Focus: Telecom

Telenor announced Oct. 25 it is selling its Telenor Satellite Services (TSS) unit to Apax Partners France for $400 million in cash. Telenor had been shopping its satellite communications unit as a non-core asset since 2002; Apax intends to pursue the development of the company in Norway and abroad. "We are delighted to make a...

Responding to a complaints from a pair of investors, Loral Space & Communications Inc. and its largest shareholder will consider alternatives to a recent equity financing deal. Loral asked MHR Fund Management LLC for alternatives to the $300 million deal that would include the participation of all interested shareholders, and MHR is developing a response,...

It’s not difficult to understand the literal and figurative gravity involved with trying to summit Mount Everest. On average, about 10 percent of those annually attempting it are killed, and even those reaching the world’s tallest peak face a 1 in 20 chance of never returning. Even less likely, then, seemed the chances for a...

LORL Loral Space & Communications Inc. will sell $300 million of stock to its largest shareholder, MHR Fund Management LLC, Loral announced Oct. 17. The proceeds, combined with existing resources, will be used to pursue internal and external growth opportunities, including transactions or alliances. MHR will purchase $41 million and $259 million of new Loral...

Alcatel Alenia Space and Globalstar Inc. announced their signing of an initial authorization-to-proceed agreement to start work on mobile satellite voice-and-data services provider Globalstar’s second-generation satellite constellation. The preliminary contract calls for negotiation of a definitive contract, due to be signed Nov. 15, for Alcatel Alenia Space to construct 48 low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellites weighing...

In the increasingly connected world, "users are growing to expect continuous access to data, and they increasingly are using location information where they live and work," according to Darren Koenig, wireless market director at Tele Atlas of Boston. Companies are providing this information via overlapping spheres of connectivity, including wired, Wi-Fi and cellular and satellite...

A directive passed last week by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) focuses on three kinds of dishes: beef, chicken and satellite. As mandated in an Oct. 10 notification, about 2,000 meat- and poultry-processing plants nationwide will have to make room for satellite dishes for use by federal food-safety inspectors....

Australia is one of the most dynamic pay-TV markets in Asia, and the country’s geography and large numbers of households situated in remote areas of the country making it an ideal market in which satellite can make a significant impact. Two of the operators leading the way in this area are Foxtel and Austar who...

SPAB Spacehab Inc., a provider of commercial space services, announced Oct. 6 that its common stock has closed for more than 30 consecutive days below the minimum $1-per-share requirement for continued inclusion on the Nasdaq National Market. In accordance with Nasdaq rules, Spacehab has been afforded 180 calendar days — until April 2 — to...

The competition for satellite pay-TV operators is getting more intense around the globe, with traditional rival cable now joined by a growing number of telcos eager to gain a slice of the lucrative pay-TV market. While some direct-to-home (DTH) satellite operators have formed partnerships with telcos, the reality is telcos look to be strong competition...