Focus: Telecom

[Satellite Today 09-30-08] Asia Broadcast Satellite (ABS) appointed Srini Prasanna vice president of business development.       Prasanna will be responsible for developing strategies and identifying opportunities with key service providers across the region. He also will focus on market entry strategy for the ABS-2 satellite, securing commercial business opportunities and establishing strategic partnerships within the...

[Satellite News 09-30-08] September was a rough month for the commercial satellite market. The overall market decline that followed the U.S. House of Representatives’ rejection of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act Sept. 29 took several technology and satellite stocks down with it.     Satellite News outlines three significant movements of the month – most of...

[Satellite Today 09-29-08] The U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) rejected a proposal by Mobile Satellite Ventures (MSV) that every handset in a national broadband network for emergency responders include satellite connectivity, according to an FCC proposed rulemaking notice released Sept. 26.      The commission said it wanted to let spectrum licensees determine which equipment should...

[Satellite Today 09-29-08] Space Exploration Technology Corp. (SpaceX) launched the first privately funded, liquid-fuelled rocket into orbit Sept. 28.     The Falcon 1 rocket, which carried a dummy payload, lifted off at 7:15 p.m. EDT from Omelek Island at the U.S. Army Kwajalein Atoll in the Central Pacific. A single SpaceX-developed Kestrel engine powered the...

[Satellite Today 09-29-08] Astrium has been selected by the European Space Agency (ESA) and the European Union (EU) as a prime candidate for both the Galileo FOC space and ground control segment, Astrium announced Sept. 29.     To comply with EU procurement requirements, Astrium said it is inviting interested suppliers to submit expressions of interest....

[Satellite Today 09-29-08] Inmarsat plans to support a new entry-level FleetBroadband terminal, the FB150, developed for the small fishing, leisure and business vessels market from mid-2009, the company announced Sept. 29.     The FB150 terminals will offer voice, IP data up to 150 kilobits per second and SMS texting. The first manufacturers of FB150 hardware...

[Satellite Today 09-29-08] AT&T will market and sell DirecTV‘s service as a co-branded satellite television service after Jan. 31, according to a commercial agreement the two companies unveiled Sept. 26.     The deal comes as AT&T’s agreement with Dish Network expires.     AT&T said that its DirecTV partnership will become part of its advanced TV...

[Satellite Today 09-29-08] EchoStar entered into an agreement with SkyWay USA to provide transponder service to support SkyWay USA’s satellite broadband Internet service with domestic Ku-band satellite bandwidth, EchoStar announced Sept. 29.     The SkyWay USA Internet services will target rural markets.     “Our agreement with this strategic partner gives SkyWay the green light to...

[Satellite News 09-25-08] Two important moves have happened recently in the realm of satellite cellular communications – TerreStar Corp. sold its remaining shares in SkyTerra Communications to private equity firm Harbinger Capital Management and other parties on Sept. 19 and Mobile Satellite Ventures (MSV) along with ICO Global Communications and Qualcomm signed a technology agreement...

[Satellite News 09-25-08] Christian Gates, vice president of strategy for Mobile Satellite Ventures (MSV), spoke with Satellite News about his company’s partnership with ICO and Qualcomm to integrate satellite communications capabilities into mass market cellular handsets and devices.     “What we have done is taken a terrestrial device that is primarily terrestrial in terms of...