People

Tachyon Names VP and GM Of Canadian Market

Tachyon Networks Inc. named Reeve Martin vice president and general manager of Tachyon’s Canadian market. Martin is responsible for expanding the company’s reach into targeted vertical markets including oil, energy, mining, manufacturing, transportation and government. He will build on Tachyon’s Canadian service partner program, creating and executing sales initiatives to deliver Tachyon’s satellite broadband services to the Canadian enterprise communications market.

Martin brings more than 15 years of communications and information technology sales and management experience to Tachyon. Most recently he was director of sales and operations for Netricom Ltd. Previously, Martin held business and sales management positions with GT Group Telecom and TELUS Advanced Communications.

ManSat Appoints Board Member

R. Bernstein joins ManSat’s main board of directors after retiring this past summer from his position as executive vice president and general counsel of Loral Skynet. He also served on the board of Stellat, a French satellite operator that was a joint venture of Europe*Star and France Telecom. Bernstein was also the primary legal advisor to the Loral Global Alliance.

Previously, Bernstein worked for Bell System and AT&T Skynet where he was involved in the acquisition of AT&T Skynet by Loral Space and Communications and joined the company as general counsel when it became Loral Skynet.

Services

ATCi Provides Service To Airports

Antenna Technology Communications Inc. (ATCi), a provider of satellite communications solutions, announced it has installed and integrated a two-way communication system for Corporacion Centroamericana de servicios de Navegacion A�rea (Cocesna), an international company headquartered in Honduras responsible for managing and maintaining a communication network of regional airports throughout Central America.

Working with Comtech EF Data and its subsidiary Memotec, ATCi designed and integrated the frame relay system for the new satellite communication site at Bluefields, Nicaragua. The site is currently connected with six voice channels/three data channels to Managua, Nicaragua, one voice channel to Puerto Cabezas, Nicaragua and one-voice channel/three data channels to Cocesna’s hub in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. Cocesna is able to provide an enhanced offering of aeronautical and administration network services.

Hugues Network systems Signed With ASDA

Hughes Network Systems Europe announced that it has worked with ASDA, a U.K. value retailer, to provide a training and corporate satellite communications solution based on Direcway, which replaces some paper- and mail-based communications at ASDA with purpose-shot videos.

Based on the Direcway two-way broadband satellite system, 24/7 TV offers enhancements beyond traditional broadcasting. The system, deployed on a total of 300 sites in the United Kingdom, is ASDA’s internal television network. Corporate briefings and training sessions are distributed to each ASDA location, making current briefings available to every ASDA colleague.

The new system has allowed ASDA to improve overall customer service while eliminating the cost of producing and distributing hard copies of training materials.

New Skies Starts Service In Japan

New Skies Satellites announced that it won a Radio Station License by the Japanese Ministry of Internal Affairs and Commu-nications, which enables New Skies to offer international and domestic satellite services directly to both Japanese and non-Japanese companies for links to, from and within Japan. This opens up a market to New Skies’ Ku- band video contribution and distribution network.

The service started last October and employs the NSS 6 and NSS 7 satellites to deliver the entire Formula One Japanese Grand Prix to audiences throughout Austria, Germany, Italy and Switzerland.

Contracts

Alcatel Space Sells DSL In The Sky

Alcatel Space announced the selection of its DSL in the Sky system by a major Mideast operator, as well as the launch of commercial service by Satlynx S.A., a supplier of high- speed, two-way network services via satellite for Europe.

Alcatel Space’s DSL in the Sky solution allows customers to offer Internet access in sparsely populated areas for corporations and small businesses, local communities and individuals. A satellite-based system provides a unique resource to drive local economic development, helping sustain employment and create jobs. Alcatel’s system not only supports the connection of remote sites for corporations with multiple branches and regional offices, but also provides a backup for terrestrial links, thus facilitating the development of new sites and enhancing network security.

The DSL in the Sky solution comprises the Alcatel 9780 DVB-RC5 platform plus associated terminals and can be integrated in total transparency with terrestrial DSL networks.

Globecast Signs With PTV

Globecast announced a long-term agreement with Prime TV to deliver 24-hour Pakistani family channel PTV Prime to subscribers in the UK, Ireland and Europe. The deal sees Globecast providing an end-to-end distribution service for the subscription channel, which will be available on Globecast’s direct-to-home platforms via Eurobird and Hot Bird.

In the United Kingdom and in Ireland, PTV Prime will reach 7.5 million people on Sky Digital. To provide the feeds for the European news and programming content, Globecast downlinks PTV News and Pakistan TV from Asiasat 3S in Singapore and backhauls it over its global fiber network to London via America.

Globecomm Systems Inc. Awarded Reconstruction Contract

Globecomm Systems Inc. announced that it won a $3.6 million contract, funded by the World Bank, to reconstruct the communications infrastructure in Afghanistan from the Ministry of Communication of the Islamic Transitional State of Afghanistan (MoC).

Globecomm will rebuild the MoC’s major international satellite communications facility in Kabul. The new facility will include the most state-of-the-art equipment available in the marketplace.

LORAL Skynet Teams With Microm De Colombia

Loral Skynet announced partnering with Microm de Colombia Ltda to provide Loral’s SkyReach IP access networking solution to Microm’s customer base, which includes government organizations, enterprises and Internet cafes in Colombia and Latin America.

Microm will offer its customers SkyReach IP services under its 2-Way brand, which will feature SkyReach’s two-way Internet connectivity at speeds of 2 Mbps on the forward link and 512 Kbps on the return link. Microm’s end users can select from a choice of on-site equipment and various bandwidth options to meet specific networking needs, such as satellite interactive terminals supporting different data rates and networking features.

Microspace Signs With WCPEClassical Radio

Microspace Communications Corp. (Microspace) announced a multiyear agreement with WCPE Radio to deliver programming via its Velocity satellite system. The pact covers approximately 75 satellite and Internet broadcasting sites, including 20 affiliate radio stations reaching more than 200,000 listeners nationwide.

WCPE is a non-commercial, independent, listener-supported station dedicated to excellence in classical music broadcasting. The station first explored satellite delivery six years ago with the intent to deliver content to the cable community.

Microspace relays WCPE’s programming for Internet audio streaming and enables listeners to pick up the signal via compact, 36-inch satellite dishes.

Technology

iDirect Technologies Brings Internet AccessTo Vehicles

Through Partnership C-COM, Satellite Systems Inc. has adapted its iNetVu Mobile platform to work with iDirect Technologies NetModem II products.

The iNetVu Mobile satellite platform when coupled with the iDirect NetModem II is capable of delivering Internet access, video and VoIP into vehicles, while stationary, at speeds of up to 18Mbps on the download and 4.2Mbps upstream anywhere in the world where one has access to satellite connectivity.

The combined solution provides customers the ability to automatically locate their satellite of choice from a vehicle or movable structure anywhere in the world in under three minutes with a click of the mouse and be connected to the Internet at broadband speeds.

The iNetVu Mobile systems configured with iDirect modems have been already delivered to government agencies, film production companies, oil and gas exploration and other resource-based companies as well as to fire fighting teams and utility companies worldwide. (iDirect Technologies, 13865 Sunrise Valley Drive, Herndon, VA 20171; Tel: 866/345- 0983; Web: http://www.idirect.net)

Thales Performs Live Digital Video Broadcasting

Thales announced that a live experimentation of digital video broadcasting based on DVB-H standard is performed during the Paris Motor Show. DVB-H is a new standard designed to address video broadcasting to handheld devices, allowing TV channels to be received on mobile receivers such as PDAs, phones or mobile receivers implemented in cars. Based on this new broadcasting technology standard, Thales has provided TF1-a major French Broadcaster-with the encapsulation and broadcasting systems that will be used during the show.

Thales’ solution is comprised of fully DVB-H compliant products for the live broadcasting of LCI and TF1 TV programs for reception on mobile devices situated/ located in moving vehicles exhibited at the Paris Motor Show. All video content will be broadcast in MPEG-4 H.264 standard. (Thales Broadcast and Multimedia, 104 Feeding Hills Road, Southwick, MA 01077; Tel: 413/569-0116; Web: http://www.thales-bm.com)

Xantic Introduces New 128 Kbit/s ISDN Channel

Xantic announced the introduction of a new 128 kbit/s ISDN channel for Fleet 77 terminals. Existing terminals only need a software upgrade in order to have access to 128k ISDN speed. The 128k ISDN channel will only be available for Fleet 77, not for 33 and 55. It will be an additional channel, with the current 64 kbit/s channel continuing to be available.

Users will be able to use high bandwidth applications such as video transfer and database replications. Moreover, as the 128 kbit/s channel airtime will cost less than the price of two 64 kbit/s channels, the transfer of data will be cheaper. (Xantic, Schenkkade 100, 2595 AS, The Hague, The Netherlands; Tel: +31 70 446 4410; Fax: +31 70 343 47 96; Web: http://www.xantic.net)