Focus: Telecom

[Satellite Today – 4-21-08] Christopher Stott, president and CEO of ManSat Ltd., has been appointed the company’s chairman, ManSat announced April 21.     Stott, who co-founded ManSat, will take over as chairman from his father, Bryan Stott. Bryan Stott will continue as chairman of the ManSat advisory board.      “As a team at ManSat, we’ve...

[Satellite Today – 4-21-08] TerreStar Networks Inc. CEO and President Robert Brumley has resigned effective April 16, the company announced April 21. Jeffrey Epstein, the company’s general counsel and secretary, will assume the role of president.     Additionally, COO Michael Reedy, Chief Marketing Officer Doug Sobieski and Executive Vice President of Finance and Corporate Development...

[Satellite Today – 4-21-08] Arianespace launched communications satellites for Brazil and Vietnam, the company announced April 18.     Star One C2, built by Thales Alenia Space, will be used by Brazilian telecommunications operator Star One to provide telecommunications, multimedia and broadband Internet services over South America. The spacecraft carries 28 C-band, 16 Ku-band transponders and...

[Satellite Today – 4-21-08] SES New Skies signed a contract with Talia Ltd. for capacity on the NSS-703 satellite, SES New Skies announced April 21.     Talia, headquartered in London, provides satellite Internet services in North Africa and the Middle East, and will use the capacity to introduce a new broadband network in the region....

[Satellite Today – 4-21-08] The U.S. Army exercised a $5.5 million contract option for continued production of the Joint IP Modem (JIPM), Globecomm Systems Inc. announced April 21.     In November, the Army awarded Globecomm a contract to develop the modem, which is intended to serve as a standard network IP modem for use on...

[Satellite Today – 4-21-08] Asia Broadcast Satellite (ABS) appointed Khodadad (Ken) Betaharon CTO, a newly created position, the company said April 21.     Betaharon, who previously served as CTO at Intelsat, will be responsible for the ABS-2 program, including spacecraft development and planning, as well as payload operations, regulatory and strategic development. ABS-2, the company’s...

[Satellite Today – 4-18-08] Delphi Corp. will develop advanced DVB-SH (Digital Video Broadcasting – Satellite Services to Handhelds) user terminals for ICO Global Communications (Holdings) Ltd., ICO announced April 17.     The terminals, which will be used for ICO’s mim mobile interactive media service, are expected to be delivered in Dec. 2008.     Under the...

[Satellite Today – 4-18-08] The Modern Times Group (MTG) has sold its national Russian free-TV network DTV Group to CTC Media, Inc., for $395 million in cash, the company announced April 17. The sale was completed after market close on April 16.     The deal follows a hectic week of activity for the company in...

[Satellite News – 4-18-08] The Russian Satellite Communications Company (RSCC), one of the main players on the Russian satellite landscape, recently signed a deal for a new satellite, the Express-AM4. The Russian national satellite operator is set to work with EADS Astrium on the new satellite, which is part of an extensive satellite renovation program....

[Satellite Today – 4-18-08] DirecTV is acquiring 180 Connect Inc., an installation, integration and fulfillment services to the home entertainment, communication and home integration service industries provider, DirecTV announced April 18.     DirecTV will acquire 100 percent of 180 Connect’s outstanding shares. Prior to the acquisition, DirecTV had outsourced all of its installation service operations...