Focus: Telecom

DTH in Africa is a hot topic this year with Multichoice’s pre-eminence in the region likely to come under threat from Gateway Broadcast Services, which is looking to tap into the demand for affordable pay-TV across the region. Gateway Broadcast Services, a subsidiary of Gateway Telecommunications has launched a new pan-African pay-TV service, GTV, as...

Revenues among mobile satellite services (MSS) manufacturers will increase by slightly more than 50 percent by 2012, analyst Tim Farrar forecast in a report released July 9.   Revenues will grow from $493 million in 2006 to a projected $740 million in 2012, according to “MSS Industry Perspectives,” a 43-page research report from Menlo Park,...

Romtelecom, a telecommunications provider in Romania, is looking to have a strong impact in the nascent satellite pay-TV market there, and could offer a template for other telcos in the region to exploit the TV space. Romtelecom launched its Dolce direct-to-home (DTH) platform in November 2006, and by the end of March had attracted 170,000...

With news last week that CommScope Inc. had signed an agreement to acquire Andrew Corp. after having been rebuffed for a previous bid nearly a year ago, one element that reportedly has not changed is the intent to sell off Andrew’s satellite communications group. In a deal estimated to be worth $2.6 billion, CommScope, of...

With Microspace Communications Corp.’s digital cinema premiere of “Transformers” in Los Angeles June 27, the Raleigh, N.C.-based provider of broadcast video, data and audio satellite services may have found a metaphor for the future of the film distribution industry. The exclusive North American pre-release screening of the new DreamWorks Pictures and Paramount Pictures film represented...

The key to reducing delays and increasing safety in the aviation industry lies in the quick adoption of a satellite-based air traffic control system, according to aviation experts. A major step toward this goal should take place before the end of August, when the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is expected to award a contract...

In a move both to bolster its aeronautical broadband offerings and facilitate its entry to the land mobile and maritime markets, Norcross, Ga.-based EMS Technologies Inc. has signed a definitive agreement to acquire DSpace, of Adelaide, Australia, for $5.7 million. The acquisition allows EMS Technologies to capitalize on demand for Inmarsat’s Broadband Global Area Network...

In April, the U.S. State Department used the American technology export regulatory regime to bar the $295 million acquisition of AsiaSat by its principal shareholders, GE Capital Equity Investments and Citic Group of China. The deal would have taken AsiaSat private, but the U.S. government decision has left GE Capital, which recently acquired its AsiaSat...

The mobile satellite industry, brimming with optimism, gathered in late May in Baltimore, the first time in five years that the industry had met under the umbrella of the Mobile Satellite Users Association. A large share of this optimism is being generated by the companies that have received approval from the U.S. government to launch...

Last week’s news of the plans of U.K.-based private equity firm BC Partners to purchase with other investors a majority stake in Intelsat Ltd. for $5.03 billion looks to prove both expensive and instructive in the industry. Yet while the price has been confirmed, the lesson remains hazy. The definitive agreement calls for a BC...