News Analysis

Hosted Payloads Continue to Emerge as Viable Option for Satellite Capacity Building

Cambridge, Mass., March 20, 2012--NSR today released its newest market survey and forecast report: Hosted Payloads on Commercial Satellites, 2nd Edition. The report concludes that, from an estimated $106.2 million in revenues for 2012, revenues for payload equipment, engineering services and commercial satellite operator hosting services are expected to range from $330.8 million to $554.0 million by 2022, yielding cumulative revenues of $1.8 billion to $2.9 billion over an 11-year period.

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2011 TV Shipments Fall After Six Consecutive Years of Growth

Santa Clara, Calif., March 14, 2012--In 2011 worldwide TV shipments fell for the first time since NPD DisplaySearch began tracking global TV shipments in 2004, slipping 0.3% to 247.7M units. As reported in the latest NPD DisplaySearch Quarterly Global TV Shipment and Forecast Report, LCD TV shipments increased by 7% to just over 205M units in 2011—a substantial slowdown from the double digit growth in previous years. With plasma TV shipments declining almost 7% in 2011 to 17.2M units, the largest decline yet, and CRT shipments falling 34%, LCD growth was not enough to offset these declines.

C-COM Reports Record Sales and Profits in Fiscal 2011

Montreal, Canada, March 12, 2012--C-COM Satellite Systems Inc., a provider of mobile auto-deploying satellite antenna systems, announced  financial results for the fiscal year ended November 30, 2011. "We have closed our fiscal 2011 with the largest increase in the company's history in both sales and operating profits over the same period last year" said Leslie Klein, President and CEO of C-COM Satellite Systems Inc.

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Comtech Telecommunications Corp. Announces Results for the Second Quarter of Fiscal 2012

Melville, NY,  March 8, 2012--Comtech Telecommunications Corp. reported its operating results for the three and six months ended January 31, 2012. Net sales for the second quarter of fiscal 2012 were $99.1 million compared to $162.8 million for the second quarter of fiscal 2011. The period-over-period decrease is due to lower net sales, as expected, most notably in the mompany's mobile data communications segment.

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Iridium Reports 20% EBITDA Growth in 2011 and Issue 2012 Outlook

Mclean Va., March 7, 2012 – Iridium Communications Inc reported solid financial results for the fourth quarter of 2011 and issued its outlook for the full-year 2012. Net income was $8.4 million, or $0.11 per diluted share, for the fourth quarter of 2011, as compared to $10.1 million, or $0.14 per diluted share, for the fourth quarter of 2010. Operational EBITDA for the fourth quarter was $44.3 million, as compared to $42.3 million for the prior-year period, representing year-over-year growth of 5 percent and an OEBITDA margin(1) of 47 percent. OEBITDA benefited from solid growth in commercial service and government service revenue.

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Broadband for the Bush

by Elisabeth Tweedie, Associate Editor

Los Angeles, Calif., March 6, 2012-- After more than four years of discussion, debate and deliberation in February of this year the Australian government’s NBN Co. Ltd. signed a contract for two Ka-Band satellites to deliver broadband to the three percent of Australian households and enterprises that are located out of the reach of fiber and terrestrial wireless.  This was a landmark decision both for Australia and for the satellite industry as a whole as it marks the first time that a government has so wholeheartedly endorsed satellite as a means of providing broadband connectivity; something that last year the UN in its Broadband Challenge declared to be a “human right”.

Update on the Latin American Satellite Market

by B.H. Schneiderman

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, March 5, 2012--The Latin American satellite market continues to grow in terms of applications such as Direct-to-Home (DTH), HDTV, Cellular Backhaul & Trunking,  and government programs aimed at bridging the Digital Divide.  International satellite operators such as SES and Intelsat are forced to review their strategy and are bringing more capacity to serve the region in the next 5 years to be better positioned for relevant growth in transponder capacity and to be able to meet the growing demands of the market.

The Right Kind of Competition in Satellite Services

by Robert Bell

New York City, March 2, 2012-There are those still working today who can remember where there was no competition in the satellite business, when it was completely dominated by treaty organizations or state-owned companies beholden to national governments and bound by monopoly regulations.  There are still wide swathes of the planet where monopoly conditions rule but the international market now contains a multitude of companies large and small, operating in space and on the ground, who compete fiercely for government, media, telecommunications, maritime and other business. 

Intelsat Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2011 Results

Luxembourg, March 1, 2012-- Satellite operator Intelsat S.A. reported revenue of US $652.9 million and a net loss of $3.5 million for the three months ended December 31, 2011. The company also reported Intelsat S.A. EBITDAi, or earnings before net interest, loss on early extinguishment of debt, taxes and depreciation and amortization, of $495.5 million, and Intelsat S.A. Adjusted EBITDAi of $514.6 million, or 79 percent of revenue, for the three months ended December 31, 2011.

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Satellite Industry Groups Reiterates Opposition to UNIDROIT Space Assets Protocol

Berlin, Germany, February 23, 2012--Several satellite industry assications repeated  its grave concerns over the proposed UNIDROIT Space Assets Protocol. Delegates of UNIDROIT and its member states will convene on February 27 in Berlin, Germany, for the Diplomatic Conference on the Draft Space Assets Protocol to the Convention on International Interests in Mobile Equipment, the European Satellite Operators’ Association, the Satellite Industry Association of Washington, D.C., the Space Industry Association of Australia and the Cable and Satellite Broadcasting Association of Asia today urged delegates and Member States to defer any consideration of the Protocol due to an absence of support from the global satellite industry.

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