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Issue #47 - |
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HNS to Provide Broadband Satellite for Amazon Basin Preservation ProjectGlobeCast Extends ATM NetworkCapRock Selected to Partner With Halliburton on Network ServicesIran to Launch Telecom SatelliteIntelsat Adds Turbo Product Coding to Sat Transmission OfferingsBeagle 2 Leaves the UK For Mission to MarsNew Skies and Intelsat to Share Resources at 340 Degrees EastNimiq 2 Suffers Power AnomalyGilat Supports GlobalSat-Intelsat Joint Venture in MexicoIntelsat to Buy Hong Kong Pay-TV Firm
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HNS to Provide Broadband Satellite for Amazon Basin Preservation ProjectHughes Network Systems has signed a contract with AmazonTech, a US subsidiary of ATECH, a Brazilian foundation specializing in critical information management systems development and technology integration, to provide a comprehensive satellite solution for the SIVAM (System for the Vigilance of the Amazon) program. The ATECH Group will deploy HNS' DW1000 series broadband satellite terminals along with HNS' PES5000(TM) VSATs (very small aperture terminals), to expand the current PES satellite network for SIVAM. SIVAM is a communication infrastructure established by the Brazilian government, which collects data from satellite, aerial sensing and surveillance, fixed and mobile radar, radio-localization, meteorological stations and altitude weather balloons. The data collected helps detect environmental changes in the Amazon Basin, such as deforestation and illegal airstrips. This contract expands the size of the network and adds new broadband applications, including file transfer, Voice over IP (VoIP), fax and video broadcasting. Given the delicate ecosystem and variegated terrain of the Basin, satellite technology is the only viable solution to deploy for the project. Installation of the new equipment will be completed within the year. GlobeCast Extends ATM NetworkGlobeCast announced it has extended its trans-world ATM Fiber Network to Asia with the inauguration of a 45-Mbps transpacific fiber trunk between Singapore and Los Angeles, offering seamless fiber connectivity between Europe, America and Asia. GlobeCast’s ATM Fiber Network supports ad-hoc and full-time video, audio and IP content connectivity. The redundant trans-pacific 45 Mbps duplex link ensures seamless signal delivery between GlobeCast’s new digital Master Control Center in Singapore and GlobeCast gateways in London, Paris, New York, Los Angeles, Miami and Washington DC. Singapore is GlobeCast’s key broadcast gateway in Asia. In March, GlobeCast will inaugurate a new digital Master Control Room and production studio, offering local fiber and satellite connectivity from Singapore to support full-time channel distribution throughout Asia as well as news, sport and enterprise media delivery. In addition to the Singapore-based MCR, GlobeCast operates two customer sales offices in New Delhi, India and Tokyo, Japan. The ATM trans-Pacific link follows recent network upgrades to full duplex OC3 broadband on existing links between America and Europe. Each PoP (Point of Presence) on the ATM ring connects to a GlobeCast teleport for a hybrid solution to feed distant satellite networks. CapRock Selected to Partner With Halliburton on Network ServicesCapRock Services Corp. and Halliburton Energy Services (HES) have formed a strategic relationship that will extend CapRock's market reach to an increasing number of remote global locations. Under the terms of the multi-year agreement, CapRock will manage Halliburton's existing satellite equipment, hubs and networks at more than 200 global locations. The strategic relationship makes CapRock the provider of choice for Halliburton's remote real-time communications network. As part of this strategic relationship HES will remain actively involved in the management of its real-time telecommunications network for its customers. "Over the past few years, we have developed and expanded our global telecommunications network, to be able to offer real time operations capability to our customers in support of our Real Time Reservoir Solutions(SM) strategy," said John Gibson, president and chief executive officer, Halliburton's Energy Services Group. "CapRock is taking this high-bandwidth satellite telecommunications technology and service and will be expanding it to reach a wider commercial base. Through this expansion to new geographic areas, we will continue to provide our customers with the services and technologies that will help them to achieve their goals." "This is an extremely positive strategic move for CapRock and Halliburton," said CapRock CEO Peter Shaper. "The relationship opens up extensive opportunities to share this network with other customers, providing them with a value unmatched in the industry." Iran to Launch Telecom SatelliteIran has signed an agreement with Carlo Gavazzi Space to launch its first telecommunications satellite within two years, the Iranian science ministry announced. The ministry statement carried by the official IRNA news agency gave no value for the deal to launch the Mesbah satellite, which is intended to replace the abandoned Zohreh (Venus) project with Russia. The Zohreh satellite had been intended to provide seven television and five communications channels at a cost of US $125 million. > Intelsat Adds Turbo Product Coding to Sat Transmission OfferingsIntelsat can now offer Turbo Product Coding for use with selected pre-engineered bandwidth solutions targeted at Internet service providers, carriers and corporate network customers, the company announced today. Turbo Product Coding, one of the most advanced forward error-correction (FEC) coding improvements available for satellite modems, reduces the amount of power required for antennas to transmit signals to a satellite while maintaining high error correction performance. As a result, customers can use smaller, less expensive antennas, thereby enabling voice, data and Internet applications to be supported more cost-effectively. "By combining our new high-power IX series satellites and Turbo Product Coding technology, we are significantly reducing costs for customers while maintaining the quality they have come to know from Intelsat's services," said John Stanton, president of Intelsat's Carrier, Data and Internet Business Unit. "These services are ideal for thin to medium routes (64 kbit/s to 8 Mbit/s) that are under-served terrestrially. It will not only benefit our largest customers, but also emerging carriers, ISPs and corporate service providers by providing high-quality services supported by low-cost customer premises equipment." Intelsat and Comtech EF Data are working together to provide various Turbo Product Coding promotions to customers. "Comtech EF Data's Turbo Product Code is the latest in a long line of high quality, Intelsat-compliant satellite modem enhancements," said Bob Hansen, Senior Vice President of Global Sales & Marketing, Comtech EF Data. Beagle 2 Leaves the UK For Mission to MarsThe Beagle 2 lander is on its way to Astrium, in Toulouse, France, where it will be fitted to the Mars Express orbiter. The European Space Agency (ESA) spacecraft will then be taken to Baikonur, in Kazakhstan, where it will blast-off on a Soyuz-Fregat launcher this summer on a six- month voyage to the Red Planet. Lord Sainsbury said: "The successful completion of Beagle 2 is a tribute to the vision of the UK science community, the technical know-how of engineers from British industry and the faith of our European partners. This is an important milestone in the history of the development of the Beagle 2 lander. With it, the UK is playing a major role in the European Space Agency's mission to Mars. Today marks the beginning of the next phase in this exciting project." Beagle 2 is designed to look for signs of life on Mars. It will be ejected from the orbiter and parachute down to the surface of the planet. On touchdown, it will deploy its robotic arm and paw which includes a mole to burrow into the ground and collect soil samples. These will be analysed for signs of past and present biological activity using the innovative Gas Analysis Package (GAP) developed by Professor Colin Pillinger's team at the Open University. The Beagle 2 project is headed by the Open University, which has provided the science lead, and Astrium, which is the prime industrial contractor. It involves a consortium of academic institutions and industrial subcontractors, and is funded by a unique public/private partnership. New Skies and Intelsat to Share Resources at 340 Degrees EastNew Skies
Satellites and Intelsat will use their existing orbital and satellite resources
at a single orbital location to expand their respective commercial service
offerings to the Americas, Europe, Africa and the Middle East. Under the terms
of the agreement, New Skies will allow use of its C-band frequency rights at
340 degrees East, where the U.S.-licensed hybrid Intelsat 603 satellite is
currently providing Ku-band services. In return, each company will separately
market the satellite’s C-band capacity for the delivery of video, Internet and
data services throughout the Atlantic Ocean region, sharing revenues from
C-band operations. Each company may
also offer "cross-strapped" services, where customer transmissions
may be uplinked to the satellite in the C-band and downlinked in the Ku-band,
and vice versa. Dan Goldberg,
New Skies’ CEO, said: "This agreement is a positive development for both
New Skies and Intelsat. Although we compete vigorously with Intelsat around the
world, satellite operators are increasingly entering into such agreements when
it makes good business sense to do so. This agreement is consistent with that
broader trend in our industry and is a reflection of our ability to make
productive use of our expansion orbital locations without making additional
capital expenditures or incurring significant incremental expenses." "We are
pleased to have reached this agreement with New Skies," stated Conny
Kullman, CEO, Intelsat, Ltd. "We believe that this will allow us to
maximize revenues, minimize costs and optimize orbital resources." Gilat Supports GlobalSat-Intelsat Joint Venture in MexicoGilat said it is providing broadband satellite communications equipment and services to support a new joint venture in Mexico between GlobalSat and Intelsat Global Services Corporation. GlobalSat is teaming with Intelsat to introduce two-way satellite broadband Internet service throughout Mexico. The service will target the small office/home office (SOHO) market, small to medium enterprises (SMEs) and remote offices of multinational corporations. Nimiq 2 Suffers Power AnomalyTelesat experienced a malfunction on its Nimiq 2 satellite that affected the available power on the spacecraft. Measures were immediately taken to restore the affected traffic by moving the traffic to backup satellite, Nimiq 1. An estimated 10 to 15% of the channels used by Bell ExpressVu were knocked off the air, according to Canadian viewers. Bell ExpressVu said they were mostly pay-per-view channels that were affected by the 8 of 32 transponders that lost power due to the anomaly from a solar array. The majority of the transponders are functioning normally and the situation has stabilized. Telesat is working with Lockheed Martin, the Nimiq 2 spacecraft manufacturer, to determine the cause of the anomaly. Intelsat to Buy Hong Kong Pay-TV FirmIntelsat Ltd. has agreed to pay HK$542 million (US$70 million) for a 51% stake in Galaxy Satellite Broadcasting Ltd., a competitor to I-Cable Communications. The stake will be purchased from Television Broadcasts Ltd. (TVB), Hong Kong's dominant network television company, and Television Broadcasts will retain the remaining 49%. TVB, on the eve of a second government-imposed deadline to reduce its stake in Galaxy to less than 50% by February's end, said the deal allows the leading network TV operator to remain in the pay-TV market through a license the government granted it two years ago. The agreement calls for Intelsat to provide the HK$542 million in cash and transponder capacity over three years. TVB itself will invest HK$196.6 million in cash over three years into Galaxy and contribute programming assets valued at HK$324.15 million. The value placed on Galaxy is far lower than its implied value two years ago, when Malaysian investor Astro Broadcast Corp. negotiated to take a 29.4% stake for HK$731.3 million in the company, Louis Page, managing director of TVB, told analysts. Astro Broadcasting ultimately abandoned the venture. |
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