Eutelsat W3C Enters Full Service; Total TV Expands Capacity Lease
Eutelsat has commenced full commercial operations on the W3C satellite at the 16 degrees East orbital slot.
The operator activated the service following the completion of a full transfer of more than 480 television channels onto W3C from the Eurobird 16, W2M and Sesat 1 satellites.
Total TV, an Adriatic region DTH operator that owns SBB, will add two transponders to the six it has already leased at 16 degrees East to support new channels in all of its markets. Other pay-TV platforms and public and private broadcasters using W3C include SBB, Digitalb, TV Max, Tring and TV Romania.
Eutelsat said it believes that it is well placed to service a number of new markets, as a second regional footprint centered over Madagascar and Indian Ocean islands will serve the Canal Plus Overseas, Parabole Réunion and Orange platforms. The footprint also will serve France Télévisions to support digital switchover in Reunion Island and Mayotte.
O3B Adds Four Additional Satellites for Launch in 2014
O3b Networks has raised $137 million for the construction of four additional satellites that will aim to double capacity and boost redundancy over its targeted emerging markets.
The additional spacecraft will launch in 2014, joining O3b Networks’ initial fleet of eight MEO satellites scheduled to orbit in early 2013. The company said the expansion of the fleet would increase the company’s throughput by more than 90 percent through a combination of the additional beams deployed and the enhanced link efficiency of a larger constellation of satellites.
New equity funds were raised from certain of O3b’s original investors, including Google, who were joined by Luxembourg-based investment company Luxempart. The financing also included the expansion of French export credit agency Coface-backed senior debt facility of an additional $85 million provided by HSBC, ING, CA-CIB and Dexia.
SatCom Global Commences Operation at New Australian PoP
Mobile satellite communications provider SatCom Global has expanded its worldwide network to include a point of presence (PoP) in Sydney, Australia.
Sydney is the latest addition to SatCom Global’s backbone IP infrastructure, which includes two PoPs in New York and London.
SatCom Global said the new PoP is now fully operational and aims to enable customers to terminate local Inmarsat BGAN and FleetBroadband IP traffic. The capability is an effort to reduce both latency and cost by providing shorter routes for data transmission. The new ground infrastructure also aims to improve communication security as SatCom Global’s customers now have the ability to directly interconnect to their premises in the Asia Pacific region without using public Internet connectivity.
ViaSat U.K. Introduces New Enterprise, Military Broadband Services
ViaSat U.K. has unveiled a new SurfBeam communications services offering that includes satellite broadband for businesses and government departments.
The company said its SurfBeam service would provide a range of connectivity speed options and include packages tailored for both fixed and mobile users. SurfBeam services start at 6 Megabits-per-second (Mbs) downlink and 1 Mbs uplink, and top off at 20 Mbs downlink and 10 Mbs uplink.
ViaSat U.K. is selling these services via Eutelsat’s Ka-Sat satellite, targeting the business customers from outlying regions of cities. The company also announced real-time tracking and situational awareness services aimed at government and military clients, including applications for smartphones that securely encrypt all communications.
