U.S. satellite radio operators are facing real funding problems right now. Interspace recently reported that XM Satellite Radio might need an extra $600 million to reach cashflow breakeven. It now […]

Eutelsat has concluded an agreement with the InterSputnik International Organisation of Space Communications, under which InterSputnik will sell Eutelsat’s satellite capacity and satellite communications services. InterSputnik Director General Gennady Kudryavtsev […]