DirecTV increased its first quarter 2013 revenues by 8 percent to $7.58 billion beating analysts expectations, although net income was down $690 million or $1.20 per share compared to $731 million or $1.07 per share a year ago.

The satellite TV provider added 604,000 net subscribers in the first quarter with its Latin America division adding 583,000 surpassing 16 million total subscribers, extending the company’s lead as the largest pay-TV provider in the region.

SPACE TECH EXPO 2013, (www.spacetechexpo.com)  the West Coast’s major space industry gathering and one of the largest events of its type in the world, brings together global decision makers involved in the design, build, and testing of spacecraft, satellite, launch vehicle, and space-related technologies.

GVF’s recent Rio de Janeiro conference, Oil & Gas Communications Brazil 2013: Big Oil, the Deep-Water Ocean Expanse, and Big Data was lauded as a great success by attendees, speakers, and sponsors alike; a very satisfactory precursor to both the next event in the GVF-EMP Oil & Gas Communications Conference Series, and, indeed, to the GVF High Throughput Satellite (HTS) Roundtable.

Telesat Holdings Inc.’s first-quarter revenues increased by 12 percent year-over-year to US$217 million (CAD 219 million) while EBITDA increased 12 percent to US$ 168 million (CAD 170 million).

Telesat said revenue growth was principally the result of the successful deployment of the Nimiq 6 satellite in the second quarter of 2012 and higher equipment sales.

Operating expenses of US$49.6 million (CAD50 million) were 40% US$32.7 (CAD33 million) lower than for the same period in 2012. The adjusted EBITDA margin was unchanged at 78 percent. 

Iridium Communications Inc. on Friday reported a net income of $14.9 million, or $0.17 per diluted share, for the first quarter of 2013 compared to $12.4 million, or $0.16 per diluted share, for the first quarter of 2012. Operational EBITDA for the first quarter was $46.8 million compared to $43.9 million for the prior-year period, representing year-over-year growth of 7 percent and an OEBITDA margin of 53 percent.

The GVF High Throughput Satellite Roundtable – High Throughput Ka, Ku and C band Satellite Communications: On Planes, Trains, Ships,… in Cities, Villages and Living Rooms will take place at the Renaissance Downtown Hotel, Washington DC on May 21 & 22, 2013.

SpeedCast Ltd today announced the buyout of Pactel International, a satellite communications service provider based in Australia. Pactel provides satellite communications solutions throughout Australia and the Pacific.  The company focuses on servicing its customers’ requirements for Internet, private networking and voice services.  Founded in 1999, Pactel is headquartered in Sydney, Australia, and has additional offices in Perth, Australia and Jakarta, Indonesia.   

Dish Network Corp. chairman Charlie Ergen is gambling big time again. He has just upped the ante on the bidding game for Sprint Nextel, the third-largest U.S. wireless carrier, to US$25.5 billion in an effort to elbow out Japan’s SoftBank US$20.1 billion offer. The move is a big Blackjack gamble that Ergen is used to but the deal is rife with danger. Even if Ergen wins this bet, it could end into a pyrrhic victory and bring Dish to the edge.  

The 2013 edition of ITU’s flagship regulatory report ‘Trends in Telecommunication Reform’, released today, highlights the increasingly global nature of information and communication technology (ICT) regulation and the crucial link between effective regulation of the ICT sector and the range, quality and affordability of ICT services available to consumers and business users alike.

After a slow start, digital TV penetration is about to rocket in Latin America – from less than a third of homes at end-2012 to nearly 45% by end-2013 and onto 84% by 2018, according to a new report from Digital TV Research. To put it another way, 100 million digital TV households (in the 19 countries covered in the Digital TV Latin America report) will be added between 2011 and 2018 to take the total to 134 million.