Parks Associates today announced leading smart home and consumer IoT industry executives will participate at CONNECTIONS™ Summit on January 8, the first day of CES® 2019, featuring multiple sessions addressing key trends, challenges, and opportunities within these industries.

The Satellite Executive Briefing spoke with executives from large and emerging ground equipment supplies about challenges and opportunities they are seeing in global and European markets.

I cannot say truthfully that the taste of kava will rival Veuve Clicquot, a smooth Italian Amarone or a glass of New York City tap water for that matter.  But kava does give you a sedating buzz that is a combination of novocaine on top of an hour of Zen meditation.

Charlie Collier, CEO, FOX Entertainment, has been tapped for the opening keynote spotlight conversation at the 2019 NAB Show Executive Leadership Summit (ELS), taking place Sunday, April 7 in Las Vegas. Collier will appear before a group of top senior executives from media, entertainment and technology to share his thoughts on the future of the television business and the vision he has for FOX Entertainment.

Speedcast International today announced that on December 14, 2018 it completed the acquisition of Globecomm Systems for cash consideration of US$ 134 million net of cash acquired.

Al Yah Satellite Communications Company (Yahsat), a satellite operator based in the United Arab Emirates and wholly owned by Mubadala Investment Company (Mubadala), and Hughes Network Systems (Hughes), a subsidiary of EchoStar Corporation (EchoStar) (NASDAQ: SATS), today announced the completion of a joint venture arrangement to provide greater access to commercial Ka-band satellite broadband services across Africa, the Middle East and Southwest Asia.

The second DC5G held in Washington DC last November 2018, was not specifically targeted at the satellite industry, and representatives were in the minority, at the conference.  It is however a subject that we cannot afford to ignore.  Plenty has been written and said about the spectrum requirements, which seem destined to have a major impact on C-Band customers in the US and probably around the world.  And Ka-Band customers may well see a similar impact.   

XipLink, the technology leader in Wireless Link Optimization is proud to announce the acquisition and subsequent closing on certain assets of Sevis Systems designed to optimize cellular traffic onto IP-based backhaul links. Specifically, XipLink is acquiring the 6000 series product line for circuit oriented (E1/T1) base station connections, the 7000 series for IP base station connections and all related intellectual property associated with these products. Sevis Systems will continue to focus on their core signaling solutions unrelated to the cellular backhaul business.

The Satellite Industry Association (SIA) released its annual survey of the satellite industry. For the 23th year in a row, the global satellite industry posted positive growth.  For a summary of the report click here.

Comtech Telecommunications Corp. (NASDAQ: CMTL) today reported its operating results for the first fiscal quarter ended October 31, 2018 and updated its fiscal 2019 guidance.Comtech said net sales for the first quarter of fiscal 2019 were US$ 160.8 million as compared to the US$ 121.6 million achieved during the first quarter of fiscal 2018. It also recorded bookings during the first quarter of fiscal 2019 worth $157.4 million, with a company-wide book-to-bill ratio (a measure defined as bookings divided by net sales) of 0.98.