Focus: Telecom

Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd. signed a contract with the National Space Research and Development Agency of Nigeria for a small Earth observation satellite, Surrey Satellite announced Nov. 6. Nigeriasat-2 will […]

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) upheld its earlier ruling that Canadian satellite-TV providers cannot include satellite radio services in their offerings, the CRTC announced Nov. 3. The ruling […]

A Boeing Delta 4 rocket placed a Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) satellite into orbit for the U.S. Air Force, Boeing announced Nov. 4. The launch of DMSP-17 from Vandenberg […]

Northrop Grumman Corp. and Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) filed complaints with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission over pending approval of the United Launch Alliance (ULA). The joint venture, which […]

Orbcomm Inc. priced its initial public offering (IPO) of 9.2 million shares of common stock at $11 per share, the company announced Nov. 2. The offering was scaled back, as […]

Soundexchange, the non-profit organization that collects and distributes royalties from digital music services on behalf of artists and record labels, is seeking higher fees from Sirius Satellite Radio and XM […]

The U.S. Air Force awarded Boeing a $299.9 million contract change to further the Wideband Gapfiller Satellite (WGS) program. This funding exercises an option for production of WGS Space Vehicle […]

ViaSat Inc. posted record revenues of $131.5 million in its 2007 second quarter, up from revenues of $104.1 million in the same period a year ago, the company announced Nov. […]

Satellite operator Telesat Canada, a wholly owned subsidiary of BCE Inc., garnered revenues of 113.5 million Canadian dollars in the 2006 third quarter, up slightly from revenues of 112.2 million […]

News of Eutelsat and SES Global’s decision to jointly develop a new mobile broadcasting system for Europe is good news for other players such as Alcatel, which is hoping to […]

The "back-to-basics" reforms adopted by the U.S. Air Force within the past year to overhaul how it develops satellite systems are starting to show positive results, the service’s program executive […]

Giving a whole new meaning to the phrase "beer tabs," an intelligent wireless project jointly sponsored by IBM, Heineken, international shipping company Safmarine and the University of Amsterdam is tracking […]

In one of the most significant announcements of the year in the European satellite industry, traditional rivals SES Global and Eutelsat will team up to launch a satellite-based mobile broadcasting […]

GSAT Globalstar Inc. priced its initial public offering at $17 per share, the company announced Nov. 2. The company has also added 1 million shares to the offering, bringing the […]

Launch preparation is underway in Baikonur, Kazakhstan, for the launch of BADR-4, a Eurostar E2000+ satellite built by Astrium for the Arab Satellite Communications Organization (Arabsat). Liftoff on a Proton […]

Qinetiq announced Nov. 1 it is launching a European satellite interference geolocation service intended to deter malicious or accidental disruption of satellite communications services while allowing customers to identify and […]

The demand for commercial C- and Ku-band capacity will grow globally at an average annual rate of 3.2 percent, Northern Sky Research (NSR) announced Oct. 31. Between 2005 and 2011, […]

The commercial geostationary satellite transponder market produced total revenues of $708.5 billion in Latin America in 2005, and that figure will reach more than $1 trillion by 2012, Frost & […]

The World Teleport Association (WTA) announced Nov. 1 its rankings of the Top Teleport Operators of 2006 in three categories. The Global Top 20 includes satellite and fiber carriers operating […]

Datapath Inc., a provider of satellite and wireless communications networks, announced Nov. 1 the appointment of David Helfgott as president and COO, effective Nov. 15. A 20-year industry veteran, Helfgott […]

Someone once described drilling for oil as standing on a 6-foot ladder, holding a fishing line with a needle attached to the end, and trying to drill through a 2-by-4 […]

Keeping a global company’s information technology infrastructure efficient, up to date and secure while adhering to a fixed budget is a constant struggle. Simply maintaining the status quo is not […]

Located some 6,000 miles from the United Kingdom and 1,750 miles from Cape Town, South Africa (whence the islanders receive their sea-snail mail through the vagaries of ship schedules), Tristan […]

As we were going press, developments within the global satellite community were at an all-time high. Business strategies were advancing and financial community interest in satellite-enabled services was gaining momentum […]

By Gerry Oberst European satellite operators are complaining that new regulatory structures being establish in the old country are recreating the "landing rights" system that supposedly has been abolished. Landing […]

Broadcasters around the globe are covering more live events, sports and spot news in order to respond to the needs of their customers. At the same time, the owners and […]

By Peter J. Brown The number of satellite dishes found in the vast region stretching from the Mediterranean Sea to the Bay of Bengal has exploded throughout the past decade, […]

Telcos are seeking new ways to deliver satellite data directly to customers. A wide variety of information such as GPS coordinates, satellite imagery and maps is making its way to […]

XM Satellite Radio and Sea Launch announced the Oct. 30 launch of the XM-4 satellite. Early data indicate the spacecraft is accurately positioned and in excellent condition. XM-4, built by […]

By Owen Kurtin During my career, and specifically this year, I examined the chronic overcapacity of satellite operators, manufacturers and launch service providers in the industry. I wrote a series […]