News Analysis

Mountain View, Calif., June 13, 2014--Google has entered into an agreement to buy Skybox Imaging for US$ 500 million in cash, subject to adjustments Skybox’s satellites will help keep Google Maps accurate with up-to-date imagery.

London, UK, June 11. 2014--European pay TV revenues will reach US$ 40.35 billion in 2014, up from US$ 36.87 billion  in 2010, according to a new report from Digital TV Research. The European Digital TV Databook (covering 39 countries) reveals that the 2014 total will only  increase by 0.6% on 2013 as ARPUs are hit by competition and the transition of  subscribers to double-play and triple-play bundles (which result in higher overall ARPUs for operators but lower TV ARPUs). 

London, UK, June 10, 2014--A new broadband mapping report reveals a huge opportunity – which no-one is yet taking up. Over five million British homes and businesses are already paying for superfast broadband services. But there is little sign that anybody is yet trying to sell superfast content or applications to this huge market of prosperous consumers.

Geneva, Switzerland,  June 10, 2014 – A high level meeting opened today to review progress on the outcomes of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), which was held in Geneva in 2003 and in Tunis in 2005. Policy-makers, including Government Ministers and leaders from civil society, academia, business, and international organizations will focus attention on implementation of the outcomes of the Summit for next year’s ten-year review during the WSIS+10 High-level Event that kicks off today.

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, June 5, 2014--Inmarsat and Arabsat subsiary company Hellas-sat today announce that they have signed an agreement together to launch a joint satellite into 39⁰ E orbital location. The satellite will carry two missions; first, the S-band payload (designated ‘EuropaSat’), which represents Inmarsat’s commitment to deploy an integrated telecommunications network to deliver aviation passenger connectivity services on a EU-wide basis and a 44 Ku-band transponders payload designated ‘Hellas-sat 3’ for Hellas-sat, that will replace the existing Hellas-sat 2 satellite. 

Hong Kong, June 2, 2014--Satellite operator ABS is preparing for a major business expansion with the launch of ABS-2A & ABS-3A in 2014/2015 and further satellites to be added to the fleet in the following two years. ABS launched its sixth satellite, ABS-2 in February 2014, covering 80% of the world's population including the emerging markets of Africa, Asia, Europe, Middle East and Russia / CIS. 

Pacific Ocean, May 27, 2014 – The EUTELSAT 3B satellite was successfully launched by a Zenit-3SL rocket operated by Sea Launch AG from the ocean-based Odyssey Launch Platform in the Pacific Ocean. Lift-off of the rocket carrying the six-tonne satellite took place on Monday 26 May at 21.10 GMT/UTC.

Petah Tikva, Israel, May 21, 2014 – Gilat Satellite Networks Ltd.  today reported its results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2014. Non-GAAP operating income was US$ 0.5 million, compared to a loss of US$ 0.1 million in the fourth quarter 2013. GAAP operating loss was US$ 1.5 million compared to a loss of US$ 2.7 million in the fourth quarter of 2013

Paris, France, May 20, 2014 – Eutelsat Communications today announced the sale to M7A Group S.A., trading under the name of M7 Deutschland, of Eutelsat visAvision GmbH., that operates the KabelKiosk platform of digital channels and interactive services for cable and IPTV networks in Germany.