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Comsat Corp. [CQ] has won a three-year, $9 million contract to provide Internet access at 90 megabits per second – the equivalent of about 500 pages of text per second […]

Telia Mobile, the cellular carrier subsidiary of Sweden’s largest telecommunications company, has signed an agreement with Globalstar Northern Europe Ltd. that will extend Globalstar’s satellite-based telephone service throughout Sweden. Subscribers […]

GlobeCast, the worldwide broadcasting arm of France Telecom [FTE], plans to launch a broadband service providing Internet access to the Indian subcontinent from the Europe*Star 1 satellite later this year. […]

Shrewd Financing Move Provides Cash Until Next Spring It looks like Globalstar L.P. [GSTRF] will be in business until at least the first quarter of next year. In a move […]

EMS Technologies Inc. [ELMG] which recently won a contract for more than 15,000 broadband, Ka-band, two-way VSAT terminals for service with SES/Astra’s 1H satellite, has subcontracted with Norsat International Inc. […]

Leo Mondale, 41, has been named president of Arianespace Inc., the U.S. subsidiary of the European launch company, and hopes his hard-learned lessons at Iridium LLC will help him in […]

Motient Corp. [MTNT], formerly American Mobile Satellite Corp., has formed a new subsidiary, Motient Satellite Ventures LLC, and announced a $50 million investment from an investment group consisting of Columbia […]

While the insiders of the satellite industry talk the talk about the power of broadband services via satellite, equipment manufactures remain in a holding pattern. “The satellite broadband end user […]

Orbital Sciences Corp. [ORB] can’t seem to catch a break. For years, the company struggled to solve a variety of accounting issues. Now, with those issues in the past, problems […]

It was a good week for the two competing digial audio radio service (DARS) providers. Sirius Satellite Radio’s [SIRI] first satellite launch was successful and XM Satellite Radio Inc. [XMSR] […]

Both ICO-Teledesic Global Ltd. and Globalstar L.P [GSTRF] both picked up $250 million of much needed funding. But the amount of money is about the only similarities between how the […]

Hispasat’s Board of Directors has approved the construction of a new satellite, Hispasat 1D which will be built by Alcatel Space Industries, and launched by International Launch Services in the […]

In a move that observers are describing as an “almost desperate final attempt to win subscribers”, German media company Kirch-Group has decided to reduce the subscription fee sports fans have […]

Galaxy Satellite Broadcasting has responded to charges from Hong Kong’s Wharf Cable that the TVB-owned company has a monopoly on the pay-TV market. General manager Stanley Tang See-tin told the […]

Telenor is to introduce its long awaited reshuffle of frequencies at its One degree West slot on September 5, 2000. The change will make way for new channels and services, […]

After 44 years in the media business, Leo Kirch has finally managed to make his long term dream come true: becoming the biggest player in Germany’s competitive free-to-air television market. […]

Interspace’s in-depth study of European satellite activity, compiled by Mike Fallon Key: D – Digital A – Analogue 83 degreesE: Insat-2E D – Doordarshan’s DD1 General Hindi service is available […]

UK teleport operator Kingston TLI has won the contract to beam the B4U movie channel to the Middle East. B4U stands for Bollywood For You; Bollywood is the popular name […]

German general interest channels Sat 1, Pro 7 and Kabel 1 will get new managing directors after the planned unification of Sat 1 and Pro Sieben Media. According to a […]

Financially troubled Globalstar took the unusual step of deliberately defaulting on a $250 million bank credit line to get an additional six months of cash for its faltering satellite phone […]

German news channel n-tv majority owned by CNN/Time Warner, announced improved financial figures at a press conference in Berlin. According to managing director Kenneth Jautz, 2000 marks a business year […]

Scandinavian Pay-TV operator Viasat is taking additional capacity on NSAB’s Sirius at 5 degrees East to simultaneously launch a digital TV platform in the Baltic region alongside the already announced […]

Despite official announcements that BSkyB will not shutdown its analogue service until 2001 it is now clear that Sky is well underway in a gradual switch-off. The latest announcement is […]

SES-Astra has signed up Kokua Communications as its first European Ka-Band return path client. SES says there are other major announcements pending. The deal calls for Kokua to use capacity […]

NTV-Plus, Russia’s DTH satellite pay-TV system, has begun transmitting from Eutelsat’s W4 satellite at 36 degrees East. A total of 19 transponders on W4 are switched into a high-power fixed […]

Microsoft founder Bill Gates is one of a group of private investors involved in a $1 billion refinancing of London-based ICI, the bankrupt LEO outfit that was taken under the […]

A Geneva court has ruled that @Entertainment, the former owner of the Wizja TV digital satellite platform should pay a $10 million indemnity to Cyfra+ the Canal+ Polish affiliate. Two […]

By Clayton Mowry Rocket launches, as well as the risks they convey, are part of most satellite executives’ daily lives. Without these expendable launch vehicles (ELVs), we’d have no way […]

By Peter Brown Well-established VSAT hardware vendors, satellite operators and other satellite solution providers are starting to roll out a long list of new satellite-based Internet access platforms and services […]

By Theresa Foley By year end, the satellite industry will know whether 2000 will be remembered as the launching point for massive new satellite broadband services, or as the second […]