Intelsat reported reduced profitability and revenues for its fourth quarter due to a challenging telecommunications environment.

For the quarter, Intelsat’s (Washington, D.C.)net income decreased by $68.3 million, or 68 percent, to $31.5 million, down from $99.8 million for the October-December period in 2001, as a result of lower revenue and higher total operating expenses, company officials said. In addition, Intelsat’s telecommunications revenue for the quarter dipped $19.1 million, or 7 percent, to $240.1 million from $259.2 million a year earlier.

Despite these disappointing results,Intelsat CEO Conny Kullman is optimistic that 2003 will be a good year for fixed-satellite service operators. “In terms of the market landscape, I think there are some positive signs in the market place. I think because of the problems in the telecom and media industries over the last two years, the network planners and the chief information officers/chief technology officers in a lot of the customer companies as well as the end customers were looking very carefully at their inventory and doing what ever they could to make their operations more efficient. I think some of those customers now have filled up that capacity and might be ready to start buying again. So, I think during the year you will see an uptake in the business in general.”

An exclusive in-depth interview with Intelsat CEO, Conny Kullman can be found in the Feb. 26 edition of Interspace. For more information, check out our Web site at https://www.satellitetoday.com.