Focus: Telecom

Alcatel-Lucent and Thales have signed a final agreement for the transfer of Alcatel-Lucent’s transportation, security and space assets to Thales, the companies announced Dec. 4. The deal follows a space alliance agreement among Alcatel-Lucent, Thales and Finmeccanica, in which Finmeccanica agreed to the transfer of Alcatel-Lucent’s shares in Alcatel Alenia Space and Telespazio, a pair...

Alcatel Alenia Space signed a contract to design, manufacture and deliver Globalstar Inc.’s second-generation constellation of 48 satellites, the companies announced Dec. 4. The deal is worth about 661 million euros ($880.9 million), though the value could be reduced by up to 28 million euros ($37.3 million) if Globalstar chooses to accelerate delivery of the...

The Korea Aerospace Research Institute has chosen Arianespace to launch the Communication, Ocean and Meteorological Satellite-1 (COMS-1), Arianespace announced Dec. 4. COMS-1 will be placed into geostationary transfer orbit by an Ariane 5 in the first half of 2009. The spacecraft, being manufactured by EADS Astrium will carry payloads that will perform meteorological observation and...

China Central Television (CCTV), the national broadcaster of the People’s Republic of China, has renewed a multiyear contract with Intelsat for global distribution of programming, Intelsat announced. Intelsat provides program distribution services for CCTV via its PAS-1R, PAS-9 and PAS-10 satellites and also provides CCTV with capacity on Galaxy-3C for offering direct-to- home (DTH) services...

Two of the Middle East’s leading satellite operators, Arabsat and Nilesat, have joined forces in the Middle East to establish a media gateway. The agreement will enable Arabsat to establish a new Arabsat Media Gateway from Cairo that will enable the operator to provide Egypt-based broadcasters with direct access to a comprehensive range of video...

Lockheed Martin Corp. and Boeing Co. have completed the transaction to combine their respective government launch vehicle businesses under the United Launch Alliance LLC (ULA) joint venture, the companies announced Dec. 1. ULA, announced in May 2005, will combine the production, engineering, test and launch operations associated with U.S. government launches of Boeing’s Delta and...

Alcatel-Lucent, a global communications provider of Internet Protocol (IP) TV, broadband access, carrier IP, IMS and next-generation networks, launched operations Dec. 1 after completion of a merger between Alcatel and Lucent Technologies. The new company is incorporated in France, with executive offices in Paris. Alcatel-Lucent trades on Euronext Paris and the New York Stock Exchange...

With demand for satellite services growing, Gilat Satellite Networks Ltd. would like to see better performance from its Spacenet Inc. services group. To accomplish this, Gilat has completed a makeover of Spacenet’s executive team and placed the pressure to perform on new CEO Andreas Georghiou. They first asked Georghiou, who has more than 20 years...

Datapath Inc. has completed its acquisition of ILC, a privately held provider of network management software for monitoring, controlling and automating hybrid communications networks, Datapath announced Dec. 1. The purchase price was $20.7 million for the equity of ILC and a $5 million payment for outstanding debt. ILC generated revenues of $12 million in 2005,...

EMS Technologies Inc. has completed the sale of its EMS Wireless division to Andrew Corp. for about $50 million in cash, EMS announced Dec. 1. Andrew has acquired all of the operating assets of EMS Wireless, which produces base station antennas for wireless applications and in-building and repeater systems, as well as the unit’s operating...