Focus: Telecom

[Satellite Today – 3-10-08] Arianespace successfully placed Jules Verne, the European Space Agency‘s first Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) in space, but an on-board computer shut down one of the four propulsion systems soon after reaching orbit, ESA officials reported March 10.     The vehicle was designed to bring supplies to the International Space Station such...

[Satellite Today – 3-10-08] International Launch Services (ILS) will launch its second mission this year, carrying SES Americom’s AMC-14 satellite, on March 15, ILS announced March 7.     The satellite, which will be used for advanced broadcast satellite service for SES Americom’s Americom2Home and EchoStar’s Dish Network direct-to-home entertainment service, will be launched using ILS’...

[Satellite News – 3-10-08] Network solutions company DataPath Inc. named industry veteran Dave Helfgott CEO in February.     The company has moved from mainly selling systems to the U.S. Department of Defense into the commercial arena, acquiring network management software company ILC in December 2006 and satellite communications manufacturer Swe-Dish Satellite Systems AB in July...

[Satellite Today – 3-10-08] OpenTV has appointed Ben Bennett as its CEO, the company confirmed March 10.     Bennett has been acting CEO and COO since August 2007. OpenTV is one the key providers of interactive and middleware solutions to satellite pay-TV operators. Bennett, in a recent wide-ranging interview with Satellite News, (February 12) admitted...

[Satellite Today – 3-10-08] Viaccess is the latest Conditional Access (CA) company to acquire a middleware company in order to widen its range of services for customers. The company said March 10 that it had signed an agreement to acquire Orca Interactive for $21.4 million. While Viaccess works with a number of satellite pay-TV operators...

[Satellite Today – 3-7-08] Al Yah Satellite Communications Co. (Yahsat) signed a contract with Emerging Markets Communications Inc. for the lease of C-band transponders on Yahsat’s dual-satellite communications systems, the satellite operator announced.     Emerging Markets, a teleport operator, will use the transponders to provide serve to government, commercial and non-profit organizations. The contract is...

[Satellite Today – 3-7-08] Com Dev International Ltd. posted a 14 percent increase in revenue in the 2008 first quarter, but net income fell more than 4 million Canadian dollars from the same period a year ago, the company announced March 6.     Com Dev recorded revenues of 44.9 million Canadian  dollars ($45.2 million) in...

[Satellite Today – 3-7-08] The U.S. Department of Defense has cancelled the Space Radar program, a U.S. Air Force spokeswoman confirmed March 6.     The program, which would have provided global intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance for the military and intelligence communities, was allotted no money in the Air Force’s Fiscal Year 2009 budget request.    ...

[Satellite Today – 3-6-08] Com Dev International Ltd. completed the airborne validation trials of its advanced Automatic Identification System (AIS) receiver solution, the company announced March 5.     The trials validated aspects of system performance and demonstrated that Com Dev’s receiver solution can extract a greater number of AIS signals compared to a standard receiver...

[Satellite Today – 3-6-08] Inmarsat‘s profits before tax for the full year 2007 increased nearly 40 percent over 2006 as revenues improved 15 percent, the company announced March 6.     Inmarsat’s total revenues for 2007 were $576.5 million, up from $500.1 million in 2006. Profit before tax was $124.8 million in 2007, compared to $89.8...