World of Satellite-News Updates

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Cobham Promotes Ashton, Hellebrand to New Executive Vice President Positions
April 2, 2013
Cobham has announced the creation of two executive vice president (EVP) positions and the promotion of two current management team members to these positions. David Ashton – currently the vice president of Cobham’s Tactical Communications & Surveillance (TC&S) strategic business unit – has been appointed as EVP for Business Development & Technology; and Julian Hellebrand – currently Chief of Staff to the CEO and Group Director of Communications – as EVP for Lifecycle Management (LCM) & Programme Management. Both appointments take effect starting April 15, 2013.

“These appointments are in line with our strategy to return Cobham to sustainable, organic growth,” said Cobham’s CEO Bob Murphy on a statement.

In his new role, Ashton will report directly to the CEO and become a member of the company’s Group Executive committee. He will be based at Cobham’s Corporate North America office in Arlington, Virginia.

Hellebrand will continue to report directly to the CEO, remain a member of the Group Executive committee, and work at the Wimborne offices. He will retain his Chief of Staff duties in the near term and continue to be responsible for Group Communications until a successor is appointed.

 

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Telesat Holdings Re-Prices and Amends Its Credit Agreement
April 2, 2013
Telesat Holdings has announced the execution of its previously stated amendment to its existing Credit Agreement, dated March 28, 2012, among its wholly-owned subsidiaries, Telesat Canada and Telesat LLC, as borrowers, and JP Morgan Chase Bank, as administrative agent, and the other financial institutions party thereto.
The amendment effectively re-prices the borrowers' Term Loan B facility under the Credit Agreement, converts a portion of the Term Loan B facility from Canadian Dollars to U.S. Dollars, allows the borrowers to incur additional debt under the Credit Agreement or otherwise if the first lien leverage ratio is less than or equal to 4.25:1.00 (which represents a change from the 4:00:1.00 senior secured leverage ratio in the Credit Agreement) and makes certain other changes.
The borrowers have received the lender consents required under the Credit Agreement in connection with the execution of today's amendment. Giving effect to the amendment, the borrowers have approximately US$1,746 million and approximately CND$140 million outstanding under the Term Loan B facilities.

 

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Measat Appoints New Vice President of Broadcast Sales
April 2, 2013
MEASAT Satellite Systems has appointed Jarod Lopez as vice president for broadcast sales. In this role, he will lead all the broadcast distribution sales activities across the MEASAT and AFRICASAT fleet of satellites. Lopez will also support the expansion of the MEASAT business into the African region.

Prior to assuming this role, Lopez was MEASAT’s senior director of sales and marketing. He has been with MEASAT since 2006.

 

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Intelsat IPO News: Industry Reaction
April 2, 2013
Intelsat Global Holdings (Intelsat) has announced details of its long awaited IPO, which has been the talk of the satellite industry in recent times. The company could raise around $543 million through an IPO of 21.7 million shares of common stock, likely to be priced between $21 and $25 per share. The move has long been touted and with IPO announcements on an upswing this year, the notice has come as little surprise.
Intelsat’s recent results showed that it had generated revenues of $2.6 billion in 2012, with a net loss of just under $147 million for the year. Jacob Gullish, director of the Space & Telecommunications Division at Futron Corp, said this was “an important step” for the company as it looks to move forward with its plans. “The company has been internally preparing for an IPO for an extended period. To some extent this constrains organizations – deal-making, marketing, external communications, etc. Overall, capital markets appear strong, and the satellite industry has retained strength and attractiveness through the recession. So there is no surprise that management is acting now and moving aggressively to finalize an
Gullish is not surprised that the operator is looking to do the IPO this year. “There is clearly a ‘new normal’ in the financial community and clear changes to the satellite and space industry. Intelsat is the largest player in its segment, and overall the numbers of IPO have been limited; more so if you look are large IPOs over $1 billion. Given this backdrop, it’s no surprise the company opted to push out its offer into springtime in the hope of optimizing results. You only get one IPO so make the best of it,” he added.
Hoyt Davidson, president, Near Earth, believes Intelsat’s announcement is “welcome news” for the industry. “It makes sense with the broad stock indices at new highs and with a stronger IPO market in the last quarter. Money is still coming into the U.S. equity market given low bond yields,” he said.
In terms of how attractive Intelsat stock maybe to investors, Davidson adds that “the FSS industry has proved recession resistant with mid single digit growth during massive economic disruption. But near term growth may depend more on success of new services like broadband and cellular backhaul (until ultra HD kicks in later in the decade) and growth in developing regions like South Asia, Africa and Latin America. There, I would expect Intelsat IPO investors to be those looking for exposure to these growth sectors and regions in a business with reasonable downside protection from existing FSS services in developed markets.
“FSS stocks share some characteristics with ‘utility’ type stocks, meaning lower growth and lower risk. But, Intelsat will still be heavily levered and unlikely to support a utility type dividend rate for some time, Key to attracting investors is offering moderate growth at a reasonable price plus the benefits of having a geographically diverse revenue base with great developing world exposure,” he said.
Gullish also expects the stock to perform well. “Intelsat is a market leader and should perform well over the near term, and over the longer term has certain internal capabilities and advantages that only a large provider can offer. So yes it’s a relatively safe long-term bet,” he said.
However, others are not so optimistic. J. Armand Musey, president, Summit Ridge Group, worries about the company’s long-term prospects. “With the market as strong as it is, its maybe now or never for [Intelsat]. But with over 8x debt/EBITDA, flat revenue and declining year over year EBITDA, there is really no good time for an IPO, in my opinion. An IPO would give Intelsat a vehicle to ultimately convert more debt to equity and achieve a more viable capital structure. It is always good to have strong industry players. However, this appears to be a very risky investment for equity investors,” he said.

 

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OnAir CEO Targets Slew of In-Flight Connectivity Deals in Emerging Markets
April 3, 2013
Philippines Airlines (PAL) is the latest Asian Airline to announce plans to offer in-flight connectivity services. The company has announced a deal with OnAir, which will enable its passengers to use both GSM and Wi-Fi Internet services. It has hooked up with OnAir to provide the service. Ian Dawkins, CEO, OnAir told SatelliteTODAY.com that the deal with PAL with the 15th it had done with an Asian customer and is a highly significant one for the company. He says, “The deal is a fleet deal highlighting the importance of inflight connectivity for airlines, now signing deals for their entire fleets as opposed to trials on just one aircraft. PAL is also the first airline from the Philippines to offer the combined communication suite: GSM and Wi-Fi to passengers.”

Mobile OnAir and Internet OnAir, will be retrofitted on PAL’s Airbus A330-343s and Boeing B777-300ERs starting next month. The global GSM and Wi-Fi services will be launched by mid-year. The airline recently signed a $7 billion deal to acquire 64 brand new single aisle and wide body aircraft from Airbus, with more scheduled for acquisition.

OnAir has an expanding Asian footprint and works with the likes of including Singapore Airlines, Hong Kong Airlines, Thai Airways, Cebu Pacific Air, Garuda and ANA among others. The company is targeting further deals in developing markets this year. Dawkins adds, “We are hoping to announce a couple more Asian-based deals by the end of the year. We are also hoping to have another couple of deals in Africa and Latin America announced by year end.”

The company also plans to bring more efficient services to the cabin and cockpit, as well as improve the passenger experience. “OnAir provides applications for cabin crew and the cockpit which help streamline airline operations. Airlines and airports run highly automated, complex IT systems. However, the interface between the crew and the ground relies heavily on paper. That is outdated, slow, inefficient and expensive. We help airlines utilise their IT better, using the connectivity pipe to make operations much more efficient. We call the concept the Connected Aircraft 3.0, to highlight the point that there are three audiences: passengers, cabin crew and the cockpit,” Dawkins says.

The company is expecting a banner year in 2013, with revenues on a massive upswing, similar to 2012. “OnAir continues to grow its business with existing customers and will win new customers across the entire commercial and business transport industry. Our revenues doubled in 2012 and are forecast to double again in 2013,” says Dawkins.

 

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AsiaSat, GeoMetWatch Parner to Launch Advanced Severe Weather Payload
April 3, 2013
Asia Satellite Telecommunications Company (AsiaSat) and GeoMetWatch have announced a strategic partnership to host the first of six Sounding & Tracking Observatory for Regional Meteorology (STORMTM) instruments on board a new satellite planned for launch in 2016 and to be positioned at 122 degrees east.

The STORMTM sensor is currently being manufactured by Utah State University’s Advanced Weather Systems. It will collect and return to Earth sophisticated and critical weather data from the Asia Pacific region not currently available.

This hyperspectral data will enable meteorologists to provide better daily forecasts, predict severe weather and atmospheric instability more accurately, and improve location and storm tracking and analysis of the intensity of hurricanes and typhoons, resulting in earlier evacuations that can improve the preservation of lives and property.

Partnering with the Space Science and Engineering Center (SSEC) of the University of Wisconsin, the GeoMetWatch system will provide high-resolution, visible and infrared images of atmospheric conditions as well as a complete set of quasi-continuous measurements that are high resolution in vertical, spatial and temporal dimensions.

“This new partnership with GeoMetWatch will open up new opportunities to expand our satellite services into new areas, and allow us to explore a new source of revenue for the company,” William Wade, president and CEO of AsiaSat, said on a statement.

 

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KVH More Than Doubles mini-VSAT Broadband Network Capacity in Brazil and Africa
April 3, 2013
KVH Industries has expanded the global mini-VSAT Broadband network by more than its double in the Brazilian and African regions. The ongoing global network upgrade involves deployment of Variable Coding, Spreading, and Modulation (VCSM) technology provided by ViaSat, KVH's partner in the mini-VSAT Broadband network. This is the third major capacity increase in less than five months, following upgrades in the Caribbean and EMEA regions in late 2012.

"Brazil and Africa are key regions for our customer base, as they are important for both the shipping and oil and gas industries," explains Brent Bruun, executive vice president of KVH's mobile broadband group. "The new VCSM technology enables us to handle transmissions much more efficiently, increasing the amount of data that our network can carry, which is important for both safety and business operations onboard."

KVH leverages the readily available commercial FSS satellite capacity covering the world's oceans, provided by companies such as Intelsat, Eutelsat, SES, and SkyPerfect JSAT. Currently, the mini-VSAT Broadband network uses 17 leased transponders to cover the globe with a hybrid network including both C-band and Ku-band coverage. KVH's 1 meter, dual-mode TracPhone V11 antenna seamlessly switches among C- and Ku-band frequencies as easily as the 60 cm TracPhone V7-IP antennas and 37 cm TracPhone V3 antennas switch among Ku-band satellites. As KVH's customer base grows, the company plans to lease additional capacity.

 

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HISPASAT to Provide Broadband for Mars Spanish Mission Research Project
April 3, 2013
HISPASAT has announced it will provide broadband connections for the Mars Spanish Mission (MSM), the first Spanish simulated Mars colonization mission. The project’s preliminary phase will be developed in Aragon, Spain and will culminate in 2014 in a mission that will be carried out in Utah, U.S.

The company will establish the communications needed between the researchers at the scientific camp and the Mission Support Center housed at the European Business and Innovation Center (CEEI) in Zaragoza, Spain. It will also provide the project with the equipment needed to maintain these connections.

The satellite broadband solution HISPASAT will provide to the MSM project is the same it has already deployed in Spanish territory to help reduce the digital gap between rural areas and large cities

 

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Ericsson Unveils Broadcast Services Division at NAB 2013
April 3, 2013
Ericsson has announced the debut of its Broadcast Services business unit at the NAB Show 2013, in Las Vegas, Nev. This new division combines the company’s global services expertise with the deep broadcast industry track record of Technicolor’s Broadcast Services division, which Ericsson acquired in July 2012.

"Most broadcasters do not have the time, the scale or the infrastructure to adapt effectively to today’s technical challenges such as media asset management, multi-platform multi-screen delivery, archiving and disaster recovery,” Thorsten Sauer, head of Broadcast Services at Ericsson, said on a statement. Sauer’s division will focus on helping broadcasters and content owners address these challenges in the rapidly changing TV market environment.

“At NAB Show 2013 we will demonstrate how outsourcing technical and operation management is the natural answer to broadcasters’ challenges, enabling them to focus on engaging their viewers and delivering the TV experiences that consumers want," Sauer said.

Ericsoon currently manages HBO’s palyout services in the Nordic countries, and also manages more than 1.5 million hours of broadcast TV every year for more than 200 channels.

 

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Turkey Plans to Increase Investment in Satellite Communications
April 3, 2013

The Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) is planning to send five military reconnaissance and Earth observation satellites into space, according to reports. The new satellites would join Turkey’s Gokturk-2 Earth observation satellite launched last December.

The country’s newly created Space Group Command will lead the initiative as well as plans to set up a Turkish satellite positioning system, to decrease its dependency on the U.S. GPS. By using the American GPS, any missile launched by Turkey, for example, could be controlled by the U.S. and make its trajectory change.

TSK’s plan for the new satellites would enhance the military’s satellite communications. Currently, the military uses the national Turksat spacecraft but there is no dedicated military communications satellite.