From http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/national/17257096/robot-reduces-gps-to-millimetres/ 

Roscosmos head Vladimir Popovkin and President of France’s Centre National d’Études Spatiales (CNES) Jean-Yves Le Gall reaffirmed the launch schedule under the 2008 contract between Roscosmos and French space company Arianespace during a meeting in Moscow on Friday.

“The partners are planning to launch four Soyuz carrier rockets from the space center in French Guiana this year and three – in 2014,” Roscosmos spokesperson Anna Vedishcheva said.

The Kourou launch site is intended mainly for the launch of geostationary satellites. Its proximity to the Equator enables the Soyuz-ST to put into orbit heavier satellites than those launched from Baikonur in Kazakhstan and Plesetsk in northern Russia.

Roscosmos and French satellite launch firm Arianespace signed a contract in 2008 to launch 10 Russian Soyuz-ST carrier rockets from Kourou.

The first launch was carried out in October 2011 placing two satellites of the Galileo global navigation satellite system (GNSS) in orbit.

The second launch orbited six satellites, including Europe’s dual-purpose observation satellite Pleiades 1B, in December 2011.

The third launch delivered two more Galileo satellites in orbit in October 2012.

The Soyuz-ST is a modification of the three-stage Soyuz-2 rocket with a Fregat upper stage adapted for launch in high heat and humidity prevalent at Kourou facility.

Intelsat: “Impossible to become profitable”

Intelsat is the largest satellite operator in the world and mounted an IPO in April that raised $328 million after fees and expenses, plus a further $143 million in the form of new non-voting preference shares. In all, Intelsat is now valued at about $1.85 billion. That sounds a lot of money, but Intelsat had previously spoken of raising around $1.75 billion in the IPO.

The problem is that Intelsat has a massive $15.8 billion in long-term debt (mainly tied up in borrowings to buy satellites). And that debt needs servicing. Intelsat’s annual revenues are around $2.6 billion, and its operating margins are excellent, but the satellite operator is typically paying out around $1 billion a year in interest.

Kurtin writes in an article in for Satellite Today that: “For a long time, the IPO was assumed to be the eventual magic exit from the debt load, but with a new valuation lower than annual revenues and a debt burden eight times that valuation, it is clear that the public market did not want to be the person left standing when the music stopped; the IPO was not the solution. The only possibility now would seem to be a restructuring, perhaps in the course of an acquisition. If not, Intelsat will go on operating and paying 40 percent of its revenues in interest.”

Arabsat confirms 44.5 deg E.

Arabsat’s CEO Khalid Balkheyour, speaking exclusively to Inside Satellite TV, said the new location was an important part of Arabsat’s expansion plan. “We finally obtained registration with the ITU for the 44.5 deg East location where we have formal filings for the BSS spectrum. The ITU rules require operators to bring their filings into use so we have leased a satellite in April from our good friends at Telesat. We have good filings in other spectrum which we will also bring into use.”

Balkheyour explained that this was a new spot that Arabsat was extremely serious about. “We will be promoting this for sale and lease, and our comprehensive plan also calls for us to launch our 6A satellite to 30.5 degrees, and to replace and enhance HellasSat [at 39 degrees East] where our acquisition has now closed. There is also a plan to build a third satellite [for 44.5] provided we identify a hosted payload partner [with an Arabsat signatory partner for governmental use]. The hosted payload partner is key to the financing of a third satellite at the position.”

“44.5 gives us a beautiful coverage, for the whole of the MENA region, plus Africa and probably as far as Pakistan.”   Balkheyour also admitted that Arabsat is open to other acquisitions, and further fleet expansion. “We have new orbital positions and might see other opportunities out there as long as they make sense and enhance the fleet. They take time and effort, but we have an appetite to grow.”

“The HellasSat deal is teaching us new lessons. Most people might think that doing the deal, after all the hard work of negotiations and due diligence, was hard enough but that the deal’s closure would be the end of the hard work. Not so. We knew there would be a post-acquisition phase, where we would have to concentrate on teasing out the various synergies that we want. We are hiring a consultant to help us through this next phase, and to make sure that we can sell their capacity and they sell ours. The process extends right through HellasSat and Arabsat, where we need to establish good working practices between us both, and how best to achieve them.”

“We are now actively talking with both teams as to the shape and potential for HellasSat 3 and we hope to finalise these discussions into an RFP once we are clear as to spectrum rights and so forth, and how HellasSat 3 can also fit into our Arabsat expansion plans. WE are hoping to finalise this later this summer, and to then order a satellite for delivery and launch probably in 2016,” said Balkheyour. “This will be around 18 months ahead of HellasSat 2’s end of life.”

Referring to the long-running 25.5/26 degree East orbital dispute with Eutelsat (and its Qatari partners in Es’Hail Sat) Balkheyour joked that he hoped that the dispute would be resolved in his lifetime!  “It is a disappointment. There has been absolutely no progress since Washington [the Satellite 3013 show in mid-March]. Operationally we are respecting each other, but as yet there’s no formal agreement which we can then jointly present to the ITU. Eutelsat and Arabsat need to agree on the FSS situation, but it seems Eutelsat is now looking to widen the scope of the planned agreement. I am keen that we wrap up the FSS agreement after which we can happily talk about other matters such as other coordination issues. There is nothing on the horizon.”

One of the problems seems to be that Eutelsat elevated its complaints via the formal French licensing/regulatory body (ANFR) which has raised the matter via its opposite numbers in the other nations concerned. This has complicated the process as far as Arabsat is concerned. “This is now in the hands of the politicians and civil servants, and outside our control. Because of this it means that many of regulatory bodies are now involved, including the ITU of course. But I want to see the core FSS issues resolved. We can then move onto other matters, but let us take it step by step.”

Boeing Ships 6th Wideband Global SATCOM Satellite for Launch

From http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=40817

Boeing [NYSE: BA] is progressing with the expansion of the U.S Defense Department's highest capacity communications satellite constellation, recently shipping its sixth Wideband Global SATCOM (WGS) satellite, pictured here in the company's El Segundo facility, for a scheduled launch from Cape Canaveral, Fla., later this year.

Through a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Air Force on WGS-6, the Australian Defence Force will have global access to the WGS on-orbit constellation.

This is the second WGS satellite Boeing has delivered for launch this year. WGS-5 is ready to launch on May 22.

WGS-6 will undergo tests, fueling and integration in Titusville, Fla., before being launched. Once in service, the satellite will expand bandwidth capacity, coverage and flexibility for American and allied military forces.

Late-night league games do not work for free-to-air TV because audiences are too small to attract advertisers. Photo / Brett Phibbs

Despite traveling faster than 7 kilometers per second at nearly 700 kilometers above the planet's surface, Korea's Arirang-3 satellite managed to capture these photos of the Dokdo Islets with breath-taking detail.
These aerial views of the destruction caused by last month's massive earthquake in Sichuan, China were also captured by the multi-purpose satellite.
These are just some of the 20-thousand high-resolution images released by the Korea Aerospace Research Institute to commemorate the Arirang-3's first year in orbit since being launched into space one year ago today.

"We've achieved initial standard operations and now the satellite is orbiting the Earth 15 times per day. We are distributing the images to the Korean people and to people around the world."

The state-of-the-art piece of space technology is Korea's first sub-meter satellite, making it the fourth country with that observation power.
The on-board electro-optical cameras are so accurate that they can distinguish objects on the ground as small as 70 centimeters in radius.

But it's just the beginning for Korea's commercial aerospace industry.
Plans are underway to launch the Arirang-5 satellite by the end of this year, which will have the advantage of piercing through cloudy skies and dark nights, while the infrared-capable Arirang-3A is set to launch in the first half of next year.
It's an ambitious timetable, as officials hope to promote exports of Korea's satellite technology.

"With regard to the planned Arirang [satellite] series, development of the mark 6 has already started with the mark 7 planned to be used thereafter. I believe that this world-class satellite technology will help Korea establish a foothold in the global satellite market."

The global earth observation market for satellite-based imagery is estimated at more than 1.4 billion U.S. dollars, and Korea is positioning itself to be strategic powerhouse in the emerging space industry.

Pakistan adopts Chinese rival GPS satellite system

From http://www.gpsdaily.com/reports/Pakistan_adopts_Chinese_rival_GPS_satellite_system_999.html

Aussie rules highlights will be screened on the Sommet Sports channel that kicks off on Freeview today. Photo / Getty Images

Super-fast wireless will never make fibre obsolete.

So, Foxtel has put a bullet into the deal that let Australian viewers buy Game of Thrones, and other premium HBO series, episode by episode as they aired.

No Foxtel, nooooo…

I don’t mind going into the stocks and getting pelted with soft fruit and monkey poo for telling people they should pay for Game of Thrones. Or anything they consume that somebody else created to try pay the rent or feed their kids. I loves me my Game of Thrones and I’m happy to pay for it. I’m also happy to rag on the millions of freeloaders who don’t feel the need to pay for it.

But Foxtel, oh Foxtel… being allied with you makes JB’s tummy feel sick. What were you thinking when you decided it’d be a good idea to throw your monopoly power around and snuff out the deal delivering freshly baked eps of GoT via iTunes and Quickflix to the millions upon millions of people who don’t subscribe to your crappy, repetitive overpriced shake-down racket?

Oh, no, let me guess. You figured that by removing a timely and legitimate method for viewers to watch the show within a couple of hours of its US release, you would force a handful of extra punters to take out one of your lousy subscriptions?

Well here’s a slow, sad little golf clap for you, Foxtel.

What you’re actually doing by trying to shore up your monopoly is guaranteeing that a whole heap of viewers who ponied up good, honest money to watch that series by a method other than membership of your exclusive club are now more likely to sign up to channel Bit Torrent.

And what’s more, in the twisted ethical house of mirrors that is freetard logic, they’ll feel they are even more entitled to do so because you, Foxtel, are the TV equivalent of that unemployed bus driver who kidnaps young girls and holds them prisoner in the basement for years.

This may come as a surprise to you, Foxtel, but not everyone gets hard, shiny wood at the prospect of handing over a hundred-plus bucks a month for the shower of offal which fills up most of your schedule.

Not everyone who follows the doins and a-goings-on in Westeros brings the same level of needy anticipation each week to, say, Extreme Couponing, or I Didn’t Know I Was Pregnant or any of those 83 execrable Housewife shows forever snuffling at the stained G-strings of carnivore she-devils with interchangeable boob jobs.

You did a good thing when you leaned into the task of getting the best TV to our screens within hours of its release in the US, Foxtel. But by denying people the choice to watch their favourite TV by a perfectly legal method just because you can’t stand the idea of having to compete, you reverted to type.

Which type? The type who profit from shows like Embarrassing Bodies. The type who diminish humanity just by being part of it.

New data center launching in Kapolei

From http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/breaking/20130513_New_data_center_launching_in_Kapolei.html

On air: Aussie rules football will soon be free-to-air in New Zealand.

Irene Read has been promoted to head of sales, leading the team that licenses all TV programming and news in Australia and New Zealand on a daily basis, reporting to McQuade in this role. Read joined BBC Worldwide in 2011 and has successfully overseen sales in the Australian region to date.

Rob Leach will become digital and business development director with an expanded remit overseeing commercial digital, brand licensing and new business lines. He has recently taken on responsibility for the licensing of BBC Worldwide's brands in Australia and New Zealand, notably live events, consumer products and DVDs. He is also responsible for BBC World News and the relationship with MCN.

Completing the executive leadership team for BBC Worldwide Australia and New Zealand are: Melissa Madden, director of brands and marketing, leading the company's marketing department and creative services team. Fiona Lang, head of business and legal affairs, overseeing all legal, contractual, regulatory and compliance activity.

Penn said, "As BBC Worldwide looks to grow its business outside the UK, placing more autonomy in this territory's hands, there is a fantastic opportunity for growth. I am confident that I have put the best team and structure in place to deliver this growth in the areas that have the most potential - content, brands and digital - with a strong strategic and visionary team behind it."

115.6 million TV homes in the US

From http://www.indiantelevision.com/headlines/y2k13/may/may56.php

MUMBAI: The universe of US television homes is growing-and so is the TV audience. According to Nielsen's 2014 Advance National TV Household Universe Estimate (UE), there are 115.6 million TV homes in the U.S., up by 1.2 per cent from the 2012-2013 estimate of 114.2 million.

Nielsen estimates that 294 million persons age two and older live in these TV homes, an increase of 1.6 per cent from last year.

Nielsen uses US Census Bureau data and auxiliary sources such as state governments and the U.S. postal service to arrive at Advance TV UEs in early May before the television industry's upfronts. It then distributes final UEs before the start of each TV season.

VietNamNet Bridge – The VNREDSat-1 satellite sent the first photos of Vietnam from space since it was put into orbit on May 7.

Satellite images of Hanoi, Ha Giang Province and Phu Quoc Island were transmitted to a reception station of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment at 11h00 on May 9, according to Bui Trong Tuyen, Deputy Head of the Space Technology Institute.

Despite the cloudy sky, these initial images indicate that VNREDSat-1 and the ground station are working properly, said space scientists.

The National Remote Sensing Centre can now contact VNREDSat-1 two to four times a day through a reception and transmission station in Hoa Lac.

Vietnamese and French experts are currently working together to analyse and process the raw satellite images, and monitor and assess the satellite’s performance.

VNREDSat-1 was launched into orbit aboard a Vega rocket on May 7 from the Kourou space centre in French Guiana. It is Vietnam’s third satellite in space and its first Earth observation satellite.

Boeing sells 4 more satellites to Intelsat

Fiji Television Limited today announced to its board members.

Changes were made to the Board of Fiji Television Ltd, as a result of the recent acquisition of Yasana Holdings Ltd by Fijian Holdings Ltd.

FHL appointed Padam Lala, Ulaiyasi Baya, Viliame Gavoka, Aseri Radrodro and Nouzab Fareed as new directors of Fiji Television Ltd while accepting resignation of Kafoa Muror, Pita Mawi, Adi Finau Tabakaucoro, Isoromi Bayameyame and Sefanaia Rayawa.

Mr Padam Lala was appointed as the new chairman of Fiji Television today replacing Mr.Isoa Kaloumaira, who retains his board membership. In addition, Gary Callaghan was made the Deputy Chairman of the Board of Fiji TV.

New Chairman of Fiji Television, Mr Lala said “These changes were as a result of changes in share ownership and but in reality, its business as usual. We are certain that these changes will bring strategic input to the board of Fiji TV.”

In addition, FTV also appointed Mr. Iowane Naiveli as the Chairman for Media Niugini Ltd and Colonel Apakuki Kurusiga as the Chairman for Media Solomon Islands Limited respectively.

Tevita Gonelevu was appointed as the new Company Secretary for Fiji Television Ltd.

Offer of Chinese satellite TV shows concerns DPP

From http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2013/05/09/2003561831

FREE PROPAGANDA:Pacific Satellite International is offering a package of 11 Chinese channels to buildings with more than 100 households, apparently illegally

Democratic Progressive Party legislators Chen Chi-mai, left, and Lee Chun-yi speak at a press conference in Taipei yesterday, demanding that the government ban Chinese satellite channels from being broadcast locally.

It was Vega’s second mission from French Guiana, and further demonstrated the capabilities of a vehicle that completes Arianespace’s launcher family – joining its medium-lift Soyuz and heavyweight Ariane 5.

“This launch confirms the full functionality of Vega, which is totally operational and ready to offer the best service to our customers,” explained Stéphane Israël, Arianespace’s new Chairman and CEO.  “With its three launchers operational at the Spaceport, Arianespace is the only launch services provider capable of placing all types of satellite payloads into all types of orbits.”

Today’s mission, designated Flight VV02 in Arianespace’s launcher family numbering system, included numerous “firsts” for Vega.  Arianespace assumed Vega operations responsibility for the first time on this mission, which followed the lightweight launcher’s February 2012 qualification flight performed under responsibility of the European Space Agency (ESA).

The launch also marked the initial use of a multi-payload dispenser called VESPA (Vega Secondary Payload Adapter), which carried the Proba-V satellite atop it, while the VNREDSat-1 and ESTCube-1 spacecraft were installed inside the system.  Additionally, VREDSat-1 became the initial commercial satellite lofted by Vega.

In another first, today’s mission was the debut of the Europe Space Agency’s VERTA (Vega Research and Technology Accompaniment) flight series to demonstrate the launcher’s flexibility and versatility.

Lifting off May 6 in rainy French Guiana conditions, Vega departed the Spaceport’s SLV launch facility at the planned precise moment of liftoff at 11:06:31 p.m. and disappeared into the cloud cover.

After the initial powered phase performed by Vega’s three solid propellant stages (designated the P80, Zefiro-23 and Zefiro-9), the launcher’s AVUM upper stage was ignited for four separate burns during the payload deployment sequence.  A final burn was planned to deorbit the upper stage – ensuring it does not remain as a debris threat.  The AVUM has a bipropellant propulsion system to provide orbital injection, along with a monopropellant propulsion system for roll and attitude control.

The Proba-V satellite was released first during the flight profile, with this passenger to operate in a Sun-synchronous orbit of 820 km.  Proba-V (which is named from the acronym: Project for On-Board Autonomy and Vegetation) is part of the European Space Agency’s Proba spacecraft series that supports the development of new space technologies.  Its primary objective is to continue the mission performed by Earth-monitoring Vegetation instruments carried on the Spot 4 and 5 satellites – which also were launched by Arianespace – and is designed to offer global coverage every two days for data on the influence of climate, the management of resources for surface water, monitoring of changes in agricultural zones, and food security estimates.

Proba-V was built by QinetiQ Space Belgium, and weighed approximately 140 kg. at launch.

The VNREDSat-1 optical satellite was separated in the second step of today’s mission, providing a resource for Vietnam’s initiative to create an infrastructure enabling better studies of climate change effects, improving predictions for natural disasters and optimizing natural resource management for the country.  This 115-kg.-class spacecraft was built by Astrium on behalf of the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology (VAST).

Completing the mission was Vega’s deployment of ESTCube-1, Estonia’s first satellite.  The 1.33-kg. cubesat will extend a small conductive tether for testing of electric solar wind sail technologies, and also is to help establish an Estonian infrastructure for future space projects.  It resulted from a collaboration of students from Tartu University, Estonian Aviation Academy, Tallinn University of Technology and University of Life Sciences, and was developed in conjunction with the Finnish Meteorological Institute and the German Space Center (DLR).

Both VNREDSat-1 and ESTCube-1 were released for their operational lifetimes in Sun-synchronous orbits, bringing Vega’s 2-hour flight to a successful conclusion on May 7.

Vega is tailored for launching 1,500-kg.-class payloads to a reference altitude of 700 km., providing Arianespace with a vehicle capable of accommodating scientific, governmental and commercial satellites.  It was developed in an European Space Agency program financed by Italy, France, Germany, Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Sweden.   The Vega launcher’s design authority and prime contractor is Italy’s ELV company – a joint venture of Avio and the Italian Space Agency.

Arianespace’s next mission from the Spaceport is scheduled for June 5, using an Ariane 5 to orbit the European Automated Transfer Vehicle named after Albert Einstein.  It will be followed by a Soyuz flight – also scheduled in June – with the first four satellites for O3b Networks.  Completing Arianespace’s current launcher family activity at the Spaceport are preparations for another Ariane 5 mission, planned for the second half of July with the Alphasat and Insat-3D satellites.

VN Earth satellite in orbit

From http://english.vietnamnet.vn/fms/science-it/73427/vn-earth-satellite-in-orbit.html

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) next Thursday will consider a plan to beam Internet signals up to airplanes from 150 ground stations operating in a spectrum band already used by satellites. Qualcomm has proposed such a service in the 14.0-14.5GHz band but faces opposition from the satellite industry, which says the service is unnecessary and would interfere with satellite transmissions.

Qualcomm's proposal came in July 2011 and is now on the verge of moving forward. The FCC's meeting on Thursday "will consider a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking [NPRM] seeking to improve consumer access to broadband aboard aircraft and encourage innovation through establishment of an Air-Ground Mobile Broadband secondary service in the 14.0-14.5 GHz band, while ensuring that existing users are protected from interference."

This isn't the final step. If approved, the NPRM will be followed by extensive debate, public comment, and likely testing to determine whether interference concerns are valid. Already, the Satellite Industry Association (SIA) and others using the spectrum band say Qualcomm's proposal should be rejected or heavily restricted.

First, let's take a look at what Qualcomm wants. It is essentially asking to become the exclusive provider of backhaul to airlines or in-flight ISPs like Gogo in the 14.0-14.5GHz band through a secondary license that shares the spectrum with the band's incumbents. Just in case the FCC doesn't want to give the license only to Qualcomm, the company said it would also support an auction that splits the airwaves among two backhaul providers.

"Qualcomm proposes that the Commission would conduct an auction of two 250MHz licenses at 14.00 to 14.25GHz and 14.25 to 14.50GHz to enable two separate systems, but not restrict a single entity from purchasing both licenses to construct a single, more robust, 500MHz system," Qualcomm said in its proposal. "The proposed system would support communications between terrestrial ground stations and aircraft, much like the current Aircell Air-Ground system, but with significantly greater bandwidth to support the exponentially increasing data demands of today's consumers who require anywhere/anytime broadband access including when they are flying in a plane several miles above the surface of the earth."

Qualcomm acknowledged interference concerns but said it can work around them. The system would use about 150 ground stations to provide 300Gbps capacity to airlines. "The proposed Next-Gen AG system would operate in the Ku band at 14.0 to 14.5 GHz on a secondary licensed basis to, and in successful coexistence with, Geosynchronous Orbit ('GSO') satellite systems (used to provide various services, including Qualcomm's own OmniTRACS service), future Non-Geosynchronous Orbit ('NGSO') satellite systems, NASA's Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System ('TDRSS'), and radio astronomy users. Indeed, as an incumbent user of this band itself, Qualcomm has a direct interest in fully protecting incumbent operations," the company wrote.

Qualcomm described several tactics to minimize interference. For example, all ground stations "will have high antenna gain to permit aircraft to transmit at very low power levels." Moreover, "aircraft will use directional receive antennas to reduce the GS [ground station] transmit power needs."

"Finally, the Next-Gen AG system will hand-off aircraft communications to successive GSs that track the aircraft's flight path and in this way work in a manner similar to terrestrial cellular networks," Qualcomm said. "These aircraft communications handoffs will allow the system to operate successfully through using the least amount of transmit power to maintain a desired Carrier-to-Noise interference ratio and a negligible TfT (also referred to as Rise over Thermal) level into GSO [geosynchronous orbit] satellite operations below 1% in all scenarios including worst case scenarios."

Qualcomm claimed the system will be robust enough to support "video streaming, gaming, and other rich multimedia access" during flights. Qualcomm declined to speak to Ars about the FCC proceeding and its proposal.

The public filings are all available on the FCC website.

One of the plan's main opponents is the Satellite Industry Association, representing Boeing, DirecTV, EchoStar Satellite Services, Hughes Network Systems, LightSquared, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Immarsat, ViaSat, and many others.

"Qualcomm’s proposed ATG [air-to-ground] system will cause interference into the FSS [Fixed Service Satellite] satellite services that are primary in that band," the Satellite Industry Association wrote in a filing yesterday. "SIA reviewed the ongoing importance of the Ku-band uplink bands to the satellite industry, noting that the industry has invested more than $20 billion to build, launch and operate more than 80 satellites with Ku-band capacity. These satellites generate more than $1 billion dollars in satellite services revenue in North America alone."

In a filing last July, the Satellite Industry Group tried to poke holes in Qualcomm's interference analysis:

Qualcomm’s technical analysis of interference from FSS into ATG airborne stations is based on a number of unsupported assumptions. Qualcomm divides the VSATs [satellite ground stations] that are located within a 300 km radius of the aircraft into two groups—those that are located north of the aircraft and those that are located south of the aircraft. With regard to the south-side VSATs, Qualcomm assumed that many VSAT installations will be fully shadowed by other buildings in direction of the receiving aircraft in estimating that only 25% of the south-side VSATs have an unobstructed view of the aircraft. These assumptions are highly subjective and Qualcomm has provided no evidence to support its assumptions.

Further, the SIA said, "Qualcomm has not shown that demand for in-flight passenger connectivity cannot be met by terrestrial or satellite-based deployments in existing frequency allocations that do not pose the same sharing difficulties as the proposed secondary ATG service."

Qualcomm says otherwise, of course. "Current in-flight communication systems are either too expensive or data capacity limited and thus will be unable to support the increasing data demands of consumers," Qualcomm's proposal states. "In contrast to the relatively low-cost terrestrial-based system proposed herein, satellite-based systems have much higher equipment costs and potentially crippling latency issues, and thus have been deployed with marginal success."

American Airlines submitted a filing supporting the Qualcomm proposal, saying, "The service will be important to satisfying air travelers' increasing demands for mobile broadband data." Delta Air Lines filed similarly positive remarks about the Qualcomm plan. "Delta believes the proposal could successfully co-exist with current and future, primary and secondary users of the 14.0 to 14.5GHz band, using the beam and power level management techniques detailed in Qualcomm’s proposal," Delta wrote.

Boeing disagrees, saying it "believes that gaps and inconsistencies in the technical information cast doubt on an ATG system’s ability to protect and tolerate interference from existing Fixed Satellite Service ('FSS') operations and future Non-Geostationary Satellite Orbit ('NGSO') operations in the band." Boeing further noted that "the Petition focuses on the intensively used 14.0-14.5GHz band in disregard of plausible alternative bands, including the similarly allocated and under-used High Altitude Platform Station (“HAPS”) spectrum at 47GHz."

Row 44, a provider of satellite Internet to Southwest and other airlines, dismissed the idea that Qualcomm's service is necessary and seems worried that Qualcomm's service would benefit Gogo. In an FCC filing, Row 44 stated:

GoGo, Inc. (“GoGo”), the principal customer for Qualcomm’s existing ATG service technology, has expressed substantial support for the proposal. Yet even GoGo’s comments raise significant questions regarding its own commitment to large-scale provision of in-flight broadband services using terrestrial ATG technology.

Specifically, GoGo indicates that it is moving toward relying on Ka-band satellite technology for the delivery of broadband services on board aircraft, but notes that “satellite may not always provide the best solution for all aircraft and all customers.”

This implied future reliance on satellite-delivered services to meet the needs of GoGo’s primary airline customers suggests that its remaining terrestrial service is expected to serve more as an adjunct for niche customers than as a primary means of broadband service delivery. This raises the question whether an additional spectrum allocation for ATG service is really needed even for GoGo’s expressed purposes.

Panasonic Avionics Corporation, an in-flight entertainment and communications company, also raised interference concerns. The National Radio Astronomy Observatory weighed in as well, saying the Qualcomm system must be built carefully to minimize direct interference with astronomy sites. "Additional restrictions to ATG operations may be necessary," the group said.

Complicating matters even further, the Utilities Telecom Council and a company called Winchester Cator have proposed new smart grid and emergency communications uses for the 14.0-14.5GHz band. UTC and Winchester Cator have asked the FCC to consider its proposal alongside Qualcomm's, instead of in separate proceedings.

Departing FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski has argued on behalf of greater use of electronic devices during airplane flights. The FCC has shown a willingness to block proposals that might interfere with existing systems, such as when it killed LightSquared's proposal to build a cellular network that would have interfered with GPS systems. Qualcomm's in-flight Internet proposal will be just one of many complex issues to be addressed by newly nominated FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler.

Canada satellite frequency problems

From http://advanced-television.com/2013/05/03/canada-satellite-frequency-problems/

Telesat of Canada is to order a new craft to replace Telstar-12 at 15 degrees West.  However, first the Ottawa-based company has to resolve key frequency issues with Russia, which holds some valuable priority rights to transmission capacity from the orbital slot.  Russia’s RSCC is planning to launch a new satellite, Express-AM8 next year to the immediately adjacent slot at 14 degrees West.

Telesat’s CEO Dan Goldberg, speaking on a conference call May 2, explained that the ‘new’ Telstar-12 craft would not have much more capacity than the existing satellite (which was launched in 2009) and which has 38 extra-wide 54 MHz Ku-band transponders. Goldberg said that the overall coverage area of the new Telstar would be different, although declined to add extra detail pending negotiations with the Russians.

The planned Russian satellite already has beams looking at South America, Europe and the Middle East and Africa.

Goldberg said the recently launched Anik G1 satellite, launched on April 15, is performing well and will enter service next week on May 8th from 107.3 degrees West. IT anchor client is DTH operator Shaw Communications.

BSkyB: Ready for a “Noisy summer”

BSkyB enjoyed impressive product growth, not in pure DTH numbers but in total products additions of 715,000, with retail subs revenues rising 7.6 per cent (up from H1 results of 5.2 per cent) and further new revenue streams developing very nicely (NOW TV, On Demand movies up 37 per cent, Sky Go Extra at 44,000).

Indeed, investment banker Morgan Stanley says simply: “Sky continues to pump out good numbers. However, the market has concerned itself with slowing traditional TV subscriber growth and perceived threats to the business model, particularly the risk of content cost inflation due to the entry of BT in the sports market and the possibility of greater churn as OTT delivered TV offers basic subscribers potentially lower-cost ways to access some premium movie and sports content.”

“Sky has good product growth, up 9% in total yoy to 30.2m. Although traditional pay TV has slowed it is seeing continued growth in products like HD (108k adds in Q3) and broadband (152k). Sky, moreover, continues to develop a number of new fast-growth revenue streams. Sky added (i) 44k SkyGo Xtra customers at £5pm in this quarter (ii) It saw strong growth in SkyBet revenues, which drove other revenues up 24% in Q3 (iii) It saw a 37% yoy increase in movie rentals following the sharp increase in internet-connected Sky+HD boxes. In addition it has added c50k Now TV subscribers at c£15 pm in the last two quarters. Nine-month sales growth of 6%, albeit including the benefit of a c2% price increase in the last couple of quarters, is good in the context of a challenging consumer environment.”

But that environment is about to become more challenging. As well as a change of ownership at Virgin Media, the deep pockets of BT are about to re-enter the market with a BT Sport offering complete with a slice of the English Premier League, making – in Sky CEO Jeremy Darroch’s words – for “a noisy summer”.

Morgan Stanley says: “As the Premier League season draws to a close, the market is beginning to anticipate the details of the impending BT Sport launch. BT Sport intends to host an event on May 9 at its Olympic Park facility, and BT has its result/investor day on May 10. BT Sport appears to be dropping into the ESPN role in the sports market, with a decent but less appealing sports line-up likely to act as a low-cost supplement rather than replacement for Sky Sports. The competitive impact is limited by BT restricting its content spend to c£300-350m pa (BSkyB spends £2.2bn) and by a focus on upselling existing customers and acquiring customers from the Freeview/ YouView base. Nevertheless BT will clearly look to make an impact; there is likely to be a series of attractively priced package deals and marketing of BT Sport has already begun.”

The bank’s report admits that Sky might well be vulnerable in terms of increased churn, especially from its lower-priced subscribers who might be in any case be tempted by the free-to-view offerings of Freeview or Freesat. However the other way of turning this risk to one’s advantage is to create a product (aka as NOW TV) and earn potential revenues from the 10 million of existing Freeview users.

Moreover, Sky’s customers continue to show strong loyalty at the upper tier levels, and “continues to demonstrate the resilience of demand for its premium TV products,” says the bank. It continues to add HDTV customers, and its other ‘triple play’ core products are doing extremely well.

And the market seems to agree. Last Friday BSkyB’s share price hit 860p a share, up 9p (€0.106) per cent) on the day.

Zee News Network celebrates its 100 million reach

New Delhi : Zee News Ltd, which is the first Indian news network to reach out to 100 million viewers, has initiated B2B Agency Activations in top 10 advertising agencies of New Delhi and Mumbai respectively. Various activities are being conducted with an objective to establish Zee News Ltd. as India’s Largest News Network.

The activations aims at creating a top-of-the-mind connect to engage with the buyers, planners and decision makers with various interesting engagement activities like A to Z Contest, Dart Game, Message Board and Zee-Malgamation representing the cultural and lingual diversity where Zee News Limited is present in.

Zee News Ltd is not only the largest news network of India but also the right platform that reaches out to the growing news audience. It has always remained on the forefronts in the Indian electronic media industry and touches the lives of 100 million viewers. It is thus, instrumental in positively changing the way people think and significantly empowering India.

Mr. Rohit Kumar, Marketing Head, Zee News says, “In the view of Zee News Ltd reaching out to 100 million people, we decided to celebrate our achievement with various agencies across India. With B2B Agency Activations we aim to tap into the minds of decision makers to build intellectual and emotional commitment to our brand.”

The more the merrier in the IPTV market

From http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2013/5/3/business/13060883&sec=business

The billboard displayed a scene from British comedian Charlie Brooker's show Black Mirror, in which a fictionalised UK prime minister is blackmailed into having sex with a pig.

The billboard was taken down yesterday after Foxtel admitted it was in bad taste.

The pay TV provider says its internal approval process failed.

ACL spokeswoman Wendy Francis says there should be repercussions.

Ms Francis was one of those who complained about the prominent billboard on William Street.

"This is not just a Christian issue, this is just a normal Australian issue," she said.

"The Australian standards board keeps saying that their self-regulation is working but this is just a really prime example that self-regulation is not working.

"[Foxtel] have already got what they wanted, they got the shock value ...

but there's no penalty," she continued.

"They would know that [the billboard] would get a lot of attention and people would immediately want it down.

"But we need to speak about this to draw attention to the fact that the advertising standards board is just not working.

"At the very least, the advertising standards board needs to introduce some penalties for advertisers who cross the line in this way." Ms Francis says Black Mirror is an adult television show and children should not be exposed to such content.

"We would not want our children confronted by this adult concept," she said.

"We want our children to be able to maintain some sort of innocence when they're young.

"When it is in the outdoors and it's up there in the public spaces there is no avoiding it, no parents can even choose whether their child is going to see this.

"A child should not have to see an adult image like this when they're very young."

Long March Rocket lifts off with ChinaSat-11 Communications Satellite

From http://www.spaceflight101.com/chinasat-11-launch-long-march-3be.html

Doordarshan is India's most Powerful Broadcaster, a division of Prasar Bharati and is one of the largest broadcasting organizations in the World in terms of the infrastructure of studios and transmitters and is a Multi-Billion Dollar organization.

ATN has signed Licensing Agreements with DD under which it has been granted exclusive rights to the five television services, namely DD India, DD News, DD Bharati, DD Urdu and DD Sports.

ATN-DD India: DD India is an Indian satellite television channel which is marketed towards Indian audiences living abroad, and offers an update on the social, cultural, and political aspects of India. The channel features original programming, such as dramas, comedy-series, talk shows, documentaries, and re-runs of popular TV shows from other Indian television channels. The programming on this channel continues to be done in a manner to enable it to meet its primary objective of providing a window to the world especially for the Indian diaspora to witness the Indian social, cultural, political and economic scene. 

ATN-DD News: The DD-News channel is India's only 24 hours terrestrial news channel which telecasts over 16 hours of live news bulletins daily in Hindi and English. News Headlines, News updates, breaking news on the scroller are regular features on this channel. DD News also carries Stock and Commodities indices throughout the day in an automated delivery mode, accessing information from NSE & BSE and leading commodity exchanges like NCDEX, MCX, etc.

ATN-DD Bharati: acts as a Cultural Heritage of India. Besides programmes on adventure, quiz contests, fine arts/paintings, crafts and designs, cartoons, talent hunts, etc., it also telecasts MERI BAAT an hour-long phone-in 'live' show with young people. Programmes emphasizing on a healthy life style and focusing on prevention rather than cure, both in our traditional and modern forms of medicine are the highlight of the channel.

ATN-DD Urdu: is a general interest Urdu channel encapsulating heritage, culture, literature, information, education & societal issues specific to the Urdu speaking audience.

ATN-DD Sports: DD Sports is India's only free-to-air sports channel and provides coverage to various international and domestic sports including Cricket, Football, Hockey, Tennis, Archery, Athletics, Kabaddi, Swimming, Badminton, Wrestling, Kho-kho and other indigenous games. The channel also covers events organized by different Sports Federations and Association in India. 

"India is the World's largest democracy and has a population of over a Billion People. We are delighted to be associated with the launch of India's Official National Broadcaster Doordarshan which is similar to the BBC in the UK and CBC in Canada" said Dr. Shan Chandrasekar President and CEO of ATN, "We have aggressive plans to add substantial value to our Diaspora and enhance our strong Customer base on Cable, Satellite and Credible distributors across Canada" he added.

"I am delighted that Asian Television Network (ATN), Canada is going to launch five channels of Doordarshan, the national television service of India, in Canada.  This is yet another significant step taken by ATN to connect the vibrant Indian diaspora in Canada with news, culture and sports from their motherland, India. It fulfills a long felt need and demand among Indo-Canadians to view Doordarshan's programmes" said Honorable Mrs. Preeti Saran, Consul-General of India in Toronto. "This important development would not have been possible without the pioneer leadership of its President & CEO Dr. Shan Chandrasekar, a truly global Indo-Canadian, who has been an important bridge builder between India and Canada" she added.

Doordarshan enjoys the widest reach with 48 million TV Households and also enjoys 62% penetration in A, B & C category Cable & Satellite homes in India.

"In Canada, Indians form one of the most respected and professionally accomplished communities who have kept their cultural roots intact while adapting to Canada and we have been striving to connect with the international audience rapidly. It gives me immense pleasure to announce our relationship with ATN for meeting this objective by distributing five of our main channels in Canada" said Shri Tripurari Sharan, Director General, Doordarshan. "Both ATN and DD have walked the extra mile in making this happen and I hope that this effort will help strengthen the feeling of togetherness through Doordarshan channels which are rich in cultural values, art, music, dance, entertainment and depict the crucible of culture, India has been for millennia" he added.

In addition to the existing subscriber base, with the launch of these new channels, ATN expects to gain new subscribers through Cable, Satellite & IPTV platforms across Canada. It is ATN's intention to have its compelling content distributed to all authenticated subscribers through VOD, SVOD, Tablets and mobile platforms across Canada.

About ATN - Asian Television Network International Limited:

ATN serves Canada's diverse cultural communities with 44 specialty television channels. The Company offers its flagship ATN-HD general interest service, 4 Bollywood movie channels and a variety of channels that include 3 sports Channels, 3 news Channels, 3 music Channels, 3 lifestyle Channels, 3 Chinese Channels, 6 Punjabi channels, and several regional language channels. ATN operates a South Asian Radio Service on Satellite Radio across The United States and Canada. Some ATN content is also available on any Bell mobile phone that supports video. ATN has programming alliances with leading international broadcasters like Star Network (News Corp), Sony Entertainment Television, Viacom, Times Television Network, B4U Network, NDTV and many more. ATN channels are available on various Cable, Satellite and IPTV Platforms across Canada like Shaw Cable, Bell TV, Rogers Cable, Bell Fibe TV, TELUS Optic TV, Cogeco Cable, and Others.

We rely on safe harbour provision.

SOURCE Asian Television Network International Limited

CBS: ‘We will go cable if Aereo OK’d’

From http://advanced-television.com/2013/05/01/cbs-we-will-go-cable-if-aero-okd/

Leslie Moonves CEO of CBS has joined Fox Broadcasting’s threat to take their television network off the air and become a cable channel if courts don’t stop the Internet start-up Aereo from retransmitting shows without permission.

“We’ve spoken to cable operators in New York. We can do it in a few days,” Moonves told the Milken Institute Global Conference in California.

The comments from Moonves follow a similar threat last month from News Copr, parent of the Fox broadcast network. Fox and its affiliate stations would stop broadcasting and serve only pay-TV customers to protect the billions of dollars spent annually on programs, along with advertising revenue and hard- won fees from pay-TV systems, Chief Operating Officer Chase Carey told a convention of TV executives in Las Vegas.

The broadcasters are reacting to a US appeals court ruling on April 1st in New York that allowed Aereo, backed by billionaire Barry Diller, to keep operating. The networks sued Aereo in March 2012, claiming it infringed copyrights by capturing their over-the-air signals with tiny antennas and delivering shows to subscribers on computers and smartphones.

Details on how News Corp. split will work