Satellite News articles from July 2003

Satellite News archives from July 2003

Teledesic Relinquishes License.
July 14, 2003... Teledesic's one-time plan of launching a $10 billion constellation of satellites to provide broadband services worldwide has been gradually scaled back over the years. But the company's latest move of returning its Ka-band license to the...

WRC Wraps Up With Key Agreements.(World Radiocommunication Conference )
July 14, 2003... The International Telecommun-ication Union's World Radiocommuni-cation Conference (WRC) wrapped up its month of spectrum allocation work on July 4 with key agreements for satellite and terrestrial wireless services. The WRC approved a...

Spotlight: Hurricanes Drive Customers To Satellites.(Brief Article)
July 14, 2003... Damaging winds from hurricanes and tropical storms are prompting oilrig platform operators to replace less robust microwave towers with satellite communications. That is the word from Errol Olivier, president of CapRock Communications, a...

A Sirius Financial Turnaround.
July 14, 2003... By Jimmy Schaeffler Earlier this year, the technology sector was battered, the national economy was weak, and the only two U.S. satellite radio companies - XM Satellite Radio [Nasdaq: XMSR] and Sirius Satellite Radio [Nasdaq: SIRI] -...

Globalstar Advances Toward Merger With ICO.(ICO Global Communications )
July 14, 2003... Changes already are occurring in anticipation of the previously announced merger between mobile satellite service (MSS) providers - San Jose, Calif.-based Globalstar [OTCBB: GSTRF.OB] and London-based ICO Global Communications (Holdings) Ltd....

Orbital Cuts Interest Costs With New Financing.(Brief Article)
July 14, 2003... Dulles, Va.-based Orbital Sciences [NYSE: ORB] is expected to save more than $10 million in annual interest costs through a $135 million debt financing that it closed last week. Orbital reduced its debt expense - including amortization...

International Alliance Formed.(Brief Article)
July 14, 2003... France's Arianespace, U.S.-based Boeing [NYSE: BA] and Japan's Mitsubishi Heavy Industries [PNK: MHVYF.PK] expect to complete a satellite launch alliance by the third quarter, according to Suzanne Chambers, Arianespace director of external...

Intelsat Transmits All-Star Game.(Brief Article)
July 14, 2003... Major League Baseball International, which coordinates network planning and broadcast of Major League Baseball (MLB) games, has chosen Intelsat to broadcast the July 15 All-Star Game to viewers worldwide. Using four Intelsat satellites - the...

Globecomm Deployed in Baghdad.(Brief Article)
July 14, 2003... Globecomm Systems [Nasdaq: GCOM], a Hauppauge, N.Y.-based provider of satellite-based communications, announced last week that it has been working with an unidentified customer in an effort to restore telecommunication services in Iraq. The...

Netsystem Adds Astra Transponder.(Brief Article)
July 14, 2003... Italy's Netsystem has signed a long-term agreement to use a second transponder on SES Astra's satellite at 19.2 degrees East Longitude to provide satellite-based Internet service throughout Italy. This follows a separate agreement between...

Boeing-SAIC Selects Partners.(Brief Article)
July 14, 2003... Boeing [NYSE: BA] and Science Applications International Corp. has selected 15 partners to join the U.S. Army future combat systems (FCS) program. The 15 new partners will lead teams of approximately 70 companies formed to play system...

Infiniti Offers Satellite Radio.(Brief Article)
July 14, 2003... Nissan North America's Infiniti division will begin offering XM Satellite Radio [Nasdaq: XMSR] and Sirius Satellite Radio [Nasdaq: SIRI] equipment as a factory or dealer installed option for its entire lineup of vehicles beginning this month....

PlanetLink Signs Sales Accord.(Brief Article)
July 14, 2003... PlanetLink Communications [OTC BB: PLKC.OB] , a Cumming, Ga.-based provider of satellite-based products and services, has signed a sales and marketing agreement with James J. Vogel, dba Market One Direct, to expand its strategic marketing...

SBCA Chief Slams Pricing.(Satellite Broadcasting and Communications Association)(Brief Article)
July 14, 2003... Andrew Wright, president of the Satellite Broadcasting and Communications Association (SBCA), said that the Federal Communications Commission's Report on 2002 Cable Industry Prices, released last week, "illustrates why consumers continue to...

Stratos Adds Satellite.(Brief Article)
July 14, 2003... Stratos [TSX:SGB], a Bethesda, Md.-based provider of global remote communications, has begun providing Inmarsat leased services through a fifth satellite located at 143.5 degrees East Longitude. This satellite enables global voice and data...

The Satellite News Financial Ticker.
July 14, 2003... Week of July 7-10, 2003 Percentage 10-Jul One Symbol Price Week APT SATELLITE HLDGS ATS 3.51 35.5 ASIASAT TELECOM SAT ...

Loral Looks Beyond Bankruptcy.
July 21, 2003... Loral Space and Communications [NYSE: LOR] agreed last week to sell arguably its most precious assets and to enter Chapter 11 bankruptcy-court protection for the chance of emerging from the proceedings with a viable business still intact. ...

Intelsat Fills Void With Loral Deal.
July 21, 2003... Intelsat Ltd., of Hamilton, Bermuda, is addressing one of its most glaring weaknesses by signing a definitive asset purchase agreement to acquire six Loral Skynet satellites and orbital slots over North America for roughly $1 billion. The...

Spotlight: Baseball's All-Star Game Goes Global.
July 21, 2003... Major League Baseball fans in more than 200 countries worldwide watched last week's All-Star Game with an assist that came from a distance much further away than the nose-bleed seats at Chicago's U.S. Cellular Field where the event was held....

Satellite Radio Industry Revenue Projections.
July 21, 2003... By Sean Badding The digital satellite radio industry's run to its one-millionth subscriber is approaching fast. The Carmel Group predicts this first major milestone will be broken during August-September 2003. At this rate, it will have...

PanAmSat Puts In-Orbit Satellite Woes In Perspective.
July 21, 2003... PanAmSat [Nasdaq: SPOT] President and CEO Joseph Wright said that technical problems aboard two of the company's Boeing 601 model satellites now in orbit will not disrupt services to customers or have a "meaningful effect" on its finances. ...

Hughes Lifted By Rise In DirecTV Subscribers, Profits.
July 21, 2003... Hughes Electronics [NYSE: GMH] and its satellite TV subsidiary, DirecTV, last week bucked the industry-downturn trend by revealing strong financial results for the second quarter ended June 30. Hughes reported that second quarter 2003...

Cablevision Sees DBS Profits At End of Rainbow.
July 21, 2003... CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Not content with its position in the New York cable TV market, Cablevision Systems [NYSE: CVC] plans to take on the two direct broadcast satellite (DBS) providers on their home turf - the sky. Cablevision will use its...

The Satellite News Financial Ticker.
July 21, 2003... Week of July 11 - 17, 2003 Percentage 17-Jul One Symbol Price Week APT SATELLITE HLDGS ATS 3.25 -3 ASIASAT TELECOM ...

DBS Turns To Bells For Edge.
July 28, 2003... The two leading direct broadcast satellite (DBS) providers in the United States are responding to competition from cable TV by aligning themselves with the Bell phone companies to provide bundled voice, video and Internet services to their...

Cablevision's Rainbow Poses Threat.
July 28, 2003... The Rainbow 1 satellite recently launched by International Launch Services for New York-based Cablevision Systems [NYSE: CVC] poses a legitimate threat to existing satellite TV service providers Hughes Electronics' [NYSE: GMH] DirecTV and...

Boeing Restructuring Shows Industry Strain.
July 28, 2003... Boeing's [NYSE: BA] realignment of its launch and satellite businesses last week is another sign of how the industry's downturn is causing even one of the largest, most diversified companies to cut staff and operations. The company is...

Spotlight: Iridium Sees Potential In War-torn Iraq.(Brief Article)
July 28, 2003... Iridium Satellite, an Arlington, Va.-based provider of global satellite voice and data communications, now can offer communication services in post-war Iraq. Permission was granted by the U.S.-led Coalition Provisional Authority - the...

Satellite Radio Closes In On Milestone.(Industry Overview)
July 28, 2003... By Jimmy Schaeffler The overall U.S. satellite radio industry had an estimated 802,000 subscribers by the end of the second quarter. The sector's rate of growth leaves it within weeks of its first true customer milestone: one million...

Intelsat CFO Details Reasons For Loral Purchase.
July 28, 2003... Industry speculation that Intelsat agreed to pay more than market value for the North American satellite assets of Loral Space and Communications [NYSE: LOR] is way off the mark, Intelsat's top financial executive said in an exclusive interview...

SpaceDev's Microsatellite Deal.(Brief Article)
July 28, 2003... SpaceDev [OTC BB: SPDV.OB] of Poway, Calif., has been awarded a contract by the U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA) to explore the use of microsatellites in national missile defense. In January, SpaceDev launched CHIPSat, the smallest,...

Digital Angel Expands Overseas.(Brief Article)
July 28, 2003... Digital Angel [AMEX: DOC], a St. Paul, Minn.-based GPS tracking device maker, has signed six new exclusive distribution agreements with companies in Argentina, Colombia, Venezuela, the Caribbean, the Dominican Republic and Russia. Each...

HNS Teams With Grintek Telecom.(Hughes Network Systems)(Brief Article)
July 28, 2003... Hughes Network Systems, a Germantown, Md.-based broadband satellite unit of Hughes Electronics [NYSE: GMH], has selected Grintek Telecom, a South African information and communications technology company, as its representative in South Africa....

Iberia To Use ARINC Satellites.
July 28, 2003... Spain's Iberia Airlines has selected ARINC to deliver a package of satellite communications services for the passengers and crew on its entire fleet of long-haul aircraft, including new Airbus A340-600s. The multi-year contract provides...

Atlas V To Launch New Horizons.(Brief Article)
July 28, 2003... The National Aeronautics and Space Administration has chosen the Atlas V expendable launch vehicle provided by Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] as the launch system for the proposed Pluto New Horizons mission. The mission is scheduled for launch to...

HNS Awarded Thuraya Contract.(Hughes Network Systems)(Brief Article)
July 28, 2003... Hughes Network Systems, a Germantown, Md.-based broadband satellite unit of Hughes Electronics [NYSE: GMH], has signed a contract with UAE- based Thuraya Satellite Telecommunications for the design and supply of 100,000 mobile satellite...

Stratos Signs Oil Services Contract.(Brief Article)
July 28, 2003... Stratos, a Bethesda, Md.-based provider of remote communications solutions and services, has been awarded a five-year contract to upgrade and enhance the satellite-based communications infrastructure on the Ramform Banff, a floating production,...

EMS Awarded Switching Contract.(Brief Article)
July 28, 2003... EMS Technologies [Nasdaq: EMLG] has received a contract valued at $5.7 million from Italian satellite manufacturer Alenia Spazio to supply switching technology for the Cosmo SkyMed earth observation satellite mission set for launch in 2005. ...

The Satellite News Financial Ticker.
July 28, 2003... Week of July 18-24, 2003 Percentage 24-Jul One Symbol Price Week APT SATELLITE HLDGS ATS 3.05 -17.6 ASIASAT TELECOM SAT...