E-letter: News Feed

Spain’s Hispasat 1C, built by Alcatel, was successfully launched from an Atlas IIAS rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Station last Wednesday (February 2). International Launch Services co-ordinated the launch. Hispasat […]

More and more Italians are opting for a subscription to a pay-TV service, with live Italian league football being the main crowd-puller, followed by movies and news/current affairs. Latest figures […]

According to International Launch Services, the Atlas II, IIA and IIAS vehicles have achieved 100 per cent mission success with a tally of 45 successful flights. The string of consecutive […]

Twenty one months after its initial planned launch date, the Greek Nova digital satellite bouquet has finally obtained a licence and is now officially on air. However, Greece seems set […]

Stephen Blum, president of industry analysts Tellus Venture Associates, forecasts a buoyant future for DirecTV and Echostar’s DBS services over North America. He says that DBS, despite cable’s massive penetration […]

ICO Global Communications has secured a definitive agreement with Craig McCaw’s Eagle River Investments, throwing a lifeline to the MSS operator, which has been in Chapter 11 bankruptcy since last […]

One of the lesser-known Ka-band satellite contenders may beat Hughes Spaceway and Lockheed Martin-backed Astrolink into commercial service. The outsider is iSky, formerly known as KaStar. The company was founded […]

Italy’s Telecommunications Authority has now drafted national satellite television regulations that should end years of legislative uncertainty. It will also regularise the status of the country’s two pay-TV operators, Telepiù […]

Globalstar launched in four countries in Europe last week. The MSS operator’s partner, Telecommunications par Satellites Mobile (TE.SA.M), a joint venture between France Telecom and Alcatel, said it expected to […]

Telefonica Media, Telefonica’s media subsidiary, and Spanish digital terrestrial operator Onda Digital’s shareholders (Endesa, Union Fenosa and Telecom Italia) are studying the possibility of merging the two digital platforms in […]

Via Digital has completed the capital extension approved last December 13, increasing the capital value of the company by Ptas 31,488,750,000 (Euro 190 million) and giving it a total value […]

Sat 2000 was highly focused on (or obsessed by) the problems surrounding the industry’s two recent high profile MSS failures, namely Iridium and ICO. Numerous reports at the convention suggest […]

Austrian public broadcaster ORF has formalised its decision to use Kirch Group’s d-box encryption system Betacrypt for the satellite transmission of its domestic television channels on Astra (19.2 degrees East). […]

Independent analysts and investment bankers revealed markedly divergent views on the prospects for the future of global mobile at last week’s Sat 2000 conference in Washington DC… Mixed fortunes were […]

Key: D – Digital A – Analogue 62 degrees E: Intelsat-602 D. Iran has joined the digital revolution at last. Sahar Universal Network, a cultural and educational channel, has launched […]

In an effort to conduct joint life sciences research in space, Spacehab Inc. [SPAB] signed a memorandum of understanding with the St. Louis, Mo.-based Monsanto Co. and the Donald Danforth […]

SpaceDev Inc. [SPDV] has filed a Form 10-SB registration statement with the SEC to become a fully reporting company taking a necessary step toward advancing from the OTC Bulletin Board […]

Don’t be surprised to see transactions similar to the Hughes/Boeing merger occur in the coming year. With many satellite companies struggling to maintain the bottom line, they will need strategically […]

Jefferson Hofgard has been named director of international policy for The Boeing Co. [BA] Space and Communications Group in Washington, D.C. He will be responsible for coordinating export policy and […]

For those heading to Satellite 2000, look for Leslie Taylor. She will be moderating the "Law and International Regulation" panel discussion on Feb. 1 and participating in the "Satellite Statistics: […]

It has been a rocky road for the satellite industry during the past few years. From the high-profile failure of PamAmSat’s [SPOT] Galaxy IV bird to the recent troubles of […]

CNBC Europe is to version its satellite feeds on a regional basis across Europe. A five minute hourly opt-out, branded as CNBC Nordic, will launch in the spring. The UK […]

The satellite TV channel of Montenegro’s state broadcaster RTV Crna Gora has celebrated one year on the air, announcing plans to extend its global coverage as well as help to […]

The satellite launch market, in the doldrums in 1999, is showing signs of picking up this year, according to Jean-Marie Luton, head of Arianespace. Despite a fall in revenue of […]

Canal Plus’ total subscriptions reached 13,628,050 at the end of December, a 17 per cent increase over the previous year. International subscriptions grew by 29 per cent. A total of […]

Following its $3.75 billion deal with Hughes, Boeing Space & Communications is set to emerge as the world’s largest space group. Hughes is turning towards the more profitable business of […]

105.5 degrees E Asiasat-3S A. Sahara TV, an Indian channel with studio facilities in Bombay (Mumbai) and Delhi, is to lease a 36 MHz C-Band transponder here to relay its […]

Canalsatellite was fined and ordered to pay damages of Fr750 (Euro 114) plus costs of Fr700 each to seven subscribers by a court in Marseilles last week for not having […]

Telenor intends to invest up to DM2 billion (Euro 1 billion) in Germany within the next three years. A new subsidiary, Telenor Deutschland, will offer a large variety of services, […]

According to managing director Dieter Gorny, German music channel Viva’s flotation is now planned for late summer. At a presentation of Viva Zwei’s revised schedule he said that the channel […]