[Satellite TODAY Insider 01-24-11] Avanti Communications won two contracts for Hylas-1 satellite capacity for further developing and demonstrating technology to deliver video to the edge of terrestrial networks, the company announced Jan. 21.
    Under a 500,000 euro ($673,000) European Space Agency contract, Avanti will develop video caching technology for a project called NXY in conjunction with MPEG 4 IP broadcasting to lighten the burden on mobile phone and fixed-line ISPs networks and reduce network congestion and costs.
    The second deal is with the U.K. Technology Strategy Board. Avanti will take part in TSB’s Digital Advanced Rural Testbed project as one of five network service demonstrators selected to become national hotspots. Avanti will provide services enabling enterprises to test new business models, applications and services that can be supported by advanced, open and flexible networks and network services.
    The operator, which launched Hylas-1 late last year, is now looking to build a diverse portfolio of capacity clients. Nick Bell, a satellite equity analyst at Jefferies International, said the operator could look to the military satellite communications market as a potential target. “Spending on military satellite communications is set to treble over this decade, and the commercial operators are set to see even higher growth in our view, with recent growth pacing at over 20 percent. We now think that milsatcom could become as big a segment for Avanti as broadband Internet – originally identified as the company’s core market – and it is especially well positioned among the commercial operators in Europe because it has military Ka-band spectrum. The big pricing premium set by the deal on Hylas-2’s steerable beam plus a faster capacity fill rate means Milsatcom could be a significant value driver,” Jeffries said in a report released Jan 20.
    Avanti’s Hylas-1 and Eutelsat’s Ka-Sat have made Europe an intensely competitive market for broadband. However, Bell does not believe that Ka-Sat will impact Avanti’s future prospects. “We do not see the successful launch of Ka-Sat as a negative for Avanti, as in our view the market is big enough for two players and at the national level it will naturally segment itself between the operators.”

Related Stories-

Global Broadband Report: Subscriber Market Surpasses 500 Million    Satellite Today   January 10, 2011
[Satellite TODAY Insider 01-10-11] The number of worldwide broadband subscriptions now exceeds 500 million, according to a market report prepared by Point Topic and announced by the Broadband Forum Jan. 6. At the end of September, there were…

Inmarsat Receives $666 Million Ex-Im Loan for Global Xpress Satellites    Satellite Today   December 27, 2010
[Satellite TODAY Insider 12-27-10] Inmarsat secured $666 million in U.S. Export-Import (Ex-Im) Bank loans to finance the construction and insurance of three Ka-band satellites for its Global Xpress service, the mobile satellite operator announced…

Avanti CEO Williams Sees Hylas 1’s Market Success Building Over Time    Satellite News   December 7, 2010
[Satellite News 12-06-10] U.K. operator Avanti Communications has signed its third managed services deal since the launch of its Hylas 1 satellite in November. Under a three-year contract, Avanti will deliver Hylas 1 service to Network & Satellite…