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SATMAGAZINE.COMJune 2006
TABLE OF CONTENTSClick on the title to godirectly to the story
COCOCOCOCOVER STVER STVER STVER STVER STORORORORORYYYYY
REGULAR DEPREGULAR DEPREGULAR DEPREGULAR DEPREGULAR DEPARTMENTARTMENTARTMENTARTMENTARTMENTSSSSS
By Peter I. Galace
36 / BrazilianSatelliteMarket
3 / Notes from the
Editor
4 / Calendar of Events
5 / Featured Event: ISCe 2006
8 / Industry News
14 / Executive Moves
17 / New Products and
Services
38 / Advertisers' Index/
Stock Quotes
FEATURES
27 / Telenor –PunchingAbove itsWeight
20 / Asia’s SatelliteIndustry:Winning by theNumbers
Norwegian satelliteoperator, Telenornavigates throughthe new competitiveglobal satellite market.
NREGIONAL UPDATE
Vol. 4 No. 3, June 2006
26 / NewOpportunitiesfor SatelliteBroadbandServices inAsia
By Patrick M. FrenchSatnews editor for Asia-Pacific, Peter Galaceprovides a comprehensiveoverview of the growingAsian satellite market.
By Chris Forrester
The Asian satellitebroadband market isbooming. NSR’s PatrickFrench shows where theopportunities lie in thispromising market.
29 / Telenor:PunchingAbove itsWeight
by Bernardo Schneiderman
CASECASECASECASECASESTUDSTUDSTUDSTUDSTUDYYYYY
The Brazilian satellitemarket has enjoyedsteady growthand present manyopportunities.
After reviewing several networkoptions, BTV+ saw an opportunity todramatically reduce the cost of livevideo backhaul and extend theirclient’s services to a broader, globalmarket by using terrestrial IPnetworks.
33 / IP VideoBackhaul toSatelliteTeleports
by Rick Segil
SATMAGAZINE.COM
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June 2006
Satnews Publishers is the leadingprovider of information on theworldwide satellite industry. Foremore information, go towww.satnews.com
Cover Design by: Simon Payne
Published monthly bySatnews Publishers800 Siesta Way,Sonoma, CA 95476 USAPhone (707) 939-9306Fax (707) 939-9235E-mail: [email protected]: www.satmagazine.com
Baden WoodfordContributing Writer, Africa
Jill Durfee([email protected])Advertising Sales
Joyce Schneider([email protected])Advertising Sales
Copyright © 2006Satnews PublishersAll rights reserved.
EDITORIALSilvano PaynePublisher
Virgil LabradorManaging Editorand Editor, North America
Chris ForresterEditor, Europe, Middle Eastand Africa
Bernardo SchneidermanEditor, Latin America
Peter GalaceEditor, Asia-Pacific
John Puetz, Bruce ElbertDan Freyer, Howard GreenfieldContributing Writers,The Americas
David Hartshorn, Martin JarroldContributing Writers, Europe
NOTE FROM THE EDITOR
The Asia-Pacific Market
T he Asia-Pacific market, the largest in the world, is showing signs not only of recovery but may finally beliving up to its promise and potential. As many of youknow, I used to work in Singapore as a marketing directorfor a satellite teleport during the late 90s and by the time Ileft in ‘98, the Asian economies were in full crisis.
Not so today, according to respected analysts like NSR’sPatrick French, who in his article on page 26 of this issue, examines thepotential of the satellite broadband market in Asia. NSR is projecting amodest increase to about $80 million by 2010 of the Asian market forconsumer satellite broadband services, citing the successful launch ofthe iPSTAR satellite last year as a clear indicator of the potential of thismarket. It may no sound like a heck of a lot, but as old Asia hands know,success in Asia goes by increments and the largeness of the potentialmarket will eventually reached its critical mass after a slow gestationperiod.
To give you an indication of the sheer size of the Asian market, Chinaalone has over 360 million TV households--that’s almost four times aslarge as the U.S. market. Far from saturated, the current number of TVhouseholds in China is less than half of the total potential. Multiplythat by other large markets such as India, Japan, Indonesia and you canimagine the potential size of the total market in Asia, which has over halfthe world’s population. In this issue, our editor based in Asia, PeterGalace gives us a comprehensive view of this growing market, especiallyfor Direct-to-Home (DTH) services (see cover story, page 20.
Going back to home, we would like to invite everyone to the ISCe 2006show this month to be held in San Diego, California from June 13-15. Itpromises to be a bigger and better show with as it is being concurrentlyheld with the AIAA Communications Satellite Systems Conference aswell as the Carmel Group’s Five Burning Questions workshop and theGVF Wireless Forum (see page 5 for details). It’s like attending severalshows in one. Satnews will have a booth there as well as our traditionalwine reception and we hope to see you all there.
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SATMAGAZINE.COMJune 2006
June 12-14, Washington, D.C., USAMILSAT 2006Warren GollopTel: +1-246-417-5328 / Fax: +1-888-844-4901Email: [email protected]: www.marcusevansbb.com/MILSAT
June 13-15, San Diego Hilton Resort at Mission Bay,San Diego, CA, USAISCe Conference and ExpoHannover Fairs USAPhone: +1 310 410 9191Fax: +1 310 410 9396
Email: [email protected] / Website: www.isce.com
June 19, SingaporeCASBAA Satellite Industry Forum 2006Tammy ChoyTel: +852 2854 9913 / Fax: +852 2854 9530Email: [email protected]: www.casbaa.com
June 19-23, SingaporeBroadcastAsia 2006Tel: +65 6738 6776 / Fax: +65 6732 6776Email: [email protected]: www.broadcast-asia.com/index2.htm
June 20-23, SingaporeCommunicAsia 2006Tel: +65 6738 6776 / Fax: +65 6732 6776Email: [email protected]: www.communicasia.com
June 26, Savoy Place, London, UKThe Institution of Engineering and TechnologySeminar onMilitary SatComs 2006 Tel: +44 (0) 1438 765567 / Fax: +44 (0) 1438 765 659Email: [email protected]: www.iee.org/Events/MilitarySatCom.cfm
July 10-11, Miami, Florida, U.S.A.3rd Digital Latin America SummitElaine TurnerConference Director Tel: +44 (0)207 841 0265E-mail: [email protected] Web: www.worldsummits.com
July 11-13, Stockholm, Sweden2006 SUIRG Interference Conference/MeetingRobert W. Ames Jr.Tel: +1-941-575-1277 / Fax: +1-941-575-7048 Email:[email protected]: www.suirg.org
July 24-26, Virginia, U.S.A.Geospatial Intelligence 2006Tel: +800-882-8684 / Fax: +1-973 256 0205Email: [email protected]: www.idga.org/na-2410-02
Aug. 22-26, Beijing, ChinaBIRTV 2006Tel: +86 10 86093207 or 86092783 ext. 801Fax: +86 10 86093790Email: [email protected]: www.birtv.com/english/about.asp
Sept. 7-11, RAI Convention Centre, AmsterdamIBC2006 ConferenceTel: +44 (0)20 7611 7500 / Fax: +44 (0)20 7611 7530Email: [email protected] / Website: www.ibc.org/
Sept. 26-28, Hotel Lotte World, Seoul, KoreaAPSCC 2006 Satellite Conference and Exhibition Tel:+82 2 508 4883~5 / Fax: +82 2 568 8593Email: [email protected]: www.apscc.or.kr/event/apscc2006.asp
Oct. 19 - 21, World Trade Centre, Mumbai, India.Broadcast India 2006 Exhibition & SymposiumKavita MeerTel: 91 22 2215 1396/2215 2721 / Fax: 91 22 2215 1269Mobile: 98200 56060Email: [email protected]: www.broadcastindiashow.com
Nov. 7 - 9, Houston,TX, USAOffshore Communications 2006Tel: 1 (772) 221 7720 / Fax: 1 (772) 221 7715Email: [email protected]: www.offshorecoms.com.
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FEATURED EVENT
GVF Wireless Forum and the Carmel Group’sFive Burning Questions: Cable, Telco andSatellite Entertainment Forums at ISCe 2006
GVF Wireless Forum: "Fixed, Mobile and Everything in Between" at ISCe 2006
June 13, 2006, San Diego Hilton Resort at Misson Bay, California
The Global VSAT Forum (GVF) will present an all-day workshop at ISCe composed of a combination of in-depthpresentations on the nuts and bolts of wireless mastery andround-table discussions involving individuals and companiesthat are well-positioned for things to come. The format isdesigned to provide new insights into the potentialities of hybridsatellite-wireless networks and allow the audience to interactwith presenters and eachother.
Led by Bruce Elbert, GVFTechnology WorkingGroup chairman andPresident of ApplicationTechnology Strategy, theday is broken down intofour expert panels, eachled by industry expertsacknowledged for theirrespective expertise:Chris Baugh, President ofNSR, addressing overallindustry structure and thenature of the newapplication formats for hybrid networksTim Farrar, President of TMF Associates, who, with his panel,will uncover the new value for Mobile Satellite Services in thewireless field, Bernardo Schneiderman, Telematics BusinessConsultants, addressing the technology and business model forthe evolving infrastructure in the first (and last) mile DavidHartshorn, GVF Secretary General, with a panel of experts inestablishing a positive bottom-line with IP as the foundation,and John Puetz, President of MasterWorks Communications,who will lead a panel that will answer how hybrid networks canbetter reach and serve government users.
Leading the GVF Wirelss Forum at ISCe are (from left) moderators BruceElbert, President, Application Technology Strategy; David Hartshorn, Secretary-General, GVF; John Puetz, President, MasterWorks Communications; and Tim Farrar, President of TMF Associates.
Two Forums Bringing Together content providers, service providers and equipment manufacturers in thebooming satellite service marketplace
Satnews Managing Editor Virgil Labrador recently sat down withBruce Elbert, Christopher Baughm Tim Farrar and John Puetz todiscuss the forum and the issues that it will be covering. Excerptsof the interview:
Q. What issues will the GVF Wireless Forum at ISCe becovering? What benefits could attendees derive from
participating in thisworkshop?
Bruce Elbert (BE) – We’veorganized the workshop todirectly address all fourcorners of the opportunityand risk for providers andusers employing hybrid
networks in this verycurrent context. Criticalissues not directly listed inthe program will no doubtsurface during theinteraction and Q&A thatare a hallmark of GVFevents such as this. The
day will benefit anyone who needs a very timely overview andwell as those who are already active in this area. It will addressthe full range of questions, including the technologies that existnow or that are under development, as well as questionsconcerning the business models that could mitigate risk andproduce acceptable revenues.
Q. What opportunities do you see in wireless technologies inthe near future?
Tim: Farrar (TF): Without a doubt, the wireless technology withthe greatest buzz is Ancillary Terrestrial Component (ATC),
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June 2006
which was the subject of recent authorizations by the FCC.Boeing is constructing a large system composed of two GEOsatellites and a ground network for Mobile Satellite Ventures,while Space Systems/Loral is building satellites for ICO andTerrestar.
Q. What opportunities are there for satellite service providersin hybrid satellite/wireless networks?
Christopher Baugh (CB): NSR expects hybrid satellite/wirelessgrowth to drive from three areas. First, satellite will continue tobe used as a backhaul link for a variety of networks, such ascellular/GSM, Wi-Fi, WiMAX and eventually Mobile TV.Second, satellite will serve to provide direct links for broadbandaccess and content services. Such services will be used to fillholes in telco broadband coverage, redundant circuits for
business continuity and direct access for DMB and DVB-H+Mobile TV networks. Finally, NSR expects ATC to represent asolid opportunity for satellite and wireless players, albeit in thelonger term.
BE: I’d like to follow up on Chris’ first point. Since wirelessnetworks have proven their value to working individuals as wellas consumers, new satellite networks will need to be hybrid to besuccessful. For example, if we are going to provide Internetaccess via satellite in a remote location, then it is essential thatwe allow users to connect locally using the wireless feature oftheir laptop computers and PDAs. The same can apply totelephones, which might be either cordless or cellular.
TF: With the well-known limitations of mobile satellite services inbuildings and cars, terrestrial connectivity will remain dominant
FEATURED EVENT
The Carmel Group’sFive Burning Questions: Cable, Telco and Satellite Entertainment Forum at ISCe 2006
All-Day, Tuesday, June 13, 2006At the San Diego Mission Bay Hilton Hotel
For anyone in the broadcasting, cable, satellite, telephone and even electric utility industries, Tuesday, June 1, 2006, in SanDiego, CA. is a must attend time and place. The reason for this epiphany is the all day presentation entitled, The Carmel Group’sFive Burning Qs Cable, Telco and Satellite Entertainment Forum, at ISCe 2006. The event may be accessed via Internet bygoing to the following link: http://www.isce.com/conference_program.html#carmevl Sessions featured during the day-longevent include Content, Internet Protocol TV (IPTV), Broadband, Advanced Services and the traditional staple of The CarmelGroup’s renowned conferences, the CEO panel.
All five of The Carmel Group’s panels focus on the consumer side of today’s – and importantly, tomorrow’s – telecom worlds. Theremainder of the conference, held also on June 5th, June 6th and through midday June 7th, has a much greater focus on thegovernment and enterprise sides of hybrid solutions for today’s telecom providers.
Companies featured during The Carmel Group’s 5-session day will include Intel, Microsoft, USDTV, The Outdoor Channel,Movielink, Moviebeam, Akimbo, Sling Media, Entriq, Scientific Atlanta, Near Earth, Symonds and Associates, SES Americom,Intelsat, Alcatel, Buzztime Entertainment, ITVN, Sirius Satellite Radio, the National Rural Telecommunications Cooperative, andNews Corp’s NDS.The lunch will include a joint session involving the members of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA),with introductions by former Congresswoman and California Space Authority Executive Director, Andrea Seastrand, as well asICSSC General Chair, Sumner Matsunaga. The keynoter for the luncheon will be retired General Lance Lord, former Commander ofthe U.S. Air Force’s Space Command.
For this 11th annual presentation of the 5 Burning Qs Cable, Telco and Satellite Entertainment Forum, The Carmel Group hasjoined with world-class conference organizer and promoter, Hannover Fairs USA and its U.S. ISCe subsidiary, to deliver to anaudience that is expected to number between 1,000-1,200 attendees, the demographics of which are highlighted on the threecharts below. A handful of notable CEOs are highlighted in the graphic below, as well.For questions (and answers) please contact Jimmy Schaeffler, chairman & CSO of The Carmel Group at www.carmelgroup.com, orby telephone at (831) 643 2222 in Carmel-by-the-Sea, CA, or via email at [email protected]
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June 2006
in urban and suburban areas. The question for service providersin Chris’ final area, is whether they can provide an effectiveintegrated satellite and terrestrial wireless service, where the endcustomer finds the benefits of satellite connectivity in remoteareas outweigh both its service limitations and any increase inthe size and cost of the handset. Ensuring that terrestrial serviceis no more expensive (and hopefully cheaper) than it would be tobuy from an existing cellular operator would be a good start.
Q. What markets have the most potential for using hybridnetworks (ie. business, government ,etc)?
John Puetz (JP): Almost any larger regional or nationally basedbusiness can benefit from a hybrid communications network.Invariably, businesses have 3 to 5 percent if not more locationsthat are either too costly to provide broadband services orservice just isn’t available from traditional telecoms. For theselocations wireless satellite (VSAT) technology can be rolled outvery quickly (days) and provide very reliable DSL/cable-speedbroadband services.Yet I think government organizations, especially state andnational, can benefit even more by using hybrid (satellite/fiber/copper) networks to provide similar connectivity, especiallywhen responding to emergency or disaster situations. Thesesituations are best supported through advanced planning,integrating the hybrid network into daily operations andensuring that adequate resources (equipment, bandwidth,personnel) are available well ahead of emergencysituations.
BE: This question is a focal point of the workshop as we havespecific sessions dealing with business and government. Chriswill present a keynote in the beginning to set the stage andcover the range of markets and uses. Then, we have panels onbusiness models and the government, in particular. I believe thatthis will adequately address the potential for hybrid networks.
CB: I’ll be addressing the leading markets, as Bruce indicates.Wireless is unquestionably the hot market in the telecom sector.New wireless broadband initiatives such as WiMAX and 3G arestarting to become mainstream in many markets. Mobile TV is atthe forefront of the mobile content and application movement,and this market is driven by heavyweights such as Qualcomm,Motorola and Nokia. Advanced Wi-Fi based on 802.11n willlikely soon be developed, along with new technologies forwireless mesh networking and voice/video over wirelessbroadband networks. Over the long(er) term, NSR expects moreconvergence of new wireless technologies, not unlike that whichis proposed by many aspiring 4G vendors.
Q. What are the “hot” new wireless technologies which showthe most promise for satellite hybrid networks?
JP: The new wireless line-of-site mesh networking solutions canadd considerable flexibility and last-mile reach when coupledwith VSAT technology or even wired facilities. This technologycan provide broadband access to 30 Mbps, are self-healing andcan easily be integrated into offered solutions by serviceproviders. Operating in the 2.5 and 5 GHz bands area coverageout to several miles is possible and when deployed in a meshconfiguration many square miles can be covered.
TF: ATC has the potential to make MSS a mass-market servicefor tens of millions of users, but only if MSS operators canattract the right partners, who have both deep pockets and awell-known consumer brand. Since there aren’t enough crediblepartners for all of the five proposed ATC systems, there will be alarge premium placed on being the first MSS operator to strike adeal. One concern is whether the upcoming auctions of terrestrialAWS spectrum will be used by some potential partners (e.g.DirecTV) as an alternative source of spectrum.
Q. Anything else anyone would like to add?
BE: The detailed nature of the hybrid MSS/wireless opportunitydiscussed by Tim makes this particular area a major challenge forthe potential investor or partner. Tim will be able to cover thequestion at whatever level of detail is of interest to the audience.Much the same applies to Chris and the research done byNSR into these new classes of hybrid networks.Furthermore, John has been providing innovative solutions togovernment customers for many years and, along with his panel,should clarify where hybrid networks make sense in this context.Similarly, David and Bernardo are leading expert panels that willsimilarly show that hybrid networks are, in effect, businessesthat can demonstrate an adequate bottom line. I am really lookingforward to this landmark event and hope that many ofSatMagazine’s readers will be able to join and say hello.
For additional information regarding speaking, exhibiting orsponsorship opportunities at ISCe 2006, please contact theConference Chairman, David Bross at +1-301-916-2236 or e-mailat: [email protected] For information on the event, visit:www.isce.com.
SM
FEATURED EVENT
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INDUSTRY NEWS
Ariane 5 Launches Satmex 6,Thaicom 5
KOUROU, FrenchGuinea, Arianespace’sheavy-lift Ariane 5 ECAlauncher loggedanother successfulmission on May 28delivering two telecom-munications satellitesto geostationarytransfer orbit. Liftingoff at the start of a 45-min. launch window at6:09 p.m. local time, thevehicle climbed throughmostly cloudy skiesover Europe’s Space-port in French Guianaand completed itsmission 32 minutes
later.
The combined weight of Ariane 5’s Thaicom 5 and Satmex 6spacecraft payloads was more than 8,200 kg., marking a newrecord for satellite mass delivered into orbit, Arianespace said.
With the success, Arianespace said it has launched a total ofmore than 230 satellites since the company pioneered thecommercial launch services industry with its first Ariane missionin 1984.
Despite rainy conditions for the Saturday liftoff, Ariane 5’sascent through the lower cloud layers was clearly visible as thevehicle climbed out on the power of its cryogenic main engineand two solid rocket boosters. Satmex 6 was deployed first byAriane 5, with its release occurring at 27 min. into the flight. Itwas followed five minutes later by the separation of Thaicom 5.
Meanwhile Arianespace CEO Jean-Yves Le Gall confirmed theJuly 17 liftoff date for a Soyuz mission with Arianespace affiliateStarsem, which will orbit the MetOp 1 metrological satellite fromBaikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The next Ariane 5 ECAmission from Europe’s Spaceport will be in August, carrying theFrench Syracuse 3B military telecom relay platform and theJapanese JCSAT-10 telecommunications spacecraft.
MSV, Boeing to Accelerate Deploy-ment of North American Satellites RESTON, Va. Mobile Satellite Ventures (MSV) and its jointventure partner, MSV Canada, had reached an agreement withBoeing to accelerate the deployment of its two North Americansatellites, which will form the backbone of its satellite-cellularwireless communications network. MSV said the agreement will accelerate by about eightmonths, the construction, launch and operations of each of thetwo North American satellites, with the launch of the UnitedStates satellite scheduled for mid-2009 and the Canadiansatellite in early 2010. These two new satellites will replace and expand upon thecurrent MSAT satellite system operated by MSV and MSVCanada and offer consumers the most highly advancedwireless communications services available. The developmentof the third satellite for South America, MSV-SA, has beendeferred to the third delivery position for the MSV system.
Justice Department ClearsIntelsat-PanAmSat Merger
WASHINGTON, D.C. ̄ Intelsat, Ltd. said on May 26 it hadbeen informed that the United States Department of Justice isclosing its antitrust investigation of Intelsat’s proposed mergerwith PanAmSat Holding Corporation (NYSE: PA).
According to Intelsat, the Justice Department is not seekingany conditions on the proposed merger and is not otherwisecommenting on it. The transaction remains under review bythe U.S. Federal Communications Commission.
“We are gratified that the Justice Department’s AntitrustDivision, after a comprehensive review, agreed with us that theIntelsat-PanAmSat merger does not pose any threat to compe-tition,” said Phillip Spector, executive vice president & generalcounsel of Intelsat. “We demonstrated that the combination ofIntelsat and PanAmSat will create powerful efficiencies, withcomplementary fleets assuring enhanced protection andflexibility for our diverse sets of customers.”
Intelsat CEO David McGlade said with the JusticeDepartment’s decision, the company is moving full speed aheadwith its integration planning and preparations. “We will befinalizing our financing over the next few weeks, and should be
Ariane 5 departs the ELA-3complex at Europe’sSpaceport. (Arianespace/CNES/photo)
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in a position to close soon after receiving FCC approval. Thenew Intelsat post-merger will be one, fully-integrated, world-class provider of advanced communications solutions, with anemployee team focused on customer service and technicalexcellence,” he said.
Intelsat and PanAmSat announced their merger agreement onAugust 29, 2005. Under the agreement, Intelsat will acquirePanAmSat for $25 per share in cash, or $3.2 billion. Inaddition, approximately $3.2 billion in debt of PanAmSat andits subsidiaries will remain outstanding or be refinanced.
With the Justice Department’s approval, only the only thereceipt of financing and the FCC clearance are left to behurdled. Intelsat said all other regulatory approvals requiredprior to closing have been obtained.
Arianespace to Launch W2Mfor Eutelsat PARIS — Eutelsat Communications has contractedArianespace for the launch of its W2M satellite. The satellitewill be launched by an Ariane 5 in the second quarter of 2008from the Guiana Space Center, Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou,French Guiana.
Arianespace said the new contract consolidates a collaborationthat has lasted more than 22 years between the two companies.The European launcher has orbited more than half ofEutelsat’s fleet. The contract is the 274th won by Arianespace since beingfounded in March 1980, the company said.
W2M will be built by a new industrial consortium of EADSAstrium and ISRO (Indian Space Research Organization). Itwill operate typically 26 transponders in Ku-band and up to 32depending on operational modes for a designed operationallifetime of 15 years. Eutelsat’s new satellite is designed toprovide additional security for customers and can be deployedat a number of orbital positions used by the W satellites, inparticular the 10 degrees East position.
AsiaSat Contracts Space Systems/Loral to Build AsiaSat 5 HONG KONG — Asia Satellite Telecommunications CompanyLimited (AsiaSat) has signed a Construction Agreement with
Space Systems/Loral Inc. (SS/L) to design and build AsiaSat 5, areplacement satellite for AsiaSat 2 scheduled for launch in thesecond quarter of 2008.
AsiaSat 5 will bebuilt on a SS/L’s1300 series satelliteplatform and willcarry 26 C-band and14 Ku-band tran-sponders with anestimated opera-tional life of 15years. AsiaSat 5’s C-band footprint willoffer a more power-ful pan-Asian
coverage than that of AsiaSat 2. Its Ku-band coverage willconsist of three high power beams, two of which will cover EastAsia and South Asia and an in-orbit steerable beam that can bepositioned to provide service anywhere within AsiaSat 5’sgeographic coverage. AsiaSat 5 is designed to replace AsiaSat 2 at the orbital locationof 100.5 degrees East in advance of AsiaSat 2’s scheduledretirement of 2010. Launching AsiaSat 5 two years earlier thanrequired allows sufficient time to construct and launch areplacement satellite if necessary.
Boeing Agrees to Pay $615-M inTentative Settlement with DoJ CHICAGO — Boeing Co. agreed middle of May to pay the U.S.government $615 million to settle two criminal investigationsand related civil claims over stolen documents and hiring of agovernment procurement officer, the Department of Justice(DoJ) has announced. The deal would put an end to over three years of governmentinvestigations into Boeing’s recruitment of Darleen Druyun, aformer senior Air Force acquisitions official, who served ninemonths in jail after pleading guilty of giving Boeing preferentialtreatment in exchange for a job and other favors. The second investigation concerns possession by Boeing ofdocuments from its rival contractor Lockheed Martin in connec-tion with launch service contracts with the Air Force under theEvolved Expendable Launch Vehicle Program. Some officialsbelieve the documents may have been used by Boeing to win
AsiaSat 5 will replace Lockheed-Martin-built AsiaSat 2 (above) thatwas launched on November 28,1995. (Lockheed photo)
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INDUSTRY NEWS
additional contractsfrom NASA for 19missions under itslaunch services con-tract. Some of Boeing’scontracts were eventu-ally rescinded as a resultand awarded toLockheed at higher cost,according to the DoJ. Another senior Boeingexecutive, MichaelSears, was fired andserved four months’ jailtime for his role.Because of the twinscandals, Boeingchairman and CEOPhilip M. Conditresigned on Dec. 1,2003. The agreement is stilltentative and the twosides will still have toiron out the details inthe next few weeks. Butthe DoJ said in astatement the tentativeagreement provides thatthe United StatesAttorneys’ Offices willno longer seek anycriminal chargesagainst Boeing relatingto the EELV, NASA andDruyun matters. For its part, Boeing hasagreed to acceptresponsibility for theconduct of its employ-ees in these matters, paya monetary penalty of$50 million, continue itscooperation with federalinvestigators, andmaintain an effectiveethics and compliance
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INDUSTRY NEWS
program, with particular attention to the hiring of formergovernment officials and the handling of competitor informa-tion. The DoJ, however, said the United States Attorneys’ Officesmay seek to prosecute Boeing for the Druyun matter, or toassess a further penalty of up to $10 million, if during the two-year term of the settlement agreement, an executive manage-ment employee of Boeing commits federal crimes as outlinedin the tentative agreement, and the company fails to report themisconduct to the Department of Justice.
EADS Astrium Wins First Contract forCommunications Payload Technology
LONDON, UK — UK’s latest satellite operator, AvantiScreenmedia Group plc, has awarded EADS Astrium a contractfor an innovative communications satellite known as HYLAS(Highly Adaptable Satellite). The satellite will provide interac-tive high definition television and interactive broadbandservices from its UK orbital position of 33.5 degrees West and
cover 22 countries inwestern and centralEurope.
EADS Astrium said thisis a key milestone as it isthe first contract for thecompany’s latestcommunications payloadtechnology, GenericFlexible Payload andNext GenerationAntenna. The satellitewill be a flight demon-strator for this innova-tive technology. HYLASbenefits from investmentfrom the British NationalSpace Centre (BNSC)and the European SpaceAgency (ESA).
EADS Astrium said the satellite will use the ISRO I-2K smallsatellite platform and is the second order under a new co-operative agreement EADS Astrium has with ANTRIX/ISRO.
The HYLAS satellite will provide new and innovative servicesincluding High Definition Television (HDTV) and interactive
satellite delivered broadband services. The satellite will helpaddress the issue of poor broadband coverage in many parts ofEurope, which have less developed ground infrastructure. Thesatellite with a launch mass of 2300kg, payload power of 2kW,and a design lifetime of 15 years is due for launch in 2008.
ESA Selects EADS Astrium asPrime Contractor for $407-M GaiaAstrometry Mission TOULOUSE, France — The European Space Agency (ESA)officially awarded EADS Astrium on May 18 the contract tobuild the satellite for the Global Astrometric Interferometer forAstrophysics (Gaia) mission. Gaia will create an extraordinarilyprecise 3-D map of the Galaxy, mapping and recording more thanone billion stars over a five year period. The contract, worth $407.23 million (317 million Euros), is due to
be launched in 2011. Thecontract was jointly signed byESA’s Director of Science,Professor David Southwood,and Antoine Bouvier, CEO forEADS Astrium. “GAIA is our next grandchallenge – to understand ourgalactic home, the Milky Way,”says David Southwood. “It is agreat privilege to meet the teamin EADS Astrium and to wishthem well in working with us inthis great project.”
Gaia will be the most accurate optical astronomy satellite everbuilt so far. It will continuously scan the sky for at least fiveyears from a point in space known as the second Lagrangianpoint (or L2), located at about 1.6 million kilometers away fromthe Earth, in the direction opposite to the Sun. This position inspace offers a very stable thermal environment, very highobserving efficiency (since the Sun, Earth and Moon are behindthe instrument field of view) and a low radiation environment.
Eutelsat Selects EADS Astrium to BuildHot Bird 9 Broadcast Satellite PARIS — Eutelsat Communications has selected EADSAstrium to build the Hot Bird 9 broadcast satellite, which willbe launched in 2008 and positioned at the Group’s video
HYLAS is a hybrid Ka Band/KuBand satellite with Europeancoverage. The satellite will beused mainly to providebroadband Internet accessand to distribute andbroadcast High DefinitionTelevision (HDTV). (Avanti/ESAphoto)
An artist’s impressionof the Gaia satellite(ESA photo)
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INDUSTRY NEWS
neighborhood at 13 degrees East. Eutelsat said the new satellite will renew the company’scapacity at its Hot Bird neighborhood, raise in-orbit redun-dancy and security for broadcasting clients, and increaseoverall flexibility across its fleet. Like Hot Bird 8, Hot Bird 9 spacecraft will be based on theEurostar E3000 platform. Its mission will be similar to Hot Bird 8but its capacity will be three times that of the previous genera-tion of Hot Bird satellites.
Germany’s Space Agency, EADSAstrium to Build TanDEM-X Satellite BERLIN—The German Space Agency DLR and EADS Astriumannounced on May 17 their plan to build a new satellite missioncalled TanDEM-X.
Following the official kick-off, development and manufacture ofthe new German radar-satellite will now start at EADS Astrium’sFriedrichshafen plant, according to DLR. TanDEM-X is sched-uled for launch in 2009. Together with the almost identical radarsatellite TerraSAR-X set for launch in autumn this year, the duowill form a high-precision radar interferometer, DLR said.Like TerraSAR-X, the TanDEM-X project will be a public-privatepartnership between EADS Astrium GmbH and DLR.
Utilization of data for scientific purposes will be under themanagement of the DLR Microwaves and Radar Institute whilethe use of data for commercial purposes will be the responsibil-ity of Infoterra GmbH (Friedrichshafen), a subsidiary of EADSAstrium GmbH.
The spacecraft will cost approx. $108.53 million (85 million Euro).DLR will finance $71.49 million (56 million Euro) while EADSAstrium will shoulder $33.19 (26 million Euro). The rest will besourced by marketing the flight for further payloads.
SM
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Northrop Grumman ElectsWesley G. Bush President andChief Financial Officer
LOS ANGELES — The board of directorsof Northrop Grumman Corporation haselected Wesley G. Bush, previouslycorporate vice president and chieffinancial officer, as president and chieffinancial officer, effective middle of May. Bush continues to report to Ronald D.Sugar, chairman of the board and chiefexecutive officer. Northrop said Bush will retain his
responsibilities as chief financial officer until a search for hissuccessor in that post is completed later this year. As president,Bush will assist the chief executive officer in overseeing thecompany’s operations and will also play a key role in its futurestrategic development. Bush joined Northrop Grumman in 2002 as part of thecompany’s acquisition of TRW Inc. He joined TRW in 1987,where he held increasingly responsible technical and manage-ment positions in electronic and space systems. In 2001, hewas elected president of TRW Aeronautical Systems inBirmingham, United Kingdom. Following Northrop’s acquisi-tion of TRW, Bush was elected corporate vice president andpresident of the company’s Space Technology sector. In 2005,he was elected corporate vice president and chief financialofficer. Bush holds bachelor of science and master of sciencedegrees in electrical engineering from the MassachusettsInstitute of Technology.
Lockheed Appoints Ambrose toHead New Surveillance andNavigation Systems Organization DENVER, Co. — Lockheed Martin has named Richard F.Ambrose to be the lead executive of a newly formed Surveil-lance and Navigation Systems line of business within its SpaceSystems Company. In his new role, Ambrose will serve as vice present and beresponsible for the execution of essential national securityprograms including Space Based Infrared System (SBIRS),Global Positioning System (GPS), as well as the company’s
pursuit of next-generation systemsincluding GPS III, Space Radar, andSpace Superiority opportunities. Since January 2004, Ambrose hasserved as vice president and generalmanager of Lockheed Martin MaritimeSystems & Sensors’ Tactical Systemsline of business, headquartered inEagan, Minn. He previously served inSpace Systems as vice president anddeputy program manager for the SBIRS
program. He joined Lockheed in 2000. Ambrose earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineeringfrom the DeVry Institute of Technology and a master’s degreein business administration from the University of Denver. Healso completed the Executive Development Program at theWharton School of Business.
Boeing Senior Vice PresidentDouglas Bain Retires; U.S. Courtof Appeals Judge J. Michael Luttigto Succeed Bain CHICAGO — Douglas G. Bain, Boeing senior vice presidentand general counsel, has announced his plans to retire fromthe company, effective July 1. Judge J. Michael Luttig of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the4th Circuit will succeed Bain. As senior vice president andgeneral counsel, Judge Luttig will report directly to BoeingChairman, President, and CEO W. James McNerney, Jr., andwill be a member of the company’s Executive Council. Bain, 57, joined the Boeing Corporate Law Department in1982. He served for 14 years as senior counsel and thenassistant general counsel. For three years, he was vice presi-dent of legal, contracts, ethics and government relations forBoeing Commercial Airplanes before returning to Corporate asgeneral counsel in November 1999.
Catherine Fox NominatedGeneral Counsel of SES Global BETZDORF, Luxembourg — SES Global has nominatedCatherine Fox to the position of general counsel of SESGlobal. In this position, Fox will report directly to Romain
Wesley G. Bush
Richard F.Ambrose
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Bausch, president and CEO of SESGlobal. Fox will head the General Counselfunction of SES Global, includingCorporate, Legal, Regulatory andEuropean Affairs and provide leadershipto the group-wide legal functions. Catherine Fox is a French National withextensive experience in the advancedtechnology environment. Before joining
SES, she held a General Counsel role within Alcatel for morethan 15 years and has gained extensive experience in theSatellite and Telecommunications Industry. Catherine Fox holds a Master’s Degree in European Law, anAdvanced Degree in International Law, as well as the Degreein Political Sciences from IEP, Paris.
Lockheed Martin Names NewLeader for Space Systems Unit
BETHESDA, MD — Lockheed MartinCorp. has named Joanne M. Maguiresuccessor of G. Thomas Marsh asexecutive vice president of LockheedMartin Space Systems when Marshretires July 1. Reporting directly to chairman, presidentand CEO Robert J. Stevens, Maguire, 52,will be responsible for all businessoperations and activities of thecorporation’s $7 billion Space Systems
unit, a world leader in the design, production and integrationof launch vehicles and systems, spacecraft for telecommunica-tions, remote sensing and space science, and missile systemsfor defensive and strategic missions. Space Systems employssome 18,000 people located primarily in Sunnyvale, Calif.;Denver, Colo.; New Orleans, La.; San Diego and VandenbergAir Force Base, Calif.; Harlingen, Texas; Newtown, Pa.;McLean, Va.; and Cocoa Beach, Fla. Since 2003, Maguire has served as Marsh’s deputy and hasbeen involved in all aspects of managing the business. She isalso an officer of the Corporation.
Stefan Kollar Named IntersputnikDeputy Director General MOSCOW — V.E. Belov, director generalof Intersputnik, has announced that theXXXIV session of the board of theIntersputnik International Organization ofSpace Communications has elected StefanKollar of Czech Republic as deputy directorgeneral for a term of four years.
Belov said Stefan Kollar has been tasked touse his best efforts to expand and deepencooperation with Intersputnik’s partnersand customers.
Kollar graduated in 1979 from Moscow Electric TechnicalInstitute of Communications, faculty of Radio Communicationsand Broadcasting and started his professional career as head ofthe antenna system group at the largest radio broadcastingstation in Czechoslovakia.
Starsem Names New Boardof Directors BERLIN — The shareholders of Starsem (EADS, theRoscosmos Russian Federal Space Agency, the TsSKB-Progress Samara Space Center and Arianespace) electedmiddle of May the new directors of the company. Those elected during the company’s Annual General Meetingwere: François Auque, Françoise Bouzitat, Alain Charmeau,Alexander Kiriline, Jean-Yves Le Gall, AlexanderMedvedtchikov, Boris Melioransky, and Victor Nikolaev. Starsem’s board also named Jean-Yves Le Gall as thecompany’s chairman & CEO, which is in addition to Le Gall’sparallel responsibilities as CEO of Arianespace. The boardalso named Victor Nikolaev as the company’s deputy CEO.The board also paid tribute to the personal actions of Jean-Marie Luton during the past 10 years in supporting European-Russian space cooperation, and decided to name himStarsem’s honorary chairman.
Swales Aerospace Names J. MichaelCerneck New Chief Executive Officer BELTSVILLE, Md. — Swales Aerospace has named J.Michael Cerneck as the new chief executive officer of the
Catherine Fox
Joanne M.Maguire
Stefan Kollar
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company. Cerneck will take over from Dr. John M. Klineberg onMay 22, 2006, and will also be a member of the board of direc-tors. Cerneck comes to Swales after serving as vice president andgeneral manager of Defense Operations at Ball Aerospace andTechnologies Corporation with responsibility for P&L,business development and program performance for alldefense and intelligence related efforts. He was chair of Ball’sProgram Management Board. Prior to joining Ball, Cerneck served as the director of SpaceSystems for TRW’s Space and Laser Programs Division,providing leadership to the company’s work in the SpaceInterferometry Mission (SIM), the James Webb Space Tele-scope (JWST) and the National Polar-orbiting OperationalEnvironmental Satellite System (NPOESS).
ICO Global Augments Its Boardof Directors as Sam Ginn Joins Board RESTON, Va. — ICO Global Communications (Holdings)Limited has announced that Sam Ginn will join its board ofdirectors and serve on ICO’s strategy committee with ICO’schairman, Craig O. McCaw. Ginn, with more than 43 years of experience in the telecom-munications industry, was chairman and chief executive officerof AirTouch Communications, Inc. from December 1993 untilits merger with Vodafone Group Public Limited Company inJune 1999. Upon the Vodafone-AirTouch merger, he becamechairman of Vodafone, a position he held until May 2000. Ginn was a director of ICO from October 2001 to April 2004. Hecurrently serves on the board of directors of Chevron Corpora-
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tion, Templeton Emerg-ing Markets InvestmentTrust, TVG CapitalPartners Limited, and asan advisor to the boardof directors of theInvestment Company ofAmerica and The CapitalGroup Companies, Inc.His past corporate boardmemberships haveincluded CH2M Hill,First Interstate Bank,Pacific Telesis Group,Safeway Inc.,TransAmerica Corpora-tion, Hewlett-Packardand Fremont Group,L.L.C. Ginn is a graduateof the School ofEngineering of AuburnUniversity.
Bill GeretyEnds 3-YearStint atSpacenet;Katz NamedActingCEO andPresident PETAH TIKVA, Israel— Gilat SatelliteNetworks Ltd. hasannounced that BillGerety, CEO andpresident of SpacenetInc. will soon completehis three year employ-ment term. In his place,Spacenet has appointedGlenn Katz as its actingCEO effective June 1,2006. Katz is currently serving as vice president and CEO of Spacenetand has been with Gilat for more than thirteen years. SM
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Stratos, Telenor, FTMSC US LaunchBGAN Service Commercially in U.S. FLORIDA — FTMSC US, LLC, an affiliate of FranceTelecom Mobile Satellite Communications, announced on may22 that it has been granted initial licensing approval tocommercially operate BGAN (Broadband Global Area Net-work) mobile terminals in the United States. This would make FTMSC the third BGAN service provider inthe U.S. after Stratos Global Corp. and Telenor SatelliteServices, a subsidiary of Telenor of Norway, announced lastweek they have received initial licensing approval to offer theservice throughout the country. BGAN is the world’s first global high-speed mobile satellitenetwork providing users with plug-and-play voice and datacommunications over a 492 kbps shared channel. It offersaccess to the internet, email accounts and corporate networksvia a portable, lightweight IP satellite modem.
Telenor Satellite Launches FreeAirtime Program
OSLO, Norway, and ROCKVILLE, Maryland — TelenorSatellite Services, a subsidiary of Telenor of Norway, hasannounced that all Telenor Broadband Global AreaNetwork (BGAN) service activations made in May and June2006 will earn users $1,000 of free airtime.
BGAN offers users high-speed IP-based broadband communi-cations plus simultaneous voice (telephony) calling, via aportfolio of small, lightweight user terminals. The robustcommunications service from Telenor is especially useful for avariety of IP-based applications such as streaming video,videoconferencing, web browsing, and allowing businesses andorganizations to extend networks to their remote operationssites.
Telenor said this exclusive Telenor BGAN “Free AirtimeProgram” is in addition to its previously announced BGANTerminal Swap Program where customers can save up to$1,500 on the purchase of a new voice and data BGANterminal with the trade-in of a used satellite handheld phone.
CapRock Expands Disaster RecoverySatellite Services for 2006 HurricaneSeason HOUSTON — Building on its DR-250 disaster recoveryservice launched last year, CapRock Communications said it issignificantly expanding its disaster recovery product line for2006. The new service packages will be available under two differentprograms, Broadband DR-VSAT and Private Line DR-VSATdesigned for the needs of either emergency response teams orlarge organizations looking for high-performance businesscontinuity communications. The new packages provide multi-line digital telephone serviceand broadband Internet access at speeds ranging from256Kbps to 2Mbps, all in a self-contained trailer that includesruggedized satellite and networking equipment, telephones,fax machines and an option for an on-board electrical genera-tor. The services are now available in preparation for hurricaneseason, which officially begins June 1.
Spacenet Adds Connexstar Servicesto Provide Mission-Critical Backupand Business Continuity Connectivity
MCLEAN, VA — Spacenet Inc. has introduced ConnexstarSE On-Demand, the newest addition to its lineup of advancedsatellite network offerings for mission critical backup andbusiness continuity solutions. Spacenet said the new offering bolsters Spacenet’s backup/disaster recovery solutions with new advanced features, fasterspeeds, and increased security. The service provides a broad-band network “lifeline.” Benefits of include: a wireless last-mile solution that providesa physically diverse network path from terrestrial alternatives;it is easily and quickly deployable; it can be seamlesslyintegrated with primary networks; and customers pay on ausage basis for the bandwidth they require, minimizing costswhen the backup network is not being used.
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Swe-Dish, Saab Demo AffordableSatcom on the Move Platform STOCKHOLM — Swe-Dish Satellite Systems AB and SaabAB have merged their existing technologies and commercial ofthe shelf components into a demonstrator for an affordableSatcom-On-The-Move platform. The Satcom-On-The-Move (SOTM) platform is a result of asuccessful integration of Swe-Dish’s leading satellite terminaltechnology, and Saab System’s leading stabilized platformtechnology. The demonstrator can be applied to vehicles andnaval vessels, offering steering accuracy in accordance withsatellite operator requirements.
Swe-Dish said the demonstrator allows for backward compat-ibility with legacy terrestrial SHF terminals, utilizing “Single
Channel Per Carrier” communications without compromisingbandwidth on the outbound carrier. The Swe-Dish/SaabSystems demonstrator makes the transition to SOTM com-pletely transparent.
WCC Launches Docking Station forIridium Secure Military Satellite Phones
CHANDLER, Ariz. — World Communica-tion Center (WCC) has launched a dockingstation for the completely secure military/Department of Defense (DOD) Iridiumsatellite phones for indoor, maritime, orvehicle use. As one of Iridium’s top three value-addedresellers (VARs) and one of a select few
WCC’s dockingstation
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value-added manufacturers (VAMs),WCC said it developed this proprietarydocking station for military satellitephone models 9505 and 9505A basedon market analysis and customerfeedback. WCC created the only Iridium militarydocking station with the advancedfunctionality required to maintain thesecure environment essential formilitary phone installation and use. Thedocking station also enables “smartdialing,” which mimics the ease ofstandard-phone dialing, a feature notavailable on Iridium’s military phones,and allows use of data services at speedsup to 9.6kbps with compression.
AT&T Offering Broad-band Through Satellite,Fixed Wireless andWiMAX to Low-IncomeHouseholds DETROIT — AT&T Inc. has an-nounced a series of moves that under-score the company’s commitment todeliver the benefits of broadbandInternet access and IP-based services tobusinesses and consumers throughoutits traditional 13-state local serviceterritory. AT&T chairman and CEO Edward E.Whitacre said AT&T is offering asatellite-based broadband service laterthis month in select rural markets inAT&T’s residential service territory,most of which are not served bylandline broadband services today. Whitacre also affirmed the company’sintent to make its Project Lightspeedvideo services available - within threeyears - to more than 5.5 million low-income households as part of its initialbuild in 41 target markets. SM
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The wars in Iraq and Afghanistanare eating up massive satellite band-width to support coalition militaryoperations. International marketresearch and consulting firm NSR(formerly Northern Sky Research) saysthe U.S. presence in these countries willsustain satellite industry revenuegrowth. It believes that military use willgenerate 46% of all satellite servicerevenues from 2002 to 2007.
On the other hand, regional Asiansatellite companies continue to relyheavily on TV and DTH as its revenuemovers. Both 2004 and 2005 weremarked by weak demand for satellitecapacity from Asian broadcasters.
As for consolidation, this phenom-enon has been the province of the hares
that dominate the world satelliteservices market. It hasn’t, as yet, helpedthe Asian tortoise run faster in its racefor revenues.
Asia, however, will win the raceby doggedly plodding on without the
immediate push from conflict andconsolidation. After all, it’s not a raceto cross the finish line first.
It’s about who can stay in the racethe longest—and profit the “mostest.”And Asia/Pacific, with more than halfthe world’s population and a horde ofdeveloped and soon to be developedeconomies, will win the race by sheerforce of its numbers. The determinedwill win this race, as did the tortoise inAesop’s fable.
Nowhere is Asia’s dominantpotential as a satellite services marketmore marked than in direct-to-home
(DTH) broadcast-ing. ExcludingChina and India,Asia had some 11million DTHsubscribers in2005. Includingboth populousnations, thatnumber jumps toastronomicalheights.
Chinapromises tobecome theworld’s largestDTH market inless than a decade.Some 260 millionhouseholds are thepotential marketfor DTH, said theState Administra-tion of Radio, Film
Asia’s Satellite Industry: Winningby the NumbersBy Peter I. Galace
esop’s famous fable about the tortoise and the hare does hold a lesson or two for Asia’s long-suffering regional satellite operators.
Falling revenues and profits; Ku-band overcapacity; bewilderingregulatory environments; overabundant fiber and political interfer-ence hobble Asia in its race to reap the rewards of a world satel-lite services industry profiting from conflict and consolidation.
A
China may become the world’slargest DTH market in less than adecade with some 260 millionhouseholds as potential market forDTH, according to the StateAdministration of Radio, Film andTelevision (SARFT), China’sbroadcasting regulator.
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and Television (SARFT), China’sbroadcasting regulator.
Analysts expect China’s DTHsubscribers to hit 30 million by 2008 ifthe government launches DTH this yearin time for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Chinese DTH satellites, however,are poised for launch in preparation forthe official coming of DTH. SinoSat-2is to be lofted into orbit later this yearand ChinaSat-9 by late 2007. They willjoin the in-orbit Apstar-6, another DTHsatellite. SinoSat-2 is China’s firstdirect broadcast satellite and its largestto date.
China has about 360 millionhouseholds, of which 100 millionreceive cable TV programs. Analystsexpect satellite growth to outpace cableby 2009 due mainly to China’s satellite-broadcast industry.
China’s space industry, however, isalso preoccupied with non-commercialpursuits such as sending a satellite intoMoon orbit in 2006; conducting thefirst Chinese spacewalk in 2007;beginning construction of a spacestation in 2009 and landing a probe onthe Moon in 2010.
India began commercial DTHoperations only in October 2003 and byDecember 2004 reported over threemillion subscribers. Hong Kong-basedresearch firm Media Partners Asia(MPA) said India is poised to becomeAsia’s leading cable market by 2010,the largest satellite market by 2008 andthe most lucrative pay TV market by2015.
Indian DTH finally materialized inOctober 2003 with the launch of “DishTV” from Subhash Chandra’s ASCEnterprises. That was followed in 2004
by the launch of “DD Direct Plus” fromstate-owned broadcaster, Doordarshan.
Rupert Murdoch’s Star TV isexpected to roll out its DTH service in
mid-2006 under the banner of “TataSky Ltd,” an 80:20 joint venturebetween Tata Group and Star TV.
Also set to go is India’sfourth DTH provider, NoidaSoftware Technology Park Ltd(NSTPL), which is to begin itsservice in 2006. Two more playersare scheduled to enter the DTHarena: Sun Network and theReliance Group.
The Satellite IndustryAssociation (SIA) said satelliteservices were leading theindustry’s recovery from thetelecom crash of 2000, accountingfor 63% of industry revenues of$97 billion in 2004. It said DTHcontributed 81% of satellite servicerevenues.
Consolidation?Last year’s big wave of
consolidation among globalsatellite operators—like the five-year old war on terror—hasn’tbeen a crock of gold for Asia’sregional satellite operators. But it’sbeen great for newly mergedIntelsat/PanAmSat and SES Global/Astra/Americom/New SkiesSatellites, which have moved intonew markets, but mostly outsideAsia.
Both consortia have 20 satellitesserving the Asia Pacific, includingChina. Intelsat operates 16 of thesesatellites.
Above, Shin Satellite’s Thaicom 4 oriPSTAR satellite, launched in August 2005,provides the Asia-Pacific region withhigh-speed Internet access and internetprotocol applications including voice,data and multimedia.
Left, Thaicom-5, launched byArianespace on May 27,2006, is a dedicated DTHsatellite to serve Thailandand its neighboringcountries.
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Peter Jackson, chief executiveofficer of regional Asian satellitecompany Asia Satellite Telecommunica-tions (AsiaSat), said the recent spasm ofmergers and acquisitions created largerglobal players focused mainly ongenerating business in the USA.
“I don’t think it will havesignificant impact on us as we arefocusing on the regional Asianbusiness,” he told media.
Jackson expects consolidationto continue and some analystsforecast that Asian regional carrierswill be involved in the coming wave.
AsiaSat, which claims to beAsia’s leading regional satelliteoperator, has three in-orbit satelliteswith one more due to launch in 2008.SES Global of Luxembourg owns aminority stake in AsiaSat.
About the closest any regionalcarrier got to consolidation last yearwas the strategic cooperationagreement in December betweenIntelsat and Hong Kong-based APTSatellite Holdings Ltd.
The agreement between bothoperators was to market each other’ssatellite capacity and groundresources, and to provide broadcastand telecommunications services toChina and the Asia Pacific. APT hasfour in-orbit Apstar satellitesincluding the new Apstar-6.
The partnership gives Intelsataccess the Asia Pacific marketthrough APT’s Apstar-5 and Apstar-6 satellites. APT will accessIntelsat’s capacity in other regions ofthe world via Intelsat’s fleet of 28satellites, expanding APT’s reach.
Analysts say the agreementalso puts paid to persistent rumors
of consolidation between AsiaSat andAPT. But it does leave APT as a primecandidate for future consolidationmoves with other regional or globalcarriers.
Unconfirmed reports, however,
seem to point to future consolidationamong Asia’s smaller operators such asthe Mabuhay Philippines SatelliteCorporation (MabuhaySat) andIndonesia’s Indosat.
NSR, however, believes that
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consolidation has a key role to play inenhancing the competitiveness of Asia’scarriers.
“Consolidation as well as partner-ships should lead to improving fill ratesas operators trim excess capacity,” saidJose del Rosario, NSR senior analyst.
“Consolidation and partnershipslikewise boost competitiveness thatshould lead less competitive players tofall by the way side.”
Growing strongerOne reason for the tepid industry
interest in Asia is that Asia’s commer-cial satellite industry continues torecover from the telecom crash of 2000.Many in the industry see 2005 as thelast of the slow growth years in whichtransponder overcapacity stood at ahigh 60% to 70%, and 2006 as the startof a real recovery.
Jackson noted that the transponderleasing market is “recovering slowly,” anopinion shared by Paul Brown-Kenyon,chief operating officer of Malaysiansatellite operator, Measat Satellite
Systems Sdn Bhd.
AsiaSat sees demand picking up in2006 with continued growth in AsiaPacific economies, especially China.This growth, however, is not immedi-ately expected to translate into arecovery in transponder prices, whichhistorically lags behind economicgrowth.
AsiaSat saw both revenue andprofitability fall in 2005. Sales droppedtwo percent in 2005 compared to 2004.The company’s satellite-utilization rate,however, increased to 54% in 2005from 46% in 2004.
Jackson forecasts that majorgrowth areas will be TV distributionand multiple location private networks.He expects satellites to move into newapplications such as video content for3G mobile phones delivered to terres-trial networks.
He is enthusiastic about HDTVand forecasts that all television willeventually be recorded and broadcast inhigh definition. HDTV will requiresatellites for the dual illumination thatmakes HDTV possible, hence thebuoyant mood of the industry aboutHDTV.
New commercial satellite servicessuch as DMB (Digital MultimediaBroadcasting) via satellite and broad-band via satellite hold the brightestpromise for Asia’s satellite companies,say analysts.
NSR sees bright prospects forsatellite broadband and estimates thatrevenues of $2.7 billion in 2004 shouldgrow to $4 billion in 2009. Driving this7.8% CAGR will be broadband Internetaccess via satellite. NSR believes thatsatellite Internet access might well
become the satellite industry’s first trulymass market service capable of compet-ing against DSL on price.
“We like the development of newprograms that have come on line,representing the next-generation ofsatellite services,” said del Rosario.
“In fact, the Asia Pacific is at theforefront of leading-edge technologieswith iPSTAR, S-DMB and IPTV viasatellite services gaining ground inselect markets that could easilyspillover to adjacent countries.”
He expects Asia to be driven by thevideo markets in contribution, distribu-tion and DTH services. He points outthat growing penetration of DTH andthe advent of HDTV have begun toimpact the region in positive ways.
“Video, which has been the bread-and-butter of the Asian satellite indus-try, should continue to account for themajority of the operator business untilthe end of the decade,” del Rosarionoted.
Satellite DMB (S-DMB), however,could be the wildcard in the region.
“Once again leveraging point-to-multipoint, broadcast and transpondereconomics that have been successfuldifferentiators in traditional videoservices, S-DMB service to handheldsmay well explode and become THE“killer app” similar to the success ofDARS in the U.S.”
He cautions, however, that S-DMBwill face competition from other stan-dards and technologies, most notablyfrom the terrestrial side of the business,T-DMB, as well as 3G/HSDPA, DVB-Hand MediaFLO.
The broad picture paints an Asiansatellite services industry that is in for
Japan’s JCSAT-5A (or JCSAT-9),launched in April this year,provides low-cost Internet accessto JSAT’s customers throughoutAsia.
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better days, according to NSR.
“We believe continued improve-ment of fill rates and revenue generationwill continue over time, driven by strongregional economic performance andgrowing demand for video and dataservices.”
NSR’s primary areas of expertiseinclude emerging technologies, IPapplications and broadcast services.With extensive expertise in all regionsand a number of broadband sectors,NSR is a leading provider of in-depthmarket insight and analyses.
Still hungryThe recent acquisition of
Thailand’s Shin Corp by TemasekHoldings Pte, investment arm of theSingapore government, positionsSingapore as Asia’s top satelliteoperator.
Shin Corp is parent company ofShin Satellite plc (ShinSat), Asia’s thirdlargest satellite operator. The deal,which will give Temasek control ofShin and its subsidiaries (includingShinSat), will dramatically boostSingapore’s presence as a regionaltelecoms player.
It will also give Singapore andSingTel control over ShinSat’s fleet offour satellites, including the iPSTAR-1Broadband Internet Satellite orThaicom-4. ShinSat’s newest satellite,Thaicom-5, is a dedicated DTH satellitethat was just launched on May 27,2006.
SingTel already controls Australia’sSingTel Optus Pty Ltd, the secondlargest telecommunications company inAustralia, and its fleet of satellites (fourin-orbit; two to launch) while owningcapacity on four other Asian satellites
(three from APT).
Its ownership of both Optus andShinSat plus ownership of the ST-1satellite launched in 1998 makes SingTelAsia’s largest satellite fleet operator with12 satellites as against the 10 satellites
operated by Japan’s JSAT Corporation.
Temasek followed-up the Shin Corpacquisition by buying a 9.9% stake inTata Teleservices for an undisclosedsum, giving Singapore a foothold inIndia’s rapidly growing mobile phone
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Peter I. Galace is editorial director of Satnews Publishers.He has written extensively on the telecommunicationsdevelopments in Asia for numerous publications. Currentlyhe is associate editor of Satnews Daily and Weekly editions,and art and production editor of the International Satellite Directory and themonthly e-zine, Satmagazine. He can be reached at [email protected].
market.
Despite these huge investments,Temasek said it retains a big appetitefor more acquisitions in Asia. Manag-ing director for investment S. Iswaransaid that underlying the company’sinvestment binge is its “positive view ofAsia and its growth prospects.”
He made no mention of furtherinvestments in Asian satellite operatorssuch as APT, however. Temasek hasUS$103 billion available for invest-ments.
New satellite servicesSky Perfect Communications Inc.,
Japan’s sole DTH provider, aims to getover five million subscribers at the endof FY 2007 and eight million by 2010,or twice the number in 2005, byintegrating broadcast and communica-tion technologies.
Sky Perfect is now partnering withNTT, Japan’s largest telecom carrier, tobundle its DTH service with NTT’sphone and broadband services atsubscriptions lower than those chargedby Jupiter Communications (J:Com),the country’s biggest cable provider.
Sky Perfect’s close partnershipwith JSAT Corporation (JSAT), Japan’sleading satellite operator, gives SkyPerfect enough muscle to continueexpanding into technologies such asfiber-to-the-home (FTTH), broadbandand mobile services.
JSAT hosts the Sky PerfecTV!DTH service. Two JSAT satellites,JCSAT-3 and –4A, are used mainly forSKY Perfect’s digital broadcastingservices with JCSAT-110 going to SKYPerfect’s secondary services.
JSAT, however, is forging ahead
with plans to expand overseas. Cur-rently, global markets account for only4% of JSAT sales while 96% came fromJapan-based customers such as SKYPerfect.
The launch of JCSAT-5A (orJCSAT-9), JSAT’s newest satellite, lastApril marks the company’s boldestcommitment to overseas expansion. Thesatellite will provide low-cost Internetaccess to JSAT’s customers throughoutAsia and is expected to be competitivein emerging markets.
The satellite’s C-band beamextends west to Afghanistan and southto Darwin, Australia. Its footprintcovers India, China, Indochina and therest of South East Asia.
JSAT said the addition of JCSAT-5A makes the company a major playerin the Asia Pacific market and positionsit as an Asian powerhouse. Except forJCSAT-5A, all the rest of JSAT’ssatellites serve Japan’s domestic needs.
SingTel Optus, Australia’s onlysatellite operator, awaits the launch ofits two D-series satellites designed toprovide fixed communications and DTHbroadcasting services to Australia andNew Zealand.
SingTel Optus said the purchase ofthe D-series satellites provides theplatform for Optus’ satellite business togrow and extend beyond 2020. Optus D1will replace Optus B1 while Optus D2will complement Optus C1 in providing
new broadcast services for DTHapplications.
Foxtel, the top DTH operator, andAustar United Communications are tolaunch at least two, 24/7 High Defini-tion Television (HDTV) digital chan-nels by 2008.
Their subscription HDTV serviceswill use additional bandwidth carried byOptus D2 whose 24 Ku-band transpon-ders will enable new DTH services toAustralia and New Zealand. The OptusC1 satellite currently serves Australia’spay TV needs.
Foxtel and Austar said a futuregrowth area for pay TV is the provision-ing of video content for 3G mobilephones. They will also explore contentdelivery over emerging technologiessuch as terrestrial Digital VideoBroadcast Handheld (DVB-H) mobiledevices. SM
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SATMAGAZINE.COMJune 2006
FEATURE
For such a large and diverseregion, two-way satellitebroadband services are a
relatively unknown option forInternet access for consumers andbusinesses. Or if there is aware-ness of satellite as an option inAsia, it is often too expensive tobe practical. NSR labels thesetypes of services as “single site”because they are mainly meant toprovide Internet access servicesfor a household, small office orbusiness as opposed to anenterprise VSAT network servicethat is meant to connect numer-ous sites together in a compre-hensive network.
The largest exception to thisgeneral rule of low awareness ofsingle site two-way satellitebroadband services is found inAustralia where the government-sponsored HiBIS program, whichoffered residential and small businessusers subsidies for accessing broadbandservices at prices similar to those foundin urban areas, had met with consider-able success. Reports state that morethan 60,000 individuals or businesseshave received broadband services underthe HiBIS program, of which approxi-mately 28.5% use satellite-basedservices. Demand was so high thatTelstra, one of the larger HiBIS serviceproviders, was understood to actuallyhave used all of the funding allocated toit, which meant it was unable to acceptnew subscribers under the program. Theoverwhelming success of the HiBISprogram led the Australian Government
New Opportunities for Satellite BroadbandServices in AsiaBy Patrick M. FrenchRegional Director, Europe & Senior Analyst of NSR.
to launch a follow-on, BroadbandConnect, which is an AUS$878 millioninitiative to continue the funding ofsubsidized services in rural and remoteareas of Australia.
While service uptake has generallybeen slow elsewhere in Asia to date,NSR has seen a number of indicatorsthat this situation will change in thecoming years. The first indicator is thelong awaited launch of the Thaicom-4satellite by Shin Satellite. In its run upto the launch of Thaicom-4, ShinSatellite had installed more than 25,000terminals itself or through resellers, ofwhich about 25% can be classified assingle site satellite broadband subscrib-
ers. This installed base of terminals hadbeen provisioned with space segmentcapacity from a number of commercialsatellites. However, NSR understandsthat part of this subscriber base wastransferred to the Thaicom-4 satellitebefore the end of 2005, and the rest willbe migrated over during the course of2006.
Going forward, NSR anticipatescontinued growth of single site servicesfrom IPSTAR with much of the earlydemand coming from Thailand,Australia and New Zealand. ShinSatellite recently reported that it hadsold another 11,134 IPSTAR terminalsin the first quarter of 2006, of which a
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SATMAGAZINE.COMJune 2006
FEATURES
portion of these were for single sitesatellite broadband services, and therest would be for enterprise networkingclasses of service.
In the first months of 2006, ShinSatellite also announced the launch of anew IPSTAR product targeted to theenterprise and government market, theEnterprise Series IPX-9200. The IPX-9200 is a rack-mounted IPSTARsatellite modem designed to be easilyconnected to an enterprise-class LocalArea Network. The new modem hasmore features than IPSTAR’s standardProfessional Series and is also wellsuited for operations in rugged environ-ments, rural applications, high band-width applications such as mobiletrunking, broadcast quality SatelliteNews Gathering (SNG), and continuousor unmanned operations.
In a separate press release, ShinSatellite revealed a new agreement withChina Satcom for the introduction ofIPSTAR broadband services in China. Afirst IPSTAR gateway will be availablefor service in May 2006 in Beijing.
Additional IPSTAR gateways will laterbe available in Shanghai andGuangzhou. China Satcom intends toprovide satellite-based Virtual PrivateNetwork services along with varioustelephony, data and multimedia servicesfor corporate customers.
While IPSTAR certainly offerspotential for growth in the single sitesatellite broadband market in Asia,future prospects are not only limited tothis system. Another example would bethe Malaysian “National BroadbandPlan” where the Malaysian governmentis encouraging uptake of broadband inboth the public and private sectors. Bysetting a goal of reaching a broadbandpenetration rate of 5% (or 1.3 millionconnections to businesses, homes, andcommunity sites), the MalaysianGovernment believes that it can createenough of a base of demand that willencourage commercial service providersto bring new broadband services tomarket and help bridge the “last mile”.Companies such as SMART Digital inMalaysia believe they are well posi-tioned to capitalize on this government
effort and have recently introducedSurfBeam-based services in the hopes ofleading the introduction of single sitesatellite broadband services in thecountry.
Even farther into the future,reports have emerged that Japan’sInternal Affairs and CommunicationsMinistry has announced plans for a newbroadband communications satellitethat will offer services of up to 100Mbps to remote and mountainous areasof the country as well as aboard theShinkansen trains, airplanes and ships.Designs call for a satellite that will beable to receive weak signals, and even acellular phone with relatively low poweroutput would be able to communicate ata maximum speed of 10 Mbps. NSR isnot completely convinced this programwill truly be launched, but it certainlyhighlights the aspirations for satellitebroadband services in Asia.
For the end of 2005, NSR foundthere were approximately 29,000 two-way single site satellite broadbandsubscribers across all of Asia, with amajority being found in Australia due tothe HiBIS program. The next largestsegment of subscribers was for IPSTARservices in a number of countries withThailand accounting for the largestfraction. After these services, themarket becomes quite fragmented withmany of the remaining service provid-ers having a few hundred subscribersand rarely more than a thousand. In thecoming years, NSR expects to seeservice providers offering new serviceswith monthly fees of less than US$100and CPE equipment prices of only a fewhundred dollars across wider swaths ofAsia. These lower cost services com-bined with government efforts in anumber of countries to promote broad-band access should, in NSR’s view,drive single site satellite broadbandsubscribers to approximately 60,000 in2010.
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SATMAGAZINE.COMJune 2006
FEATURES
As already implied, one of themost important reasons satellitebroadband services have yet to garnermuch demand in most of Asia is due tothe current pricing schemes. One findspricing for satellite broadband servicesto be quite variable across Asia. On thelower end, Telstra’s basic tier Big Pond2-way product, with speeds of 256/64Kbps and maximum monthly downloadof 500 MBytes, had a monthly servicefee of roughly US$77 and an equipmentfee of over US$800. Telstra’s upperlevel package (800/128 Kbps and 4GBytes download limit) was roughlyUS$370 per month in late 2005.SpeedCast’s business packages startedat least at US$400 per month, andiSatAsia’s packages range from US$250to US$700 per month with equipmentrunning several thousands of dollars.
Now that Thaicom-4 is launched,more pricing data has become availablefor the IPSTAR packages. Some serviceproviders include equipment in theirplans, and others do not. The averageIPSTAR monthly service fee for 2005was estimated to be US$80 for con-sumer class services. The pricing isexpected to remain steady for a fewyears and then will likely decline asnew competitors enter the market.IPSTAR equipment still remains quitecostly, and some resellers add a signifi-cant mark-up to the equipment. NSRexpects that IPSTAR equipment pricingwill decline in the next few years asvolumes increase and may well retail inthe US$500 range in the not too distantfuture.
With estimates of monthly servicefees and CPE prices in hand, NSRforecasts that subscriber generatedrevenues for single site two-waysatellite broadband services in Asia willreach approximately US$75 million in2010. This total is up from an estimated
US$55 million in 2005. Atfirst glance this may notappear to be a large increaseover a five-year period,especially with the number ofsubscribers predicted to morethan double. Yet, growth inthe market is being driven byrapid declines in monthservice fees and CPE cost;therefore, it is natural for therate of revenue growth to lagbehind the rate of subscribergrowth. Without the pricingdeclines and growinggovernmental involvementthrough subsidies, thesatellite broadband market inAsia would continue to belimited to a very narrowclient base. With these newservices and technologies, thepotential of satellite broad-band to bring connectivity tothose without other options isslowly, yet surely, beingrealized.
Patrick M. French isRegional Director, Europe& Senior Analyst of NSR.He can be reached [email protected]
SM
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SATMAGAZINE.COMJune 2006
FEATURE
Life in the minor league ofsatellite operators can be tough,especially when one’s parent is a
State-backed telecoms giant awash withprofits (revenue growth up 43%, andEBITDA margins of 36%), and findingit relatively easy to generate a signifi-cant return on investment from itstelco-based ventures. Telenor Broadcastand Telenor Satellite Broadcasting morethan fit this mould, and like other telco-owned satellite players (and BTBroadcast Services especially comes tomind) has been in Limbo these past fewyears while its executive managementdecided what best to do with thesatellite divisions.
A year or two of confusion atVivendi-Universal’s Canal Plus division(at the time a partner with Telenor in itsCanal Digital regional pay-TV opera-tion) didn’t help. After about threeyears of trying to sell various entities,and without reaching agreement, lastyear the decision was made to retain allof the satellite-related businesses and tolook at fresh investment for the Scandi-navian market’s needs.
In essence Telenor’s position isincredibly strong. Telenor is Norway’scommunications powerhouse, but it hasexpanded, and in terms of mobilecommunications puts itself at about No10 or 11 in the world in terms ofrevenues and expecting to pass the100m subscribers mark during this year,and with more staff working outsideNorway that within the country. It ispresent in Central and Eastern Europe,in Pakistan (revenue growth of 49%),
Telenor – Punching above its weightBy Chris Forrester
Bangladesh andThailand, as well asthroughoutScandinavia and ofcourse Russia. (seefull numbers atwww.telenor.com/ir)
Telenor’sBroadcast divisionis an infant in theworld of broadcast-ing with commer-cial broadcastingonly permitted in1992 (and thusbreaking the unfortunate link Norwayhad with arch-communist Albania asEurope’s only countries that providedtheir citizens with only Public/State-backed transmissions) and broadcastingin Norway still remains heavily regu-lated. However, transmission companyNorkring (now owned by Telenor) hasthe very toughest of environments towork within, and delivers its signals to47 main transmitter sites and 2700relay stations throughout Norway.Norkring started life as part of publicbroadcaster NRK and was brought into
as well as the TV2 commercial channel,plus local TV channels and radio.
But with such limitations (eitherofficial or topographical) it was inevi-table that satellite and cable wouldprosper, not only in Norway butelsewhere in the region. Before weleave terrestrial matters it is worthnoting that Norway’s digital terrestrial
Norway: basicsPopulation: 4.5mTV HH’s: 2m600,000 analogue-only homes400,000 holiday homes/ boats
the Telenor fold back in 1996 (and100% Telenor owned in 1998).Norkring carries two networks for NRK
Telenor’s broadcastinginterests• Telenor Satellite Broad’g (Teleports, TV/ radio, Occ. Use)• Telenor Satellite Services (global comm’s, Inmarsat links, etc)• Norkring (terrestrial transmission)• Canal Digital (pay-TV operator)• Conax (encryption)
“Canal Digital vs Viasat”
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SATMAGAZINE.COMJune 2006
FEATURES
concession was likely to be awarded byMay 30. Telenor has a bid in, with apartner, to run that operation.
Telenor sees itself as a completemedia company, owning satellites(including a large slice of Intelsat’s 10-02 craft) like Thor II and Thor III,comprising 40 active transponders intotal, as well as the Canal Digital pay-TV operator and not to forget its Conax‘smart card’ encryption operation.Conax, again a minnow when comparedto the likes of NDS and NagraKudelski, is active outside the regionand claims 67% of sales are outside ofTelenor’s immediate sphere of interestand pushing hard for business in Indiaand China. Canal Digital is not alone insupplying pay-TV over Scandinavia. Itsrival is Viasat (controlled by Sweden’sModern Times Group/MTG) althoughCanal Digital enjoys greater subscribernumbers overall. During Q1 this year,Canal Digital increased its subscriberbase by just 12,000 homes, bringing thetotal to 918,000. However, this remainsa historical high and is ahead of itsNordic rival Viasat. 216,000 subscribersreceived the free-to-air package, a fallon both the 222,000 of December 31,2005, and 236,000 of March 31, 2005.
Pay-TV churn at 13%per annum remains at ahistorical low. It has been ashigh as 61% per annum,blamed on Scandinavianslove of the outdoors and theirall-too-brief summers whentraditionally everyonedecamps to either a countrycabin or something on thewater – and no great need forTV. That’s changing. RivalsViasat don’t split theirnumbers regionally. Histori-cally, Norway has been bestfor Canal Digital, Sweden for
Viasat, Denmark and Finland challeng-ing for both of them. That said, CanalDigital’s growth probably means theyare now beating Viasat in Sweden, its‘home’ market, too. Viasat sufferedbadly during the 2001-2003 periodthrough widespread piracy of its smartcard system, and subsequently switchedto an NDS protection system. Thenumbers show that while Viasat is stillsome 300,000 subscribers behind CanalDigital, it is now catching up.
Canal Digital is also encouragingthe take-up of multiroom subscriptions,trusting that once fitted with thenecessary quad-LNB the subscribinghome-owner wouldn’t offer a ‘free’ feedto their neighbours. “It’s alwayspossible, to stretch a coax cable into theneighbour’s home, but it doesn’thappen,” said Storhaug. To date 25,000subscribers have signed up for themultiroom concept that allows up tofour separate feeds.
In some markets there are otherconcerns, not least where an outfit likeTelenor attempts to build a triple orquad-play offering. In Norway suchelements can be bundled but subsidies(and cross-subsidies) are forbidden, andany ‘cost savings’ represented in an
offer have to be clearly proved.
Telenor Broadcast position inNordic media1 Sanoma (Finnish-based publisher)2 Bonnier (Swedish-based media
group)3 MTG (Swedish-based broadcasting)4 Scandinavian Broadcasting
System (Commercial TV/Radio)5 TELENOR BROADCASTING6 Schibsted (Norwegian publisher
media group)
Telenor Broadcast is also movingfurther along the content value chain.For example it owns 45% of TV2 Zebra,a sports-focussed mini-pay channel withsoccer as its backbone. Telenor Broad-cast owns the pay-TV rights toNorway’s premier soccer division,although it is worth remembering thatunlike most of Europe where soccer is awinter sport, in Norway games onlyhappen once the snow melts aroundEaster-time! They have also capitalisedon the nation’s passion for soccer(allowing fans to have an internetaddress at their favourite club) andenthusiastically looking at broadbandopportunities in the DVB-H and DMBarenas. IN other areas they have securedexclusive golf, HDTV deals are increas-ingly in place and they have recentlyrenewed their EuroSport distributionagreement.
Telenor Satellite Broadcasting(TSB) is actively looking to replace,and perhaps expand, its existingorbiting assets. CEO Cato Halsaa andhis team are working hard to boostactivity from 1 deg West, which theyconsider to be a prime orbital location.Their current manifest of about 40-41transponders would, with Thor II-R(now under build with Orbital Sciences)
“It can also get cold”
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SATMAGAZINE.COMJune 2006
FEATURES
grow to 48 transponders. Three transponders will be lostthis summer on Thor II, as the craft matures towards itsend-of-life.
Telenor Satellite BroadcastingMilestones1992 Bought Thor 1 (a Marco Polo craft)1995 Ordered Thor 21996 Leases capacity on Intelsat 707.
Launches Thor II1998 Thor III launched2002 Introduces IP-based services over
satellite2004 Intelsat 10-02 (part-owned)
launched2005 Contracts with Orbital to build Thor
II-R2006 Approval given for Thor III-RData: TSB
There’s strong entrepreneurial demand frombroadcasters for digital channels and helped by thegrowth TSB has managed to fill the gap left by analoguebroadcasters as the region shifted rapidly to digitaltransmission. Halsaa says TSB will be back to a 48-transponder manifest by 2008-9. The recent history ofTelenor Satellite in terms of revenue is not good, asHalsaa is the first to admit, and one has to be sympa-thetic to the challenges of finding fresh business whileat the same time the business was – in effect – up forsale. The division was taken off the market in 2005.Those tough times are now over, with steady EBITDA
growth and new revenue streams now kicking in. There’s also theheady prospects of HDTV on the close horizon, which Halsaa saysis now very definitely looking promising.
With a new Thor II-R good until 2023 (and 24 transponders)and the prospects of an RFP going out later this year for Thor III-R(the existing craft has an end-of-life of 2010) and a contract placedaround Q2 next year, plus 7 transponders on Intelsat 10-02, Halsaasays TBS is in good shape. His team are looking at markets likeCentral Europe and Russia, and especially good connectivity to,within, and from the Middle East. Indeed, TBS has an agreementwith Intelsat’s Terrestrial Media Transport to access their intercon-nect, already in place to Bratislava and Sofia, and planned to beextended further East, and thus provide easy access to Intelsat’s 27-satellite fleet.
“We’re a small regional operator,” says TSB commercial
“Telenor’s prime market”
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SATMAGAZINE.COMJune 2006
FEATURES
director David Gilmore.“But we’re fast moving outof our Nordic region andinto adjacent regions andbeyond. We are determinedto be creative, flexible andwe know we can move veryspeedily indeed. Our homemarket is very dynamic,and that helps. We’velooked hard at Brazil forexpansion, and decidedagainst that at the moment.But Africa is much morepromising. As to futurepayloads, we have decidedagainst Ka-Band on ThorII-R, but we are consider-ing all our options for ThorIII-R.”
London-based ChrisForrester, a well-known broadcastingjournalist is the Editorfor Europe, MiddleEast and Africa forSATMAGAZINE. Hereports on all aspectsof the industry withspecial emphasis oncontent, the businessof television andemergingtechnologies. He hasa unique knowledge ofthe Middle Eastbroadcasting scene,having interviewed atlength the operationalheads of each of themain channels andpay-TV platforms. Hecan be reached [email protected]
SM
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SATMAGAZINE.COMJune 2006
CASE STUDY
The CompanyBTV+ is a leading provider of
satellite based business television anddistance learning services. Its clientsinclude large and small entities inretail, banking, gaming, automotive andgovernment, all who use video servicesto inform, educate and communicate.BTV+ provides their customers withcomplete solutions, from systemsintegration and operations, throughconnectivity and distribution.
BTV+ traditionally has used asatellite-to-small-dish video contentdelivery platform. A centralized uplinkat the BTV+ operations center inToronto sends content to North Ameri-can locations ranging from Mexico toAlaska and as far west as Hawaii. This
IP Video Backhaul to SatelliteTeleportsBy Rick Segil
centralized uplink has proven to be verycost-effective; however, the backhaul ofvideo from various origination sites tothe Toronto uplink can be very costly.Often, video is backhauled using costlycircuit switched transport technologiessuch as point-to-point satellite links,leased lines and ATM.
The ChallengeBTV+ needed to grow their
business and offer cost-effective videobackhaul solutions so more customerscould access their teleport facilities.After reviewing several networkoptions, they saw an opportunity todramatically reduce the cost of livevideo backhaul and extend theirservices to a broader, global market byusing terrestrial IP networks. The cost
savings for backhaul network servicesalone can be as high as 80 to 90 percentwhen replaced by delivery over thepublic Internet.
BTV+ needed to backhaul videofrom various customers to its Toronto-based operations, and it was imperativeto maintain an error-free, high qualityvideo transmission. The completesolution had to be less costly andcomplex than circuit-switched networkswith the added flexibility to set up linksup on a temporary basis. Additionally,BTV+ requirements called for IP-basedsystems that would be simple to deploy,administer and maintain within theirown network as well as customernetworks.
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SATMAGAZINE.COMJune 2006
CASE STUDY
The SolutionTo accomplish its goals, BTV+
purchased the Path 1 Ax100 video overIP gateways to begin offering videoservices over IP. In addition to trans-porting broadcast-quality video over IPnetworks, Path 1’s Ax100 IP gatewayprovides advanced forward errorcorrection (FEC) technologies to protectvideo data for delivery over publicnetworks. IP networks, especially thepublic Internet, tend to exhibit impair-ment characteristics such as delay, jitter,packet loss and out-of-order packetsthat can spoil real-time video delivery.Using sophisticated video networkingalgorithms, the unit first synchronizes
transmitting and receiving gateways.Then, time-stamped serial data isdelivered to the receiver, where errorsare corrected and synchronous digital
video is output. Perfectvideo quality is maintainedeven if there are severenetwork impairments.
With network protec-tion, operators can use thepublic Internet as a cost-effective and flexible meansfor transporting broadcast-quality video. Simply put,the IP network is adaptedand transformed into a verylong and reliable BNC cable
offering the ability to move video at afraction of the cost of other currentlyavailable video transport technologies.
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SATMAGAZINE.COMJune 2006
CASE STUDY
This shift from satellite to IP-based terrestrial transmission issurprisingly transparent and simple touse. Today, between 1 Mbps and 10Mbps of IP network bandwidth can bemade available to 90 percent of U.S.businesses and households. Theseservice packages are usually T1, bondedT1, xDSL, E1 or broadband cableaccess. Using these access types, it ispossible to create an end-to-end IPvideo network by using Path 1’s IPgateways.
The ResultsThe use of Path 1 video distribu-
tion technology is already paying hugedividends. BTV+ has deployed a videobackhaul network using the publicInternet where content is originatingfrom a number of U.S and Canadiancities, followed by satellite distribution.In cases where MPEG-4 is the codec ofchoice, bonded T-1 net services are usedfor the U.S. origination sites andterminated at the BTV+ studio inCanada. The result is a video servicewhich uses only 1.2 Mbps of bandwidthand is also protected with 40 percent IPFEC overhead. BTV+ now has theoption of providing traditional satelliteor this new terrestrial backhaul servicewith the same service level agreements(SLAs) — all transparent to theircustomers.
Often, the traditional way of doingsomething should be re-evaluated whena new set of technologies are presentedas an alternative. In the case of BTV+,the combination of new compressionand networking technologies were
applied in a creative way whichresulted in a dramatic change totheir business. IP deliverydemonstrated it has the potentialto revolutionize the videotransport business, offering alow-cost method to executebackhauls to head-ends, studiosand teleports from any IPenabled
location in the world. Tothat end, Path 1’s products andservices were designed to helpcontent providers, video serviceproviders and network operatorswith their deployments of highquality video transport over IPnetworks.
Rick Segilis vicepresidentof market-ing of Path1 (www.path1.com). Hehas a strong background indigital video and broad-band communications.Before joining Path 1,Segil worked as a consult-ant for several high-techcompanies includingSolectron, Instromedix,and Ethertronics. Segil haspreviously been director ofproduct operations forGateway, COO for IP3Networks, and vice presi-dent at Leap Wireless. Hereceived his bachelor’sdegree in Physics andEconomics from ClaremontMcKenna College. He canbe reached at 1 (877)ONE-PATH or [email protected]
SM
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SATMAGAZINE.COMJune 2006
REGIONAL UPDATE
The Brazilian satellite market,despite the ups and downs of theeconomic situation in Latin
America, has shown steady growth forthe last two years following the trend inthe world satellite market. As we cansee from the table of satellitesauthorized to provide services in Brazilthe numbers reached a total of 33geostationary satellites in operationwhere 6 of them is operating by localsatellite operators (Hispamar, LoralSkynet do Brasil and Star One) and thebalance 27 is distributed among themajor global operators (Eutelsat,Hispasat, Intelsat, Loral, Nahuelsat,New Skies, Panamsat, Satmex, SESAmericon and Telesat Canada.
Among the local operators StarOne is the largest operator in Brazil andthe one that started providing satelliteservices in the 60’s when was part ofEmbratel, a long distance carrier ownedby the Brazilian government. TodayStar One is a public company majorityowned by Embratel (Part of TelmexGroup) and by SES Global. During2005, Star One became the satellitebranch of Telmex Group in LatinAmerica. Star One now is operatingfour satellites and two new satellitesare in construction to be launchedduring 2006 and 2007 respectively.During 2005 Star One acquired AMC-12 from SES Americom and now is partof the Star One fleet to cover the LatinAmerica region.
Star One besides providingsatellite transponder capacity in allmarket segments and turnkey solutions
Brazilian Satellite Market
by Bernardo Schneiderman
Satellites Authorized to Provide Services in Brazil
Satellite Operators Satellite Name Orbital BandLocal Operators PositionHispamar Amazonas 61 Deg W C & KuLoral Skynet do Brasil Estrela do Sul 63 Deg.W KuStar One Brasilsat B1 70 Deg. W C & X Brasilsat B2 65 Deg. W C & X
Brasilsat B3 84 Deg W CBrasilsat B4 92 Deg W CStar One C1 * 65 Deg. W Ku & KaStar One C2 * 70 Deg. W Ku
Foreign OperatorsColumbia Communications AMC-12 37.5 Deg. W KuEutelsat W1 10.0 Deg. E Ku Atlantic Bird 1 12.5 Deg W Ku
Altantic Bird 2 8.0 Deg W KuAtlantic Bird 3 5.0 Deg W C & Ku
Hispasat Hispasat 1 C 30 Deg W KuHispasat 1 D 30 Deg W Ku
Intelsat IS-705 50 Deg W C & KuIS-801 31.5 Deg W CIS-805 55.5 Deg W CIS-901 18.0 Deg W CIS-903 34.5 Deg W CIS-905 24.5 Deg W CIS-907 27.5 Deg W CIA-8 89.0 Deg W C & Ku
Loral Orion Telstar 12 15.0 Deg W KuNahuelsat Nahuel 1 72.0 Deg W KuNew Skies NSS-806 40.5 Deg W C & Ku NSS-7 21.5 Deg W C & KuPanamsat PAS-6B 43.0 Deg W Ku
PAS-1R 45.0 Deg W C & KuPAS-3R 43.0 Deg W CGalaxy - 3 C 95.0 Deg W KuPAS-9 58.0 Deg W Ku
Satelites Mexicanos Satmex V 116.8 Deg W C & KuSES Americon AMC-4 101.0 Deg W KuTelesat Canada Anik F1 107.3 Deg W Ku
*not in operation
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SATMAGAZINE.COMJune 2006
REGIONAL UPDATE
(Broadcast, Government, Data, Internet and Trunking) is a broadband Internetsatellite service provider. The satellitebroadband services target SOHO,enterprise and remote residential users.Star One provide these services with aVSAT platform supplied by Gilat in Ku-Band with several thousand unitsalready deployed during the last 4 years.
With the plan to extend thecapacity beyond the Brazilian marketStar One is planning to launch theSatellite Star One C1 during the thirdquarter of 2006 with 44 transponderswith 28 in C-Band and 16 in Ku-Bandand 1 Transponder in X-Band for theBrazilian Government Defense Ministry.The coverage will include Brazil, SouthAmerica, Mercosur and Florida. TheStar One C-2 is schedule to be launchduring the first quarter of 2007 withcapacity of 44 transponders where 28will be in C-Band and 16 in Ku-Bandplus one X-Band Transponder forBrazilian Government Defense Ministry.This satellite will cover South America,Mexico and Florida.
Loral Skynet do Brasil was the
second local authorizedSatellite Operator in Braziland got the license for aKu-Band satellite during2000. Loral launched thesatellite Estrela do Sulearly 2004 and the focusof the market has beenthe TV BroadcastRegional application andgovernment and enter-prise market broadbandservices. With only twoyears in operation LoralSkynet do Brazil (owned100% by Loral Skynet)has already 70% of thecapacity of the satellite inuse demonstrating thereceptiveness
of the Brazilian market to Ku-Band for several marketapplications.
Hispamar was the thirdlocal authorized satelliteoperator in Brazil and got alicense for a C & Ku bandsatellite that was launchedduring 2004 named AmazonasSatellite. Hispamar an-nounced that has already70% of the capacity in useafter 1.5 year the satellitebecame operational. Hispasat– Spanish Satellite Carrier (80%) andTelemar, a regional Brazilian telco (20%),owns Hispamar. The focus of Hispamarhas been in providing capacity for all theregional telcos for the universal tele-phone services and backbone for theBrazilian cellular carriers. Additionally
Bernardo Schneiderman has over 20 years of experience inSatellite Communications and is the President of TelematicsBusiness Consultants based in Irvine, CA. He can be reached
Hispamar has been active in the broad-cast market and is one of the majorproviders of satellite capacity fordistance learning programs via satellitein Brazil with 90% market share. During2006 Hispamar is planning to expand thecoverage of broadband services withtheir own DVB-RCS platform in the northand northeast region of Brazil. TheHispamar board is now evaluatingpotential expansion in the marketconsidering the success of theAmazonas satellite during this shortperiod of time.
As we can see the market in Brazilbeside the ups and down of LatinAmerica has been the focus of all majorGlobal and Regional Players since the
opening of thetelecom market in2000 with a successin selling capacityand broadbandservices via satellite.
During 2006 theBrazilian Governmentannounced the planto issue an RFP tobuy two or threesatellites for defense,government andmeteorologicalapplications demon-strating that themarket still has
potential growth not only for broadcast,DTH but also for government applica-tions to help break the digital divide in aregion where communications still is apremium for the majority of the popula-tion. SM
Vital Statistics: Brazil • POPULATION: 185 Million (2005) – half of South America;
5th in the world 7 Million Labor Force • AREA: 5.2 Million Square Miles / 8.5 Million Square Km;
2 ½ the Size of Western Europe; Larger than Continental U.S.
• GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT (2005): US$ 795 Billion; 11th in the World; • PER CAPITA INCOME (2005): US$ 4,295
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SATMAGAZINE.COMJune 2006
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GLOBECAST 28www.globecast.com
ISCe 2006 10www.isce.com
L-3 NARDA SATELLITENETWORKS 31www.lnr.com
LORAL SKYNET 34www.loralskynet.com
MITEQ 18www.miteq.com
PANAMSAT 24www.panamsat.com
SES AMERICOM 32www.ses-americom.com
APT SATELLITE ATS 1.51 1.12 - 2.10ANDREW CORPP ANDW 10.12 9.35 - 14.25ASIA SATELL ITE SAT 16.85 15.91 - 20.55TELECOMMUNICATIONS(ASIASAT)BALL CORP BLL 37.42 34.45 - 45.00BOEING CO BA 83.25 59.70 - 89.58BRITISH SKY ADS BSY 39.96 33.59 - 42.55CALAMP CORP CAMP 9.78 6.22 - 13.90C-COM SATELLITE CMI.V 0.40 0.23 - 0.56SYSTEMS INC.COM DEV INTL LTD CDV.TO 3.76 1.67 - 4.47COMTECH TELECOM CMTL 30.06 25.67 - 45.65THE DIRECTV GROUP DTV 17.56 13.17 - 18.04ECHOSTAR COMMUNICATIONS DISH 29.93 24.44 - 32.41FREQUENCY ELECTRONICS INC FEI 12.32 9.90 - 15.00GLOBECOMM SYS INC GCOM 6.62 5.09 - 8.44HARRIS CORP HRS 40.72 27.70 - 49.78HONEYWELL INTL INC HON 41.18 32.68 - 44.48INTL DATACASTING IDC.TO 0.23 0.14 - 0.31CORPORATIONINTEGRAL SYSTEMS ISYS 28.76 18.63 - 29.74KVH INDS INC KVHI 11.37 8.74 - 12.05L-3 COMM HLDGS INC LLL 72.96 69.81 - 88.50LOCKHEED MARTIN CORP LMT 72.49 58.50 - 77.95NEWS CORP NWS 19.97 14.76 - 20.16NORSAT INTL INC NSATF.OB 0.72 0.64 - 1.51NTL INCORPORATED NTLI 26.68 20.60 - 31.00ORBITAL SCIENCES CORP ORB 14.99 9.55 - 16.19PT PASIFIK SATELIT PSNRY.PK 0.01 -QUALCOMM INC QCOM 45.21 32.98 - 53.01RADYNE CORPORATION RADN 13.15 8.31 - 17.85SCIENTIFIC ATLANTA SFA 42.98 26.73 - 43.90SIRIUS SATELLITE RADIO SIRI 4.50 3.60 - 7.98SES GLOBAL FDR SDS.F 12.45 -TRIMBLE NAVIGATION TRMB 45.94 26.64 - 49.86WORLDSPACE INC WRSP 4.74 4.54 - 26.00VIASAT INC VSAT 25.50 19.57 - 30.83XM SATELLITE RADIO XMSR 14.42 12.77 - 37.31
Company Name Symbol Price 52-wk Range(May 31)
