21 July 2002
Satcoms
AirTV's Global S-Band Satellite Network Will Deliver BBC World to
Airlines
Distributors Sign For New Inmarsat Service
Eutelsat Selects SkyStream
Networks For New Business Content Delivery Service
Globalstar Contracts
for Next-Generation Satellite Constellation
Globalstar
Demonstrates Prototype of Terrestrial System to Supplement Satellite Phones
NSS-7 Satellite
Authorised to Provide Communications Services in Brazil
Telenor Satellite Services Signs
New Three-Year Agreement With Aerolineas Argentinas
Earth
Observation
Ikonos Images
Entire Territory of Puerto Rico
Navigation
Cleveland Tracks Ambulance Fleet Using GPS System From Radio
Satellite Integrators
Digital Angel Miniaturises GPS Transmitting Technology
Global 2-Way
Introduces Global T-Fleet
Military
Space
ViaSat Wins
Netherlands MIDS Contract
Manned
Space
CSI Awarded Space
Station Cargo Resupply Contract
Technology
Demonstrator 2 Update
Business
Merlin Rebrand as Part of VT's New Branding
Strategy
Products and Services
Blue Sky Ships Low-Priced FAA Certified Iridium Satcom
Solution
Web-Sat
Ltd and Direct on PC Launch Broadband Internet Satellite Service in West
Africa
People
KVH Industries Names Patrick J Spratt as Chief Financial
Officer
AirTV's Global S-Band Satellite Network Will Deliver BBC World
to Airlines
(16 July 2002) BBC World, the BBC's 24-hour
international news and information channel, will soon be available to audiences
on the move though the AirTV global satellite network, which will deliver
television broadcasts to airlines flying all major global routes.
The initiative responds to a growing demand by international
travellers for up-to-the-minute news and information from around the world.
BBC World's programming line-up will be delivered live to airliners
through AirTV's network of four geostationary S band satellites. Each of these
platforms will deliver 60 channels of satellite television, plus e-mail and
Internet connectivity. AirTV plans to start its direct-to-aircraft (DTA)
service in 30 months.
BBC World is the BBC's global news and
information channel, broadcasting 24 hours a day from its base at BBC
Television Centre in London. BBC World provides news, business and weather 24
hours a day, plus the best of the BBC's award-winning current affairs,
documentary and lifestyle programming. This is currently provided to airlines
via tape delivery, while satellite and cable distribution is used to serve over
222 million homes, hotels and cruise liners around the world. The channel
offers an hourly balance of news for 30 minutes, followed by magazine-type
programs.
BBC World also will also be available via the AirTV
satellite network for expanded coverage to the maritime industry and remote
global locations that are currently unable to receive the TV channel reliably.
The AirTV satellite network will operate at the very high data rate of 80 Mb/s
per satellite (320 Mb/s globally with the four-satellite network).
In
addition to television, AirTV also will provide airborne connectivity to both
passengers and flight crews. For business and leisure travellers, this allows
high-speed access to e-mail and the Internet. For flight crews, it means safety
and operational data will be delivered more than 1,000 times faster than the
current 9.6 kb/s standard.
One of the first new applications for
AirTV's service is expected to be weather information that can enable flight
crews to anticipate, and possibly avoid, in-flight turbulence.
The
AirTV system is being developed by an industry team composed of world leaders
in their fields: Alcatel, Arianespace, CMC Electronics and SITA.
AirTV
also has established strategic alliances with Tenzing Communications and
Rockwell Collins, which will provide on board equipment and infrastructure to
support the AirTV system.
Distributors Sign For New Inmarsat
Service
(11 July 2002) Inmarsat Ltd has announced that France
Telecom Mobile Satellite Communications, Morsviazsputnik, Net Africa and
Stratos Global Corporation have signed contracts to become distribution
partners for the new Inmarsat Regional BGAN service due for launch later this
year.
Regional BGAN will deliver a seamless
GPRS-compatible data service in up to 99 countries using 144 kbit/s shared
channels. Its key features include:
Inmarsat has been executing
a data growth strategy for some time. In 2001 the company derived over 44% of
its revenues from data traffic, an increase of about 19% on 2000. This
commitment to expanding its data offerings is being driven through all the
sectors it serves, providing high-quality data solutions to businesses on land,
at sea and in the air.
Inmarsat partners, France Telecom Mobile
Satellite Communications, Morsviazsputnik, Net Africa and Stratos Global
Corporation, will focus on providing distinct distribution capabilities for
Regional BGAN in new geographical and vertical sectors, providing value-added
services and support to end-users and ensuring market access through
country-specific service provision licences. Inmarsat hopes to sign additional
partners to offer Regional BGAN throughout the coming months.
These
distributors were selected for their experience and core competency in
providing satellite-based connectivity solutions including:
The full BGAN service, which is due to be delivered via Inmarsat's next generation Inmarsat I-4 satellites from 2004, is the largest capital expenditure programme ever undertaken by Inmarsat. The building of the satellites has progressed on schedule, and, once operational, will deliver data rates of up to 432 kbit/s with full UMTS (3G) compatibility to over 86% of the earth's surface. Both the Regional BGAN and the full BGAN services will enable Inmarsat to meet the expected demand from businesses for mobile broadband services, by providing a seamless extension to corporate IT networks.
Eutelsat Selects SkyStream Networks For New Business Content
Delivery Service
(16 July 2002) SkyStream Networks has signed a deal
with Eutelsat to provide its zBand Content Delivery platform for a new
business-to-business content delivery network delivered through Eutelsat’s
multimedia platform in Turin (Italy).
Under the
agreement, Eutelsat will use zBand as the primary content delivery platform for
the new service offered through its subsidiary, Skylogic Italia which is based
in Turin. The new business communication service will be available to the
estimated 400,000 small to medium-sized corporations in Piedmont, Italy. It
will offer access to multimedia-rich corporate training, e-learning and
telemedicine information via satellite transmission to their employees, clients
and partner desktops.
SkyStream’s zBand Content Delivery platform
is an all-in-one server-client software package that provides the tools
necessary to establish a content delivery service personalised for a targeted
group of 100,000s or one individual. Eutelsat selected zBand for its
comprehensive ability to aggregate, manage, target, deliver and present
customised content such as TV-quality videos to web pages for its large
enterprise customers. zBand enables service providers such as Eutelsat to
allocate network bandwidth and manage resources on a satellite-based network.
In addition, zBand’s standards-based architecture and easy to use
interface enabled Eutelsat to reduce installation time and bring its new
enterprise data delivery service to market more quickly.
Globalstar Contracts for Next-Generation Satellite
Constellation
(17 July 2002) Globalstar has awarded a contract to
Space Systems/Loral (SS/L) for the design and future construction of its 2 GHz
satellite system, which will provide greater capacity and enhanced Globalstar
services when the new constellation is fully deployed toward the end of this
decade.
In July 2001 the Federal Communications
Commission granted Globalstar's 1997 application to use the newly available 2
GHz mobile satellite radio spectrum. The new contract announced today fulfils
the FCC requirement that Globalstar enter into a construction contract for new
satellites to use this spectrum by July 17, 2002.
The contract calls
for a new constellation of 56 low-earth-orbit (LEO) satellites, supplemented
with four geostationary orbit (GEO) satellites which would provide additional
system capacity, particularly for data applications, along with coverage to
remote areas not easily served by Globalstar's LEO satellites.
With
the signing of this contract, work will begin immediately on planning and
designing the new satellites. The contract with SS/L, which also was
responsible for the design and construction of the original Globalstar
satellite constellation, calls for all 60 satellites to be delivered to
Globalstar on orbit starting in 2006.
Globalstar Demonstrates Prototype of Terrestrial System
to Supplement Satellite Phones
(18 July 2002) Globalstar has demonstrated a
wireless phone that can use the same radio spectrum to connect to both
satellite and terrestrial communications networks.
If
introduced commercially, this system could further increase the utility of
satellite phones while at the same time making far more efficient use of
existing radio spectrum.
The new technology is generically referred to
as Ancillary Terrestrial Component (ATC), a method that allows existing
satellite phone spectrum to also be used over dedicated terrestrial networks,
with call capacity managed and reallocated, in real time, between satellite and
terrestrial networks via a common control centre. Calls can be made over either
network using the same phone handset, offering users truly universal service
over a single phone system.
Today, satellite phones provide telephone
service in even the most remote locations, but indoor environments and dense
urban areas have always posed a challenge, since tall buildings can often block
satellite signals. ATC meets this challenge by supplementing satellite service
with a ground-based network to provide a "back-up" signal in and around
buildings where satellite signals cannot reach. And by using the same radio
frequencies for both systems, scarce wireless spectrum can be much more
efficiently used, and re-used, across an entire continent.
Demonstrations of Globalstar's ATC system were conducted this week in
Washington DC, with similar demonstrations to be held next week in New York.
The demonstrations employ Telit Model 650 Globalstar phones that have been
modified to use Globalstar's existing satellite spectrum for cellular calls.
The Model 650 is a second-generation Globalstar phone that is fully one-third
smaller than earlier Globalstar phones.
The US Federal Communications
Commission recently granted Globalstar a license to allow the use of existing
mobile satellite service (MSS) spectrum for experimental ATC use, and the
Commission is currently evaluating the full commercial use of ATC in both
current and next-generation MSS spectrum.
NSS-7 Satellite Authorised to Provide Communications Services
in Brazil
(16 July 2002) New Skies Satellites NV has been
authorised to deliver satellite communications services throughout Brazil over
its new NSS-7 Atlantic Ocean region satellite. The authorisation was provided
by ANATEL, the government agency that regulates all telecommunications services
in Brazil.
NSS-7, which was launched from French Guiana
on April 16, 2002, successfully completed in-orbit testing and entered
commercial service on May 30.
The NSS-7 authorisation enables New
Skies to complement its existing Atlantic Ocean region satellites with another
high-power spacecraft, providing additional service options and flexibility
throughout Brazil, Mercosur and the Americas. NSS-7 will offer Brazilian
customers a full range of services in both C and Ku band, facilitating full and
part-time video distribution and contribution transmissions, Internet backbone
connectivity, business communications as well as data and telephony services.
The satellite will also play a key role in rural telecommunications services
throughout Latin America.
New Skies and its subsidiaries currently
hold licenses from ANATEL to provide satellite capacity and communications
services throughout Brazil over the NSS-806 and NSS-803 satellites.
Telenor Satellite Services Signs New Three-Year Agreement With
Aerolineas Argentinas
(16 July 2002) Telenor Satellite Services has signed a
new three-year agreement with Aerolineas Argentinas, Argentina's national
passenger airline, to provide fax, data, and voice communications via satellite
for both flight crew and passengers.
Aerolineas
Argentinas is one of the first major South American airlines to equip portions
of its fleet with satellite communications. Telenor first began providing data
and voice satellite communications services to Aerolineas Argentinas aircraft
in the summer of 1999.
The service is used on international routes
including Europe, North America, Australia and New Zealand, and throughout
Central and South America. Aerolineas Argentinas will use Telenor's Aero-H
service, a voice and data service via the Inmarsat satellite system, to provide
timely and reliable flight crew and passenger communications.
Aerolineas Argentinas currently uses Telenor satellite services on its fleet of
Airbus A340 aircraft.
Ikonos Images Entire Territory of Puerto Rico
(18
June 2002) Space Imaging has completed delivery of one-meter, high-resolution
satellite images of the entire 3,515 square-mile island of Puerto Rico. The
mosaiced, map accurate imagery was bought by the Commonwealth of Puerto
Rico.
The agreement was signed through Space Imaging's
reseller, RLDA Surveying & Mapping (Puerto Rico), to advance the
development of Puerto Rico's Geographical Information Archive project to enable
the Commonwealth to more efficiently plan and manage high-profile
infrastructure projects such as highways, water and electric power
distribution, natural resource inventory improvement, risk mitigation, and
effective emergency response. The project included the delivery of IKONOS
orthorectified imagery products to all of Puerto Rico's land-related and
mapping agencies. The entire island was shot at one-meter resolution with a
horizontal accuracy of up to 4-meters and 1:4,800 National Map Accuracy
Standard (NMAS).
Cleveland Tracks Ambulance Fleet Using GPS System From
Radio Satellite Integrators
(18 July 2002) Radio Satellite Integrators Inc (RSI),
a global provider of customised GPS-based vehicle tracking and mobile data
solutions, has completed an Automatic Vehicle Location (AVL) system for the
City of Cleveland Emergency Medical Services division.
Serving the entire city of nearly a half of a million people, Cleveland EMS is
responsible for operating and dispatching a fleet of 37 vehicles including
ambulances and supervisor units for a variety of emergency situations.
The RSI system combines GPS, cellular digital packet data (CDPD), and
customised GIS mapping software to allow Cleveland EMS to know the exact
location and status of each of their vehicles at any given time, past or
present. Along with position information, additional data such as speed and
light bar status is also gathered and transmitted wirelessly back to the
dispatch centre. This powerful tool enables Cleveland EMS to optimally operate,
dispatch, and manage their fleet to minimise response times and help save
lives. In addition, the RSI base station software works side by side at the
dispatch centre with a New World Computer Aided Dispatch system to further
enhance the dispatcher's knowledge of the fleet's status.
Digital Angel Miniaturises GPS Transmitting Technology
(15
July 2002) Digital Angel Corporation has significantly miniaturised the
footprint of its wireless GPS location and alert transmitters, combining the
chip sets and antenna in a package the size of a matchbook.
Digital Angel Corp's lightweight one-piece unit, complete
with an ambient temperature monitor, is expected to stimulate development of
numerous applications for industrial, medical and consumer use. The small
unobtrusive size of the device, which employs standard Internet-accessible GPS
mapping programs, makes it an ideal component for products intended for use in
tracking the whereabouts of people, objects and even pets.
Up to now,
GPS location and alert transmitting devices have been considered too bulky for
everyday consumer use; for example, such devices have been too heavy to
incorporate into a pet's collar and often not concealable enough to be
effective in applications for tracking personal assets.
The new
Digital Angel device also incorporates Assisted GPS technology and
transmits-receives with GSM or CDMA protocols, making it usable world-wide.
Assisted GPS, which is currently being deployed by several large cellular
providers, enables GPS signals to be delivered to devices inside buildings as
well as to other areas where reception has been difficult. The technology makes
GPS usable in any place where a cell phone works.
Digital Angel Corp's
existing 24/7 network operation centres will handle location alerts generated
by the new transmitter devices.
Having now filed patents covering its
systems and device enhancements, believed to be unique and proprietary, Digital
Angel Corp is commencing talks with a number of potential commercial partners
concerning product customisation and marketing opportunities for its
leading-edge technology.
Global 2-Way Introduces Global T-Fleet
(15
July 2002) Global 2-Way has signed an agreement with Terion Inc of Melbourne,
Florida to buy the assets of their DHF network. Global plans to create a Mobile
Communication and Asset Management Systems (MCAMS) product line, called Global
T-Fleet. A combination of patented digital high frequency technologies
originally developed as a USA-wide backup communication system, and present day
GPS technology, using it to form a unique communications network. The network
allows for nation-wide two-way text messaging and location on demand through a
web-based platform.
Global T-Fleet systems can be used
to effectively communicate with and track the location/positions of virtually
any type of vehicle: transport hauliers, service and delivery vans,
car/truck/RV rentals, construction equipment, public service utility vehicles,
and the list goes on. The system was designed to provide increased efficiency
and productivity improvements, improved customer service, improved security,
driver safeguards, and find vehicles that have been stolen or abandoned.
The Global T-Fleet system is comprised of a Driver's Terminal, Intelligent
Transceiver Unit, Installation Kit with both dual band DHFM and GPS antennas,
cable assemblies and mounting hardware, and Global T-Fleet software. Typical
functions are: send and receive free form text messages to and from the
dispatch computer; view a vehicle's location whenever it starts or ends motion,
or at pre-set intervals when the vehicle is moving, or upon request from the
dispatcher.
Global 2-Way is one of the USA's largest providers of land
mobile and wireless communication systems. They offer a wide range of
communication and tracking systems for almost any business or public safety
application. Their new product line in the Mobile Communication and Asset
Management Systems (MCAMS) arena, provides low-cost, highly reliable,
easy-to-operate communications and vehicle tracking systems for a wide range of
business applications.
ViaSat Wins Netherlands MIDS Contract
(18 July 2002) The Government
Systems division of ViaSat Inc has been awarded a contract valued at
approximately US$ 1 million for Multifunctional Information Distribution System
terminals from the Royal Netherlands Air Force (RNLAF).
The order is for LVT(1) Low Volume Terminals, qualified for airborne
applications. ViaSat was awarded this competitively bid contract through a
direct commercial order from the RNLAF in support of the Netherlands F-16 Lead
the Fleet Program. The RNLAF also has issued a competitive, multi-million
dollar Request For Proposal (RFP) for the remaining terminals needed to
integrate MIDS capability into its Air Force. The MIDS LVT provides secure,
high capacity, jam resistant, digital data and voice communications capability
for platforms deployed by the US Navy, US Air Force, US Army, and certain
coalition countries.
CSI Awarded Space Station Cargo Resupply
Contract
(15 July 2002) Constellation Services International
Inc (CSI) has been awarded a US$ 2.3 million prime contract to study its LEO
Express Space Cargo System for launching supplies to the International Space
Station (ISS). The award was made by NASA Marshall Space Flight Center as part
of the Alternate Access to Station (AAS) program, a multi-year effort enabling
commercial ISS resupply services to supplement the Space Shuttle and other
nations' ISS delivery vehicles.
Over the last 50 years,
standardised containers have transformed cargo transportation across the entire
surface of the Earth. CSI and its team-mates will further define and validate
CSI's patent-pending commercial approach to extend this same revolution to
space transportation.
CSI has subcontracted with several leading space
firms to participate in this study of the LEO Express Space Cargo System: ARES
Corp, Muniz Engineering Inc, and Oceaneering Space Systems, bd Systems Inc,
Princeton Synergetics Inc, International Space Brokers Corp, and Tether
Applications Inc. Commercial launch services will be investigated for the CSI
team by: Boeing Expendable Launch Service, HMX Inc and Kistler Aerospace
Corp.
CSI was founded in 1998 with the purpose of providing orbital
services including satellite retrieval, repair, and servicing.
Demonstrator 2 Update
(19 July 2002) Following its launch last
Friday from a submarine in the Barents Sea, the Demonstrator 2 experimental
inflatable recovery vehicle has not yet been recovered.
Demonstrator 2 was launched from the nuclear submarine Ryazan on a Volna rocket
and was expected to land some 30 minutes later in the remote Kamchatka
peninsula in the far north east of Siberia.
Demonstrator 1 was
launched in February 2000 and was also lost after re-entry over Kamchatka. Only
a few parts of the experimental payload were ever found.
Merlin Rebrand as Part of VT's New Branding Strategy
(18
July 2002) At its Annual General Meeting, the Vosper Thornycroft shareholders
have agreed to change the name of the group from Vosper Thornycroft Holdings
Plc to VT Group Plc, which was agreed by shareholders. VT will also be
implementing a new branding strategy that involves all VT's operating
companies, and as part of this strategy Merlin Communications International
will be renamed VT Merlin Communications.
As a result of
VT's branding strategy, Merlin will receive a new corporate identity, involving
a new VT Merlin logo and brand colour. The company will continue to use its
existing Merlin logo as a product specific logo.
Our new corporate
identity and brand will be rolled out from July 2002, with the official name
change commencing from 1st August 2002.
Blue Sky Ships Low-Priced FAA Certified Iridium Satcom
Solution
(15 July 2002) Aviation satcom solution provider Blue
Sky Network has announced that it has begun shipping its latest Motorola based
Iridium satellite telephone system for aircraft. FAA certified and priced at
US$ 6,995, the C-1000 fixed cabin or cockpit installation solution is a turnkey
kit that costs about one-fourth the price of similar fixed satcom installation
units in the market.
In addition, Blue Sky Network has
just introduced a dual channel antenna affording the opportunity to have two
installations in the aircraft with a single punch: typically a portable Iridium
phone in the cockpit and the C-1000 fixed installation in the cabin which can
be used simultaneously. This gives the customer the ability to have the same
benefits of satellite connection on the ground as in the air.
All Blue
Sky Network kits include an Iridium specific TSOd antenna (single or dual
channel), antenna cable(s) to the remotely mounted satellite modem unit, all
mating connectors, and an installation guide. Professional installation,
activation and a service plan are required.
Web-Sat Ltd and Direct on PC Launch Broadband Internet Satellite
Service in West Africa
(10 July 2002) Dublin-based Web-Sat Ltd and Nigerian
Internet provider Direct On PC (DOPC) have announced the commercial launch in
Nigeria of their high-speed, two-way Internet access service via satellite,
branded Direct On PC.
Web-Sat provides all network
operations functions for DOPC’s West Africa service out of its Dublin hub,
including access to the global Internet backbone. All sales and marketing in
West Africa are performed by DOPC, who are also branding the service. The
service is provided via PanAmSat PAS1R satellite at 45° W.
Web-Sat
Ltd is an Internet service provider that uses its own designed and developed
innovative satellite-based DVB technology to deliver high-speed two-way
Internet access via satellite, at competitive prices, to primarily corporate
users, who require fast, always-on broadband Internet access, but have no
access to cable or DSL.
Founded in 1999, Web-Sat is currently
providing Internet services via satellite throughout Europe, the Middle East
and North Africa. Customers include international organisations in Kosovo and
Afghanistan, embassies, oil companies, post-primary schools in Ireland.
Web-Sat’s technology was developed with assistance from The European Space
Agency and Enterprise Ireland.
Direct On PC Ltd’s Satellite
Interactive Terminal Internetwork Network System (SITINS) is Nigeria's first,
two-way, always on, high-speed satellite Internet service. DOPC, based in
Lagos, is part of the Bhojrajchanrai Group of Companies, an India and UK-based
conglomerate established in Nigeria for over 100 years, and employing over 6000
staff.
KVH Industries Names Patrick J Spratt as Chief
Financial Officer
(18 July 2002) KVH Industries has hired Patrick J
Spratt as the company's chief financial officer. Mr Spratt succeeds Richard
Forsyth, who will remain with KVH in the role of vice president, finance.
Mr Spratt, 54, brings to KVH 30 years of finance and
operations experience. During his 25-year career at Digital, he served in a
variety of senior management positions, including vice president of finance for
world-wide engineering, vice president of business operations for computer
systems, and vice president of investor relations. His accomplishments included
substantial improvement in product introduction cycles while reducing costs,
restructuring of operations to drive growth and profit, and management of
Digital's investor relations efforts, providing complete communications and
coverage for more than 400 institutional investors and 25 sell-side
analysts.
Before joining KVH, Mr Spratt served as the CFO of
early-stage developers of products for broadband telecommunications and
semi-conductor manufacturing. He also served as the CFO and treasurer of
BioReliance Corporation, a pharmaceutical and biotechnology testing,
development, and manufacturing firm. Mr Spratt holds a BA in Mathematics from
Boston College, an MBA from Boston University, and has completed Executive
Education Programs at Columbia University and Harvard Business
School.
