People

Eagle Broadband Appoints David Micek President And CEO

Eagle Broadband said its board of directors promoted David Micek to the position of president and CEO from his position as COO. Micek succeeds Dave Weisman, who will remain on the company’s board of directors. Jim Reinhartsen will replace Weisman as chairman of Eagle’s board of directors.

Micek has more than 25 years of senior-level product development, sales, marketing, operations and general management experience. He most recently served as the president of Internet search company AltaVista.

EMS Technologies Appoints VP, Business Development, Defense & Space Systems

EMS Technologies Inc., announced the appointment of Mike Fatig as vice president of business development in the Defense & Space Systems Division, effective immediately.

Fatig will lead the organization’s growth efforts in U.S. military defense electronics and space-electronics markets.

Fatig’s 27-year career in the defense and space market has spanned technical, program management, sales, and business leadership areas. Prior to joining EMS, Fatig worked for Honeywell, a diversified technology and manufacturer of aerospace products and services. He began in the Honeywell technical ranks in 1978. For the past four years, Fatig served as director of Sales for Honeywell’s space digital electronics, guidance and navigation, and pointing and momentum-control systems within Defense and Space Electronic Systems. During that period, the business booked more than $930 million in orders and expanded into new market segments. Fatig also served as director of Space Services at Honeywell Technology Solutions Inc. in Columbia, MD.

Intersputnik Names Director General

The Intersputnik International Organization of Space Communications said Vadim Belov, was elected director general in April, has assumed his position within the organization. Russian Telecommunications Administration nominated Belov for the position after the term of his predecessor, G. Kurdryavtsev, expired. Belov was unanimously voted into office. Intersputnik said that among Belov’s top priorities with the organization is to create new strong incentives for the members and signatories to more actively cooperate with the organization.

Mainstream Data Appoints New Member To Its Board Of Directors

Mainstream Data, a global content delivery solutions provider, announced the election of financial industry veteran and transmission technology pioneer Jeffrey Parker, to its board of directors.

Parker, the celebrated entrepreneur who founded TechnicalData, FirstCall and CCBN, joins a board that already includes representatives from The Carlyle Group, Investor Growth Capital and New Enterprise Associates as well as other industry luminaries. Parker brings a unique perspective on building a marketing and sales organization to Mainstream, and will provide the Utah-based company with a strategic perspective to accelerate its growth.

Norsat Appoints New Member To Its Board of Directors

Norsat International Inc. announced that George King has been appointed to the company’s board of directors. With 20 years of strategic, operating, finance and legal experience in the United States and Europe, King sits on a number of executive boards. He has served as a Section 16 Officer of a U.S. public company and as a director or trustee of five private companies and two universities.

King’s distinguished corporate, entrepreneurial and professional career began in 1984 and most recently, he co-founded a consulting company that has since evolved into Magenta Netlogic, a U.S. and U.K.-based telecommunications company.

Orbital Names New VP Of Corporate Strategy And Business Development

Orbital Sciences Corp. said Gregory Jones joined the company, assuming the newly created position of vice president of corporate strategy and business development. In this role, Jones is responsible for leading Orbital’s long-range planning, business development and strategic acquisitions efforts in order to expand the company’s business into adjacent market areas. He will report directly to Chairman and CEO David Thompson.

Jones, who has spent his entire career in the aerospace industry, most recently served as senior director of business development for The Boeing Co.’s Integrated Defense Systems business. He held other senior management positions at Boeing and, prior to that, at McDonnell Douglas Corp.

SES Americom Names New President And CEO

SES Global announced that its board of directors appointed Edward Horowitz to be the president and CEO of its SES Americom subsidiary. He also will serve on the executive committee of SES Global.

Horowitz most recently founded EdsLink LLC, a venture fund providing strategic financing, operational and technology consulting services. Prior to forming EdsLink, Horowitz served as executive vice president for advanced development of Citigroup and founder and chairman of e-Citi. On the satellite side, he served as strategic advisor to CEO of Cablevision’s Rainbow DBS satellite service division. Horowitz also served as senior vice president of Viacom Inc. and chairman and CEO of Viacom Interactive Media.

Services

Intelsat General Introduces Satellite Network Broadband Service For Military/Government Needs

Intelsat General Corp. (IGC), a provider of satellite networking service to the U.S. military and other government agencies, launched its GlobalConnex Network Broadband service.

The service uses a bundle of satellite capacity, teleport facilities and hubs through fixed and portable Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT) dishes to create virtual private networks (VPN) carrying voice-over-IP, video and other data applications such as Internet access, e-mail and multimedia to anywhere in the world.

The benefits of network broadband include high-speed access at faster than DSL rates, minimal capital outlay, private network security, fiber-quality reliability critical to IP-based applications and the "go anywhere" and rapid deployment features of satellite communications. Data transmission rates go up to 5.25 Megabits per second (Mbps) outbound and 2.25 Mbps inbound per site, with aggregation available for even higher rates.

IGC offers a fully managed network service, in which it controls and monitors the network, but also offers Virtual Network Operator (VNO) services to customers who wish to manage their own networks from their own premises.

Intelsat Expand North American Distribution Network

Intelsat Ltd. said it is teaming up with Broadwing Communications LLC and HTN to deliver a new set of services to broadcasters. The operators interconnected their respective North American fiber distribution networks to create end-to-end connectivity to major U.S. sports venues. The combination with Broadwing and HTN enabled Intelsat to expand the reach and content distribution capacity of its Global Connex Terrestrial Media Transport (TNT) network. With this partnership, broadcasters will have a seamless, high-performance solution from the satellite to 20 major cities and top U.S. sports venues. Broadwing’s Television Operating Center provides network management services. Financial terms of the agreement between the three companies were not disclosed.

SES Americom To Deliver Space Shuttle Broadcasts

SES Americom said its occasional use satellite services will be used to deliver network and affiliate television coverage of the forthcoming Space Shuttle launch. It is the first Space Shuttle launch in two years. The company said leading broadcasters will use the AMC-5 and AMC-9 satellites for "significant Ku-band capacity" to provide local, national and international coverage of this event.

Contracts

Arianespace Sign Infrastructure Contract

Arianespace signed a partnership contract with Roscosmos regarding the production and supply of Russian equipment and systems for the construction of facilities needed to launch the Soyuz rocket from Arianespace’s French Guiana launch site.

The contract provides for the manufacture, assembly and validation by Russian companies of the Soyuz launcher interface systems and equipment, adaptation of this launcher to conditions at the launch site and completion of final development of the Soyuz 2-1b launcher. Arianespace signed contracts to launch commercial and government payloads on the Soyuz rocket beginning in 2008. Financial terms of this agreement were not disclosed.

Boeing Delivers Airborne Satellite Communications System To Air Force

Boeing said it recently delivered 16 airborne satellite communications systems to the U.S. Air Force that will be used to enhance aircrew’s real-time situation awareness in the cockpit. The Air Force took delivery of the first 16 of 61 systems, known as Combat Track II, as part of a $28 million order, with an option to purchase an unspecified amount of additional systems.

BSkyB Names HDTV Suppliers

U.K. satellite pay-TV operator BSkyB announced a number of deals with suppliers as it gets set to launch HDTV (High Definition Television) services in the United Kingdom and Ireland in 2006. Tandberg Television, Sony and Harris Corp. are the big winners.

Sony will construct and equip a new HDTV studio at BSkyB’s Isleworth headquarters and supply additional equipment for edit suites and dubbing facilities at the same site. Tandberg Television’s MPEG-4 part 10 (H.264/AVC) video encoding and distribution system will be used for the launch of the HDTV service. This system enables very high bandwidth utilization and high picture quality. Harris will supply BSkyB with its D-Series Version 4 Air Automation System, which will support delivery of BSkyB’s HDTV programming.

ClubCom Taps Microspace To Deliver Entertainment Programming

Microspace Communications Corp. said its Velocity satellite system was selected by ClubCom to provide programming to ClubCom’s extensive network of health clubs in the United States and Europe.

Comtech To Deploy Satcom Technolgies In Asia-Pacific Region

Comtech Communications Corp. said its Comtech EF Data Corp. and Comtech Vipersat Networks Inc. subsidiaries received two contracts for the deployment of satellite communications technologies to the Asia Pacific region. The combined value of the contracts is $5.3 million. Comtech will deploy its Vipersat Management system, a capacity and bandwidth management software solution, and its CDM-570/L, CDM-600 and CDM-600/L satellite modems. The equipment will be used to provide mission-critical air traffic control operations and to enhance and expand GSM cellular phone system infrastructure.

Convergent Taps Intelsat For Business TV Requirements

Intelsat selected Convergent Media Systems to provide worldwide distribution services for its business TV offering. Intelsat’s global fiber and satellite network will be used to transmit live and on-demand video communications services including corporate communications, distance learning and video distribution to some of Convergent’s international customers.

Crown Castle Taps SES Americom For Live TV Delivery To Mobile Handsets

SES Americom signed an agreement with Crown Castle Mobile Media to enable the delivery of live television to a wide range of mobile handsets. As part of the agreement, Crown Castle leased Ku-band capacity on AMC-9 to reach satellite receivers across a planned DVB-H (Digital Video Broadcast-Handheld) network designed to broadcast live television to wireless phones and other communications devices.

DirecTV To Provide Interactive TV Advertising

DirecTV Inc. said it signed a long-term agreement with Chrysler Group to join the new DirecTV Advertising Development Partner Program. The program allows DirecTV to provide clients with an interactive advertising and research vehicle that spans across multiple DirecTV produce platforms, such as interactive basic set-top receivers, digital video recorders and the DirecTV Media Center. Joining the program will enable Chrysler Group to collaborate with DirecTV to define advertising requirements that will impact both existing and future platforms and technology. As part of the agreement, Chrysler Group will have the option of customizing its media plan with a wide variety of new media tactics. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Mobile Satellite Ventures Taps Evercore For Financial Advisory Services

Mobile Satellite Ventures has selected Evercore Partners to provide financial, fundraising and strategic advisory services to ensure there is the financial and partner support necessary for the timely roll-out of its hybrid terrestrial-satellite network.

Globecomm Nabs Multiple Contracts Worth About $2.4 Million

Globecomm Systems Inc. said it won multiple contracts from an unnamed existing customer valued at approximately $2.4 million. One of the contracts, valued at $1.4 million for fixed and transportable earth station terminals, is a follow-on to an original contract worth $8.3 million. The original contract included $26.7 million in follow-on options. The customer has the right to exercise an additional $12.3 million under this contract.

Under a separate indefinite deliver/indefinite quantity contract. Previously, the customer exercised a $900,000 order under the contract and has the right to exercise an additional $2.9 million on this contract.

Helius Form Strategic Technology Partnership

Helius Inc. and iDirect Technologies formed a strategic technology relationship to provide what was described as "an evolutionary platform for the distribution of data, rich media and business information." The joint solution will provide customers an enterprise-wide data broadcast infrastructure for corporate broadcasts, distance learning, digital signage, software updates and desktop Internet access. Data broadcasting over satellite delivers audio, video, streaming data, software programs and other digital or multimedia content to multiple locations simultaneously. Internet protocol content is transmitted via iDirect powered satellite networks to Helius MediaGate routers where it is then routed for local use.

Hispamar Deploys Irdeto’s Conditional Access Solution

Irdeto Access said Hispamar Satellite has selected the company’s M-Crypt conditional access solution to secure content distributed throughout Brazil. The first customer application of this security technology will be to encrypt video content for distance learning to hundreds of sites in Brazil.

Iridium To Provide Solutions To Oceanographic Community

Iridium Satellite LLC named NAL Research as a value-added reseller of Iridium equipment and services. The move will open another channel for Iridium to offer satellite communication solutions for the oceanographic community.

NAL Research works closely with the international oceanographic community and the U.S. National Office for Integrated and Sustained Ocean Observations to implement an ocean observing system by developing Iridium-based solutions for a wide range of applications. Among the applications being implemented are event-driven applications where rapid dissemination of data is required to mitigate the impact of hazards, such as the real-time transmission of data collected by tsunameter buoys; using data to issue marine and atmospheric warnings and forecasts due to storms; and hurricane observations.

New Skies Inks Deal With European Broadcasting Union

New Skies Satellites B.V. signed an agreement with the European Broadcasting Union to accommodate the transmission of live coverage from news and sports events originating in or broadcasting to North America, Latin America and Europe via New Skies Washington, DC-based mediaport and the NSS-806 satellite. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The multi-year agreement with the EBU, a group of 119 broadcasters from 79 countries, incorporates a fixed amount of capacity on NSS-806 and teleport services from New Skies’ Washington D.C. Mediaport, which has been interconnected as a node on the EBU’s transatlantic Eurovision Fiber Network.

Panamsat Orders New Satellite From Orbital

Orbital Sciences Corp. signed a contract to provide a new geosynchronous communications satellite to Panamsat Corp. The satellite will provide C- and Ku-band fixed telecommunications and direct-to-home television broadcasting services from a mid-Atlantic orbital location. The satellite will be designated PAS-11 and will carry up to 18 active Ku-band transponders and 16 active C-band transponders. Delivery of the satellite is expected in the first quarter of 2007. The contract includes options for two additional satellites. Financial terms of the contract were not disclosed.

Pegaso Banda Ancha Taps EdgeAccess For VoIP Technology

EdgeAccess said Pegaso Banda Ancha, a satellite broadband service provider, selected its vPEP bandwidth-saving VoIP technology for use on Pegaso’s new Surfbeam network. Both companies will actively co-promote the EdgeAccess VoIP equipment and services to prospective customers.

ViaSat Deploys VSAT Network For Puerto Rico Department Of Education

ViaSat Inc. said it is supplying its LinkStar VSAT satellite communication networking system to the Department of Education of Puerto Rico to develop and distribute educational resources throughout the country. The installation contract covers 100 sites for the Distance Learning Satellite Network. ViaSat said Vitacom is the prime contractor and the integrator for the network. Each site in the network provides two-way videoconferencing, broadcast-quality video reception, and Internet access, with 85 of the sites designated as Centros de Innovacion Tecnologica para la Docencia (Centers for Technical Innovation in Teaching). These CITeD centers are geared toward helping teachers get more involved and trained in new forms of teaching.

Technology

Acterna New Interface Provides Test And Management Support For Satellite Transmissions

Acterna launched a new satellite interface to its DTS product line that will enable the MPEG analyzer to perform thorough analyses of satellite network components and monitor how they react under common stress situations, from ingress via the satellite feed to egress points when entering broadcast or terrestrial destinations. The new interface also provides a user with the ability to control the satellite antenna either via a 22-KHz tone or by using the DISEqC standards, as well as a means to perform MPEG transport analysis and monitoring at either an L-band or 70-MHz I/F interface point. The interface can perform rudimentary RF analysis as well. (Acterna, One Milestone Center Court, Germantown, MD 20876; Tel: 866/228-3762; Fax: 301/353-9216; Web: http://www.acterna.com)

Globecast Launched WING Global Content Management Platform

GlobeCast launched its WING global IP-based content management platform at the National Association of Broadcasters annual conference. The platform forms the backbone of a global content management network to support the delivery of an emerging array of non-linear media.

GlobeCast also said Francetelevisions is conducting beta testing of WING Content Exchange For Contribution, which provides "communities" of nomadic, freelance and field staff producers with access to a wide range of collaboration tools and value added services under one secure platform. WING Content Exchange for Contribution bundles several services, including WING File, a point-to-multipoint content exchange service using file transfer; WING Live, a real-time video streaming service; WING Chat, a text-based chatting service; and WING Visio, a videoconference "comms channel" service used to facilitate field-to-studio coordination during WING Live broadcasts. (GlobeCast America, 7291 NW 74th Street, Miami, FL 33166; Tel: 305/887-1600; Fax: 305/341-4424; Web: http://www.globecast.com)

ND Satcom Introduces Automatic Pointing System

ND Satcom formally introduced its Automatic Pointing System software at the National Association of Broadcasters annual conference. The new software allows an optimized one-button- operation for ND Satcom SkyWan networks with the ND Satcom SkyRay antenna subsystem without requiring additional satellite bandwidth for the antenna positioning.

The position of the satellite together with all relevant measuring and pointing equipment, a GPS receiver and compass are all that is needed to determine the true antenna elevation, azimuth and polarization angle. Automatic Pointing System performs all monitoring and control functions. According to ND Satcom, the exact antenna pointing typically takes only five minutes. (ND SatCom, Inc., 1850 North Greenville Avenue, Suite 184, Richardson, TX 75081; Tel: 214/231-3400; Fax:: 214/231-3399; Web: http://www.ndsatcom.com)

Scopus Announces UE-9120 Encoder Commercially Available

Scopus Network Technologies, a supplier of digital TV video networking to the broadcast and cable industries, announced the commercial availability of the UE-9120 Universal Encoder.

The UE-9100 series is a multi-channel encoding platform housed in a compact 1-RU chassis. The UE-9120 is the first model of the UE-9000 family of products and is capable of encoding two MPEG-2 channels simultaneously, resulting in reduced power consumption and rack space.

The UE-9120’s multiplexing capabilities enable features such as encoder cascading, so external multiplexers are no longer necessary. Its design integrates analog cue tone detection and DPI cue tone insertion (SCTE-35) to eliminate the need for an external cue tone detection device, thus saving essential rack space and operating costs. The device also provides IP output as a standard feature in addition to ASI. Other advanced output network interfaces will also be available. (Scopus Network Technologies Inc., 100 Overlook Center drive, Princeton, NJ 08540; Tel: 609/987-8090; Fax: 604/987-8095; Web: http://www.scopus.net)

Swe-Dish Integrates iDirect Modem In Suitcase

Swe-Dish unveiled the IPT-i Mil Suitcase, which includes an integrated modem from iDirect Technologies. The integrated modem allows for data rates of up to 4.2 Mbps and opens up for advanced bandwidth sharing, which Swe-Dish says will decrease bandwidth costs. The IPT-i Mil Suitcase weighs only 39 kg and comes with several aids to make network operations easy, including GPS capabilities, a built-in compass, a browser-based step-by-step set up wizard and satellite auto-acquisition. (Swe-Dish Satellite Systems Inc, 12343 Sunrise Valley Drive Suite D, Reston, VA 20191; Tel: 703/476-1826; Fax: 703/476-5423 Web: http://www.swe-dish.se)