Focus: Broadcasting

After a delay of approximately two years, a new Freesat service is likely to launch in the United Kingdom early next year. The BBC and ITV, two of the U.K.’s major broadcasters, are preparing to launch the service aimed at providing a Freeview digital terrestrial television (DTT)-type service in remote and rural areas. As recently...

The world is becoming more mobile as populations demand continuous access to content for business and for pleasure. This increased desire for mobility presents strong opportunities for satellite players in Asia, and many companies already are involved in ambitious projects aimed at making strong mobile video offerings a reality for customers. The world is entering...

Bahrain Telecommunications Co. (Batelco) believes satellite technology will be a vital element in its growth strategy as it looks to become a bigger player across the Middle East. The Bahrain-based telco signed a deal in April with Asia Broadcast Satellite (ABS) to offer broadband and satellite services throughout the Middle East and Asia. Hisham Mustafa,...

SES Global posted positive results in the 2007 first quarter that were in line with expectations, but the talk among analysts stemmed from comments by SES hinting at potential savings the company thinks it might realize in the procurement of future satellites. SES saw a strong increase in revenues, which improved by more than 20...

Sirius Satellite Radio reported a narrower loss in its latest quarter, signing up more subscribers than rival XM Satellite Radio in the first three months of 2007. New York-based Sirius reported a loss of $144.7 million in the 2007 first quarter, which closed March 31, compared with a net loss of $458.5 million in the...

India will be one of the biggest markets for satellite pay-TV services throughout the next few years. Dish TV, backed by Zee Telefilms, already is seeing strong growth in this market, and Tata Sky, a joint venture between Star and Tata, launched a nationwide direct-to-home (DTH) service in India in August 2006. The market may...

BSkyB’s acquisition of a 17.9 percent stake in ITV could be heading the way of the U.K. Competition Commission after both Ofcom, the U.K. communications regulator, and the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) expressed public interest concerns about the deal. The OFT issued a statement raising concerns: “Firstly, a relevant merger situation has been created....

As governments throughout the world make improving education a more important goal, many are beginning to embrace — and help fund — satellite-enabled initiatives. Satellite-related technology has proven to be quite effective in helping governments deliver the same level of education enjoyed by students in urban areas to students in rural locations, and the role...

Customers are seeking robust encoding solutions that are futureproof and can be easily adapted to meet the needs of a marketplace where mobile content delivery requirements are emerging to join demand created by HDTV and IPTV. The objective is achieving whatever is necessary to ensure a superb viewing or online experience for a demanding audience...

Thales Alenia Space signed its first commercial deal with a new customer, Telenor. In what ultimately proved to be a two-horse race, Thales Alenia Space beat out Orbital Sciences Corp., which is manufacturing the Thor 5 spacecraft for Telenor, to clinch the deal. The deal will see Thales Alenia Space build Telenor’s Thor 6 satellite,...