Mobile Connectivity

Scientists from NATO‘s Science and Technology Organization (NATO STO) are deploying an Internet of Things (IOT) solution using Globalstar satellite communications, including Spot Trace. Research teams from the NATO STO Center for Maritime Research and Experimentation (CMRE), based in Italy, are embedding Spot Trace devices in freely drifting buoys and setting them afloat in the...

XipLink acquired certain assets from Sevis Systems, designed to optimize cellular traffic onto Internet Protocol (IP)-based backhaul links. Specifically, XipLink is acquiring the 6000 series product line for circuit oriented (E1/T1) base station connections, the 7000 series for IP base station connections and all related intellectual property associated with these products. Sevis Systems will continue to...

Gilat Satellite Networks was selected by Local Authorities Satellite Communication (LASCOM), a Japanese government agency, for a multi-million dollar project. Gilat will deliver the next generation disaster response platform to Japan’s forty-seven prefectures. Gilat in partnership with JSAT will ensure essential communication services for the people of Japan in case of disaster. LASCOM requires a...

Viasat reached a major commercial aviation milestone. The company reached 1,000 commercial aircraft flying globally with its In-Flight Connectivity (IFC) system. Viasat installed more than 400 of its latest IFC equipment on commercial aircraft in 2018, with more than half of those installs occurring in the second half of the year. These installations have helped...

The Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) in London ruled in favor of Inmarsat and Ofcom. The CAT handed down its judgment dealing with Viasat’s challenge to Ofcom’s January authorization of Inmarsat’s U.K. complementary ground component (CGC), forming part of Inmarsat’s European Aviation Network (EAN). The Tribunal comprehensively found in favor of Ofcom and Inmarsat, and determined that...

Thanks to the recent launch of the Horizons 3e satellite, Intelsat has completed the global footprint of its High Throughput Satellite (HTS) fleet. The Intelsat Epic constellation fuels Intelsat’s growth in new areas, particularly mobility, considering connected transportation is an area Intelsat would like to grow outside of broadcast. While Intelsat is already heavily involved...

Kymeta and its partner, ELB Engineering, received approval the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) for selling and distributing Kymeta KyWay u7 terminal devices in South Africa, according to a report from Creamer Media. Kymeta and ELB Engineering obtained this approval four months after the partnership was formed. Kymeta was already in the process of expanding global...

Back in the Jurassic Age, the big U.S. television networks distributed programs to affiliate stations over AT&T Long Lines. Then PBS and HBO showed that satellite offered a better deal, greater reliability, and less hassle, and the broadcast business for satellite was born. My friend Richard Wolf was in charge of distribution for ABC since...

Speedcast International has been awarded a new multi-year contract valued at over $10 million from one of the region’s multinational operators, to deliver fully-managed Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT) communications to a fleet of oil and gas platforms and vessels across Asia. This customer required a communications solution that could be delivered across its production...

LinkSure Network, a Chinese free Internet Access Provider (ISP), revealed its plans to launch a Wi-Fi satellite in 2019, according to a report from China Daily. This would be China’s first Wi-Fi satellite, which aims to provide free global Wi-Fi by 2026. “The very starting point of such a plan is to offer free internet...