Focus: Telecom

In our June column, we reviewed the history and status of small satellites, generally considered to be those weighing less than 500 kilograms when fully fueled, from the commercial side. The other area in which small satellites will play a growing role is governmental civil and military use. Under the 500-kilogram umbrella, a few subcategories...

Several years ago, Datatel, a provider of information management solutions for colleges and universities in Fairfax, Va., created a satellite-enabled intranet for its workforce. Initially, the technology, which acts as a private computer network, was going to serve as a corporate communication tool by offering company updates and easy access to proprietary information ranging from...

Recently, during a flooding episode, a business owner was able to document the damage through video surveillance. The camera captured rising floodwaters destroying inventory, office furniture, files and proprietary information that crippled business operations. Today, surveillance equipment not only assists during times of crisis, but also can protect day-to-day operations. A broadband satellite-based, video-surveillance system...

Home2US Communications, which launched a pay-TV platform via satellite in North America that caters to a variety of ethnic markets, hopes to eventually get somewhere between 1 and 2 million subscribers for its service. The operator currently has around 150,000 subscribers, nearly 55 percent of whom receive the company’s premium package. With a target market...

Intelsat announced that Station 53, supplier of integrated communications services to luxury yachts, has signed a multi-year agreement to provide voice over Internet protocol (VoIP), data and Internet service through Intelsat’s Globalconnex managed network. Station 53 will use Intelsat’s Network Broadband Service to allow luxury yachts sailing in the Caribbean and in the Mediterranean high-speed...

VSAT systems have established themselves as a technology ideally suited to corporate networking, enabling a new tier of users to take advantage of the enhanced flexibility the platforms offer. But the industry has had to respond to a growing competitive threat from terrestrial services, which are expanding their offerings and geographic reach. VSAT operators who...

A strong increase in profits and revenues in the second quarter for Gilat Satellite Networks has given the company’s CEO and financial analysts reason to be optimistic about the satellite service provider’s future. Revenues for the second quarter, which closed June 30, were $61 million, up almost $10 million compared to the same quarter in...

By Peter Brown The satellite transponder market has consolidated considerably since the London Satellite Exchange (LSE) was created more than five years ago to serve as a marketplace where companies could bid for leased space on satellites. In April, EADS Space Services announced it would acquire a 49 percent stake in the LSE in a...

After a few challenging years, satellite-enabled business initiatives have begun to rebound fueled by new technologies and applications. Many industry observers believe that the notion of a "killer app" that will trigger significant business development has gone by the wayside. Rather, diversified service offerings enabling voice, video and data for a broad client base now...

BSkyB has seen an impressive increase in its number of subscribers. In its latest results, the operator announced it added close to 80,000 subscribers to the end of June. In fact, BSkyB’s strong performance in its consumer gains were above original analyst estimates from those who follow the direct-to-home (DTH) market. According to Patrick Wellington,...