Satellite Networks

Hispasat, the Spanish operator and satellite solutions and services provider, has been involved in two very different deals recently, covering education and OTT video.

Continuing what has been a very eventful period for the satellite operator, Intelsat has announced a partnership with the leading Kenyan operator Safaricom to expand LTE coverage in the country.

Completing a very busy few days for Intelsat, the satellite operator has added deals in Brazil and Mali to the recently reported Ku-band-related agreement in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Philippines telco PLDT and global satellite operator Telesat of Canada say they have successfully conducted the Philippines' first on-orbit testing of high-speed broadband connectivity with Telesat's Phase 1 low earth orbit (LEO) satellite.

Vodacom DRC has selected Intelsat to provide its Ku-band satellite services in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Satellite provider Telesat has announced a strategic cooperation agreement with pan-African technology group Liquid Intelligent Technologies to bring Telesat Lightspeed Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite services to Africa.

Global network and connectivity solutions company Truphone and satellite network service provider Skylo have announced what they describes a world first at MWC 2022.

TIM Brasil, a Tier-1 mobile network operator, has reached a milestone of over 1,000 sites leveraging Gilat’s SkyEdge II-c platform to build the largest 4G satellite cellular backhaul network in Latin America, according to Gilat Satellite Networks, a leader in satellite networking technology, solutions and services.

Satellite-direct-to-phone telecoms company Lynk Global, whose global commercial service is poised to launch later this year, says it has signed multiple commercial contracts with a number of mobile operators covering seven island nations in the Pacific and Caribbean.

The Satcom Industry Association of India (SIA-India) and the Indian Space Association (ISpA) have inked memorandum of understandings (MoU) with consultancy company Geospatial World, seeing collaboration as the key to growing India's satellite communications sector. 

Yahsat Government Solutions (YGS), the dedicated government arm of Yahsat, which offers multi-mission satellite services in more than 150 countries, has been awarded a contract, whose value is estimated at US$247.5 million, to provide enhanced managed services to the UAE government for its satellite communications capabilities.

International service provider Orange, which has a presence in 18 African countries, along with its subsidiary, Senegalese telecommunications provider Sonatel, has announced a partnership with satellite operator SES.

Further evidence of the continuing importance of satellites in extending the reach of mobile services come from Brazil where satcoms equipment and services giant Hughes has announced the successful three-month pilot of what it calls a new Community LTE service in five villages in Brazil.

Gilat Satellite Networks hailed a strong Q4 as revenues were up 58% year-on-year to $67.3m, crediting this to major contract wins for the company.

Indian digital service provider Jio Platforms and SES, a global satellite-based content connectivity solutions provider, are the latest companies to target the Indian satellite communications market with the formation of a joint venture called Jio Space Technology Limited.

Eutelsat Communications and network company Marlink signed multi-year extensions to their global maritime partnership to support expansion in Africa and the Middle East.

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully launched the radar imaging satellite EOS-04 along with two others on board Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C52) today (February 14) this morning.

Jio Satellite Communications (JSC), the satellite unit of Reliance Jio Infocomm applied to the Indian Department of Telecommunications (DoT) for global mobile personal communications via satellite services (GMPCS) license, reported local media.

YahClick, the satellite broadband service of UAE-based global satellite operator Yahsat, is teaming up with an off-grid power company lear Blue Technologies to expand its services of offering high-speed connectivity in Africa.

Network solutions firm Marlink signed a multi-million-euro agreement that will give its customers access to SES’ next-generation system of satellites.

The Brazilian National Telecommunications Agency (Anatel) granted satellite exploration rights to the companies SpaceX, owned by Elon Musk, and Swarm.

Kenya will be launching its first software-defined nanosatellite later this year, according to the two companies behind the development and launch of the satellite.

In a major deal anounced this week, Eutelsat Communications has been selected by Intersat to help deliver internet connectivity for three countries in West Africa.

Satellite communication companies, OneWeb and Hughes partnered to provide high-speed, low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite broadband connectivity across India.

Integrated satellite and terrestrial network operator Intelsat has made news recently – both in disaster relief and in the more sedate area of commercial and business aviation services.

Argentina has joined the market for satellite-supported Internet of Things (IoT) services in agriculture with the launch of its first pico-satellite.

Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa) has launched the DEWA-SAT 1 nanosatellite in collaboration with NanoAvionics, becoming the world’s first utility to use nanosatellites to improve the maintenance and planning of electricity and water networks.

Arsat, Argentina’s state-owned satellite company, is to run a 289 million peso (about $2.8 million) project to provide connectivity for free internet access in towns across the country.

Indian multinational telecommunications services company Bharti Airtel and Hughes Communications India Pvt Ltd (HCIPL), a majority-owned subsidiary of Hughes Network Systems LLC, a player in satellite and multi-transport technologies and networks announced the formation of a joint venture to provide satellite broadband services in India.

In order to scale up the delivery of its broadband internet for the rural regions of Southeast Asia and the Pacific, Kacific Broadband Satellites will migrate its IT infrastructure and critical business applications to Amazon Web Services (AWS) by 2022.

Leading Colombian fibre optic networks service provider Integra Multisolutions (IMS) is to use SES’s satellite-based trunking services to enable it to extend and enhance fibre-like connectivity for Colombian municipalities with fewer than 100,000 inhabitants located out of the reach of terrestrial infrastructure.

Omantel, the leading integrated telecom services provider in Oman, has selected the JUPITER System from Hughes Network Systems, a major name in satellite and multi-transport technologies and networks, to extend its mobile networks.

Starlink Internet Services, a division of the SpaceX aerospace company, plans to apply for the appropriate licences to sell satellite-based internet commercially in India. This happened after last week’s announcement from India’s Department of Telecommunications (DoT) that the company had no right to sell broadband connections in the country as it had not yet been licensed to do so.