TECHNOLOGY

Glowlink Releases Satellite System Upgrade

Glowlink released a new version of its flagship Model 1000 system.
    Version 2.11.1 introduces advanced data fusion technologies, alarm management tool sets and state-of-the-art data trending and reporting functions to the Model 1000 system. The version also features built-in, fashion-forward compatibility that will allow the Model 1000 to integrate with a suite of satellite network control and management products under development at Glowlink.
    Current users of the Model 1000 system maintenance plans will be able to upgrade to the new version free of charge.

Orbital Reveals New Lithium-Ion Battery to be Used for Future Launches

Orbital Sciences Corp. is using lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries from Saft as a power source for air-launched space launch vehicles.
    The battery was integrated in the Pegasus rocket after five years in storage and performed like new.
    Saft has been a supplier to Orbital on a number of programs such as DART and Optus D1, D2 and D3 satellites.

Universal Switching Releases Satellite Switching Architecture

Universal Switching released a switching architecture critical application system to provide linking for both satellite and 
communication applications.
    The unit features a built-in dual Ethernet, GPIB and serial ports with LXI support, swappable cabling, control CPUs, 
modules and remote ports and optional independent channel 
programmable gain.

Viewcast Releases IP Video Streaming Appliance

Software developer ViewCast Corp. released an IP video streaming appliance, Niagara 2100.
    This addition to ViewCast’s Niagara streaming video line targets government agencies, business enterprises and others who want to stream video over IP and mobile networks.
    The continuing additions of new streaming technologies are part of the company’s strategy to increase its presence in the video streaming market and develop a broader base of customers.

SERVICES

ACTi Completes Next-Generation Satellite Distance Learning System

Antenna Technology Communications Inc. (ACTi) completed its “1 campus” system contract to design, integrate and install a complete satellite distance learning system for the Thunderbird School of International Business.
    ATCi provided a Ku-band uplink motorized Earth station that will allow the school to transmit curriculum and programming to different remote campuses in the United States and Latin America.
    ATCi handled the scope of the project from turnkey design and integration to installation and testing.

Airfield Launches Satellite Pay-TV Service in Belgium

Airfield Media Group has launched TéléSAT, a French language satellite pay-TV service.
    The service will target the French speaking parts of Belgium with a 60-channel offering for less than 10 euros ($13) a month. Airfield already runs the Dutch language satellite pay-TV service, TV Vlaanderen, with about 75,000 subscribers in Belgium.  
    Kurt Pauwels has been named executive director of TéléSAT. Pauwels previously served as the general manager of TV Vlaanderen.

Arabsat, Canal Launch French Programming Package in North Africa

Canal Plus Group and Arabsat have launched a French-speaking channel package in Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia.
     Arabsat partnered with Canal Overseas, an affiliate of Canal Plus, to facilitate the launch.
    Canal Overseas is responsible for providing technical support, conditional access and marketing. Arabsat is in charge of broadcasting the channel offer over North Africa on its BADR-6 satellite.

Bharti Adds IPTV Service

Indian telecom provider Bharti Airtel has launched an IPTV service, Airtel Digital TV Interactive, which allows the company to offer triple-play services to its customers. The operator already offers TV services via satellite in India.
    The company said the move aims to increase the strength of its position in the regional market by expanding its audience through a diverse portfolio of services.

Gilat Expands Broadband Services in Kazakhstan

JSC Kazakhtelecom (KT), a telecommunications operator based in Kazakhstan, selected Gilat Satellite Networks to expand KT’s existing SkyEdge broadband network to serve several hundred additional sites.
    The expansion will be used to provide telephony and broadband Internet services to remote communities in Kazakhstan as part of a universal service obligation in the enterprise sector.

Hughes Launches Inter-Government Crisis Network 
Over Spaceway 3 Broadband Satellite

Hughes Network Systems has launched its Inter-Government Crisis Network.
    The network enables government agencies to communicate securely in preparing for and responding to an emergency. The service will operate over Hughes’ Spaceway 3 satellite.

IDC, Grupo Etercom Upgrade BanorTV to DVB-S2 MPEG-4

International Datacasting Corp. (IDC) and Grupo Etercom will provide a next-generation corporate training and digital signage network to Grupo Financiero Banorte, one of Mexico’s largest financial institutions with more than 950 branches throughout the country.
    The turnkey system brings Banorte’s BanorTV network up to date, migrating it from MPEG-2 to DVB-S2 and MPEG-4 AVC technology. IDC’s SuperFlex broadband satellite IP multicasting technology and Datacast XD content management and distribution software will power the network.
    The initial rollout to more than 300 sites represents the first phase of the project expected to expand further this year, 
IDC said.

IPTV Americas Launches Latin American IPTV Satellite Distribution

IPTV Americas has launched the first IP satellite distribution platform for Latin America via SES New Skies.
    IPTV Americas’ content will be distributed to the entire Americas on the NSS-806 spacecraft. The services will uplink from the SES New Skies’ Washington, D.C. mediaport.
    This will enable IPTV Americas to offer an end-to-end satellite-delivered IPTV distribution solution to all telecommunications and cable operators’ head ends in Latin America and the Caribbean. This agreement expands IPTV Americas’ fiber-delivery service aimed to equip small and medium size Latin American telecommunications operators with 80 channels of basic pay TV programming.

LBiSat, Alianza Provide VOIP Technologies to U.S. Forest Service

LBiSat Satellite Communications has implemented a hosted voice platform from Alianza to provide Voice Over IP (VOIP) services in remote regions for the U.S. Forest Service.
    LBiSat uses iDirect hub technology to support IP in a satellite environment.
    Alianza’s platform is built on a service-oriented architecture and session initiation protocol design that works with iDirect hub technology to shape packets traveling over the Internet and to lower latency. The platform also includes a carrier-grade session border controller, soft switch, carrier interface, virtual PBX, billing support system and device provisioning module.
    

Newtec, Arabsat Launch Middle East Broadcast Exchange Network

Newtec, Arabsat and the Arab States Broadcasting Union (ASBU) launched the Multimedia Exchange Network over Satellite (MENOS) in the Middle East.
  MENOS allows ASBU’s 28 members to fully automate an exchange of television, radio and data with an IP satellite-based service that can support all potential transmission applications required by broadcasters. The network also offers Voice over IP, corporate virtual private networks and an integrated billing system.

Orange Launches Satellite Internet Offer

France Telecom (Orange) is launching a satellite-based Internet service in France.
    The offer is being launched through subsidiary NordNet and means Orange now has 100 percent broadband coverage in France.
    Through this service, Orange is supporting the first action point of the France Digital 2012 plan announced by the French government in October 2008, which stated that every French citizen will have access to broadband Internet at 35 euros ($45.80) per month by 2012.

PCI Provides Satcom to Afghanistan 
via Australia

Proactive Communications Inc. (PCI) signed a $2 million contract negotiation with Australian-based operator NewSat to provide a unified communications solution to customers in Afghanistan.
    The three-year deal will expand PCI’s satellite coverage across Southwest Asia and North Africa. PCI said the contract was driven by difficulties in securing satellite bandwidth in these regions, turning to Australia as a solution.
    PCI expects to be able to offer full voice, video, data and collaboration capabilities in its 2009 first quarter.

RRSat Distributes Additional 
Russian TV Channels

RRSat been chosen to distribute two additional Russian-speaking channels, Smile of Child and Bridge TV, via Gascom’s Yamal 201 satellite.
    RRsat already has started to distribute the channels from its teleport in Israel. These two new channels join three additional Russian-speaking channels, CNL Siberia, CNL Europe and TBN.

SkyTerra Establishes Public Health Satellite Talkgroups

SkyTerra is partnering with the Commonwealth of Kentucky’s Department for Public Health to form two satellite mutual aid talkgroups (SMART).
    The new National Public Health Satellite Talkgroups will join the SMART group network, which is designed to supplement existing interoperable communications for public health and medical facilities throughout all 50 U.S. states, including the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U. S. Virgin Islands.
    NPHST-1 will be available exclusively to state and territorial health departments and is limited to two SkyTerra devices in each jurisdiction in order to efficiently communicate with the nation’s public health command and control system. A second nationwide talkgroup, NPHST-2, will be available to all SkyTerra devices operated by U.S. territories outside of Kentucky.

Tandberg Television Delivers Starz Video-on-Demand Services.

Starz Entertainment will use Tandberg’s next-generation MediaPath secure content delivery system for its on-demand services. The upgrade provides Starz with digital video broadcasting satellite (DVB-S2) delivery and other enhanced features.
    The MediaPath system supports the bandwidth required to handle the amount of Starz content.

Vizada, Absolute Provide LRIT to Panama Maritime Authority

Vizada and Absolute Maritime Tracking Systems have been selected by the Panama Maritime Authority to provide long-range identification and tracking (LRIT) for more than 8,000 vessels in Panama’s waters, Vizada announced Jan. 26.
    LRIT is a mandatory requirement for vessels on international voyages for security and search and rescue purposes. The APR is transmitted via a mobile satellite terminal such as Inmarsat-C to the flag authority with which the vessel is registered.
    The companies are contracted to help the fleet of passenger ships, cargo ships and high-speed craft of 300 gross tons and above meet International Maritime Organization compliance standards and regulations enacted Jan. 1.

CONTRACTS

Astrotech Secures New GOES Missions

Spacehab subsidiary Astrotech was awarded two contracts totaling $3.2 million from United Launch Alliance (ULA) in support of the ground processing of Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES) O and P. Both satellites are scheduled for launch in 2009.
    The two mission contract is part of a multi-mission GOES series in which NASA and the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will use the collected data to aid activities ranging from severe storm warnings to resource management and advances in science.

Avanti Wins Broadband Contracts

Avanti Communications won two supply contracts valued at a combined $1.8 million.
    Avanti will supply wholesale broadband services to Poland’s Computex Telecommunications at a minimum order value of $152,000, a price equivalent to more than $3,048 per megahertz per month.
    Avanti also will supply remote broadband services in Northern Ireland to the U.K. Department of Enterprise Trade and Investment. The contract, valued at $1.7 million, covers the costs of installing and managing network infrastructure.
    Avanti will deploy services immediately using its rented capacity, migrating customers to its new satellite, Hylas, upon launch.

Boeing, Lockheed Martin Receive TSAT Contract Extensions

Boeing and Lockheed Martin received $75 million contract extensions from the U.S. Air Force to continue risk reduction and system definition for the Transformational Satellite Communications System (TSAT).
    The six-month contract extensions began Jan. 7 and brings the total TSAT contract funding to $793 million for both companies, who are in competition for the multi-billion dollar TSAT contract.
    TSAT is intended provide protected, high-capacity data connectivity via satellite for U.S. airborne intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, communications-on-the-move and protected strategic communications.
 

Echostar Delivers Transponder and Uplink Capacity to Vredes, MotoSat

EchoStar Satellite Services signed an agreement with Vredes Inc. to provide satellite services for emergency management and other remote location broadcast demands.
    Vredes will use EchoStar’s broadcast capabilities to provide redundant transponder and hub services to support MotoSat, its EtherSat service. Vredes will have the ability to provide MotoSat with domestic Ku-band satellite access across multiple satellites via EchoStar’s uplink facilities. MotoSat’s mobile antenna can be placed on emergency management vehicles or commercial vehicles in remote locations and send and receive broadband data via satellite.
     The MotoSat GNMS platform is based on the full integration of its fixed and mobile self-aligning antennas using iDirect satellite-based IP communications technology.

GeoEye Signs Singapore University as Regional Imagery Affiliate

GeoEye Inc. signed a multi-year agreement with the National University of Singapore to allow the Centre for Remote Imaging, Sensing and Processing (CRISP) to collect and sell Earth imagery and related products from the GeoEye-1 satellite.
    CRISP will move into its new research center site later this year and continue to support its Ikonos satellite imaging operations. The new facility will be upgraded to accommodate direct access to the GeoEye-1 data.

Hughes Signs U.S. Satellite Broadband Reseller

Hughes Network Systems signed Broad Sky Networks as an authorized reseller of HughesNetxAE broadband satellite business solutions in the United States.
    Broad Sky, a reseller of business-class satellite Internet communications services in North America to enterprises, retailers and telecommuters, will have access to provide its customers with the full range of HughesNet satellite broadband services, including high-speed Internet access and private networking.

IDC Wins Expanded Conditional Access Product Line Contracts

International Datacasting Corp. (IDC) has been awarded contracts totaling more than $652,000 for the provision and support of a new version of its Cyphercast IP conditional access system.
    The system is being manufactured under license to Irdeto Access. Under the terms of the license agreement, IDC took over responsibility for the development of the access system as well as support for certain Irdeto customers.
    The Cyphercast IP descrambler is integrated as a standard option on SuperFlex DVB/IP satellite receivers and is used to implement high speed data, audio and video distribution networks.

Measat Signs Pan-Asian HD Distribution Deal

Measat Satellite Systems signed a high-definition (HD) capacity deal to distribute the All Sports Network HD channel via its Measat-3 satellite.
    ASN HD brings the number of HD channels distributed in the region to four.
    

Telespazio Sells Imagery Reseller Rights to 4C

Telespazio, a joint venture of Finmeccanica and Thales, sold the exclusive rights to Luxembourg’s 4C Satellite Images and Technologies to resell satellite images in a deal worth 180 million euros ($238.7 million).
    Telespazio will have its e-GEOS unit give 4C the rights to sell radar observation data in North Africa, the Middle East and Southeast Asia for 10 years.
    The data will be provided by Italy’s Cosmo-SkyMed satellite and received by a station to be acquired by 4C.

Thuraya Connects with Connect Telecom

Thuraya signed a commercial agreement with Connect Telecom, a longstanding Thuraya distribution partner, to distribute its ThurayaIP service.
    Connect Telecom intends to promote ThurayaIP to target segments such as non-governmental organizations, corporations, government, the construction industry, the marine sector and the media and newsgathering agencies.
    ThurayaIP is a broadband solution with a transmission speed of 444 kilobits per second (Kbps). It also has video streaming capacity in the market that functions at a speed of 384 Kbps.

Vizada Provides Inmarsat, Iridium Satcom to U.S. Army

Vizada won a contract with Delta Wave Communications to supply the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers with Inmarsat and Iridium mobile satellite communications services in the United States and overseas.
    Vizada will provide Inmarsat Broadband Global Area Network (BGAN) and the Iridium 9505A handheld mobile telephone to Delta Wave as part of a deal worth up to $3 million dollars per year over a three-year period.
    The Army Corp of Engineers provides engineering and infrastructure services including the planning, design and building of water resources as well as the construction of military facilities.

EXECUTIVE MOVES

Artel Video Systems Appoints National Account Manager

Artel Video Systems named Carl Camenisch national account manager for video systems.
    Camenisch will be responsible for supporting current customers with their video transport needs and developing new markets for Artel’s video-over-fiber transport platforms including DL4000, DigiLink and DV6000.

Arrowhead Names Vice President of Finance, Executive General Manager

Arrowhead Global Solutions, the government services division of CapRock Communications, appointed Jason Juranek vice president of finance.
    Juranek will be responsible for implementing new performance tracking systems and metrics to provide insight into business decisions and to support Arrowhead’s growth. He previously served as a financial manager at Vangent Inc., an information technology and services company.
    Arrowhead also named David Myers executive vice president and general manager. Myers’ appointment is part of a strategic initiative to accelerate Arrowhead’s evolution as a provider of value-added managed services and advanced telecom solutions for the military, intelligence and civilian government communities.

GMV Names CEO

GMV appointed Jesús Serrano CEO, replacing Luis Mayo.
    Serrano previously served as managing director of GMV’s aerospace and defense subsidiary and has worked for the European Space Agency.

TerreStar Appoints Senior Vice President, General Counsel

Douglas Brandon has been appointed general counsel, secretary and senior vice president of TerreStar and its subsidiaries. Brandon will manage all legal matters for the company and report directly to TerreStar President Jeffrey Epstein.
    Brandon previously served as vice president of legal affairs for AT&T Wireless Services.

AWARDS

EchoStar, Sling Media Wins CNET’s Best of Ces Award for SlingLoaded HD DVR

EchoStar Technologies and Sling Media won a Best of CES award from CNET for the SlingLoaded 922 HD DVR, a digital video recorder that incorporates Sling Media’s patented placeshifting technology. The EchoStar 922 won in the home video category.
    Only 10 products were given the exclusive “Best of CES” recognition. Winners are recognized as having the hottest products in their respective technology categories for innovation and creativity, and ability to excite consumers.

Harris Wins Technology, Engineering Emmys

Harris Corp. received two awards from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences at the 60th Annual Technology & Engineering Emmy Awards.
    Harris was honored for its Video Disk Communications Protocol, a proprietary, serial communications protocol based on the RS-422 standard and also for its invention “Combining Adjacent TV Channels for Transmission by a Common Antenna,” which is a method of “space combining” analog and DTV signals on adjacent frequencies within a single antenna. The ability to transmit multiple analog and DTV channels from a single antenna with nearly identical radiation patterns reduces costs for the broadcaster by eliminating the need for separate, expensive antennas for analog and DTV channels.  

SkyTerra Receives International Technology Innovation Award

SkyTerra won the 2009 Frost & Sullivan North America Technology Innovation of the Year Award in space communications.
    The award, part of the Frost & Sullivan Best Practices Awards program, recognizes SkyTerra’s efforts in developing an innovative technological solution for an integrated satellite-terrestrial communications network that potentially could improve the utility of wireless telecommunications worldwide.