ITV

Category: Satellite Operators

  • Eutelsat selects Alcatel Alenia Space for W7 satellite

    MUMBAI: European satellite comunications firm Eutelsat and Alcatel Alenia Space have signed a contract under which Alcatel Alenia Space will manufacture and deliver Eutelsat’s W7 communications satellite.

    To be launched in second quarter of 2009 at Eutelsat’s 36 degrees East location, W7 will double the capacity currently available at a key neighborhood in the group’s fleet of geostationary satellites. Through a configuration of high-performance fixed and steerable beams, W7 will also boost coverage and flexibility for addressing growing markets, notably in central Asia and Africa.

    W7’s mission comprises up to 70 Ku-band transponders that can be connected to six beams serving Europe, Russia, Africa, the Middle East and central Asia. To be co-located with Eutelsat’s W4 satellite, which already serves anchor pay-TV operators in Russia, the Ukraine and sub-Saharan Africa, W7 will enable Eutelsat to almost double bandwidth for digital video services in these regions.

    It will also replace all capacity on Eutelsat’s Sesat 1 satellite which serves Europe, North Africa, the Middle East and central Asia, and bring fresh capacity to South Africa through a high-power fixed beam and to central Asia through a spot beam which can be reoriented in orbit. Following W7’s deployment at 36 degrees East, SESAT 1 will continue in commercial service at an alternative location.

    Weighing in at 5.6 tons and with 12 kW of payload power, W7 is based on the Alcatel Alenia Space Spacebus 4000 platform and will be boosted into orbit by Sea Launch.

    Eutelsat CEO Giuliano Berretta said, “Since 2000, we have proactively built our video neighbourhood at 36 degrees East into a prime location for digital markets in eastern Europe and Africa. This commitment has won the confidence of pay-TV operators who are pioneers in their markets, notably NTV Plus from Russia, Poverkhnost from the Ukraine and MultiChoice Africa which reaches large parts of sub-Saharan Africa through this neighbourhood.

    In order to support growth for broadcast and telecommunications services in these regions and to boost capacity for other markets, we looked closely at how we could even more efficiently exploit the resource at 36 degrees East.

    “With W7, this key position in our fleet will benefit from capacity enabling us to use the full spectrum of Ku-band frequencies, and to respond to market demands in multiple regions through a high degree of operational flexibility.”

    Alcatel Alenia Space CEO c says, “We are very pleased and fully committed to supporting Eutelsat sustainable growth. We are also very proud of working alongside Eutelsat to meet the increasing market demand and emerging new applications by delivering technologies with outstanding performance.

    W7 is the second satellite after W2A to be awarded by Eutelsat to our company in 2006. This contract further consolidates an historical year for our company: we have been chosen by a large number of operators, making us the world leader in the communications satellite market.”

  • Afghanistan’s Shamshad TV joins Asiasat 2

    Afghanistan’s Shamshad TV joins Asiasat 2

    MUMBAI: Asian satellite communicatsion service provider Asiasat has announced that it has signed a deal with Shamshad TV of Afghanistan.

    The deal is a lease agreement for the use of C-band capacity on Asiasat 2 to distribute the channel to all broadcast networks across Afghanistan and countries in Central Asia, the Middle East, South Asia and other parts of Asia.

    Shamshad TV has commenced free-to-air broadcasting on Asiasat 2, offering programming in English, Dari and Pashto languages 24 hours a day of content including news, entertainment and
    educational programmes.

    Shamshad TV president Fazel Karim Fazel says, “Following the launch of terrestrial broadcast across our country earlier this year, we are very excited to put our service on Asiasat 2 satellite that further extends our coverage area to both urban and rural areas of Afghanistan, and brings our services abroad, serving overseas audience in more 50 countries and regions across the Asia Pacific. We trust that Asiasat 2’s well established penetration across Asia and Australasia would give us the best audience access and tremendously increase our local and overseas viewership”.

    Asiasat CEO Peter Jackson says, “We are very pleased to welcome Shamshad TV, our first broadcast customer from Afghanistan, on board Asiasat 2. With the addition of this new channel onto Asiasat 2’s exciting line up of international programming, the satellite has firmly established itself as Asia’s most popular multilingual and multicultural platform for broadcast services across the region”

    Shamshad TV is available on Asiasat 2 in C-band with the following reception parameters:
    Transponder: 4A
    Frequency: 3790.75 MHz
    Polarisation: Vertical
    Modulation: QPSK
    Symbol Rate: 2.444 Msym/sec
    FEC: 3/4
    About Shamshad TV
    Shamshad TV was launched early this year from Kabul. The channel provides educational, news, and entertainment programmes in English, Dari and Pashto languages. Its production studio and broadcast station are located in Kabul and provide digital terrestrial transmission and satellite transmission to both urban and rural areas of Afghanistan as well as other countries in Central Asia, South Asia and the Middle East.

  • Casbaa to pursue mobile, regulatory agenda in 2007

    Casbaa to pursue mobile, regulatory agenda in 2007

    MUMBAI: The Cable and Satellite Broadcasting Association of Asia (Casbaa) has announced its strategic direction for 2007, as well as the results of 2006 Annual general meeting elections to the Casbaa council of governors and board of directors.

    According to Casbaa chairman Marcel Fenez, in 2007 the association is to focus on the increasing impact of Mobile technology, also noting a clear signal from the council of governors to step up initiatives in India and China. Casbaa will continue to engage the regulatory authorities in multiple markets and promote industry development in Indonesia, Vietnam and Pakistan, among others.

    In addition, Casbaa will strive to demonstrate the effectiveness of pay TV as an advertising medium and thus challenge other traditional media for advertising revenues, asserts an official release.

    Fenez said, “On an almost daily basis Casbaa is engaging with decision-makers across the region regarding regulatory and intellectual property rights issues while maintaining a steady output of studies on markets and the benefits of effective regulation and the cost of pay-TV piracy.”

    Casbaa also announced that the following were newly elected to the Casbaa council of governors, the association’s leading advisory body, Anytime president and COO Craig Zimbulis; Mabuhay Satellite president and CEO Garie Pimentel; MIH Asia president Ian Barnard; SkyVision Corporation (Sky Cable) head of programmes acquisition Juno Henares Chuidian; AGB Nielsen Media Research CEO Malcolm Spry and Standard Chartered Bank head of creative media and tech industries client relations Susan Ho.

    The results of Elections to the Casbaa board of directors were as follows: HBO Asia CEO Jonathan Spink; AsiaSat CEO Peter Jackson; United Broadcasting Corporation EVP-chairman Sompan Charumilinda; BBC World regional director distribution and business development Nic van Zwanenberg and Celestial Pictures CEO William Pfeiffer.

  • Asianet ‘Star Singer’ hunt enters final round

    Asianet ‘Star Singer’ hunt enters final round

    MUMBAI: Malayalam channel Asianet’s music talent hunt show Star Singer has reached its final phase. The shortlisted 10 contestants will now fight it out in front of the microphone to get the coveted title.

    A golden opportunity awaiting the top ranked male and female singers (one each) is a chance to sing under music director M Jayachandran for an upcoming movie. Apart from a deal with Satyam Audios, the contest winners will also get the opportunity to perform at various foreign destinations including Dubai and Kuwait.

    The second prize winner will be offered a playback assignment for a movie to be directed by Ranjith.

    The Star Singer judging panel includes music personalities such as K S Chitra, Tippu and M Jayachandran. Asianet telecast the one hour programme every Sunday at 7 pm.

  • PMI India to launch soap sequel on Asianet

    PMI India to launch soap sequel on Asianet

    MUMBAI: The Mumbai-based production house PMI India will be launching a sequel to its popular soap Sooryapthry on Malayalam channel Asianet. The new version, titled Swantham Sooryaputhry, has been placed in the 6 pm slot.

    “The first of the series Sooryapthry had a successful run from 2004 September to 2006 March on Asianet. The serial had completed 398 episodes. Now we have decided to bring the soap back with a five year leap on the storyline. The main characters of Sooryaputhry will be backed by a host of new faces in Swantham Sooryaputhry,” states PMI India promoter Ajay Patadia.

    PMI is back on Asianet after the end of the prime time soap Swarnamayooram. The production house also has a Marathi soap for ETV Marathi in the pipeline, according to Patadia.

    It is for the second time that, Asianet is launching a sequel to one of its soaps. Earlier, it had launched the second part of the Yantra Media production Sthree.

  • Astro eyes acquisition in India, posts strong Q2 net profit

    Astro eyes acquisition in India, posts strong Q2 net profit

    MUMBAI: Astro All Asia Networks Plc has identified India and China as its potential high-growth markets. And the route it wants to take is equity participation in local ventures.

    “We intend to invest and grow our multi-media distribution platforms and content assets — particularly in the key Bahasa, Indian, and Chinese language speaking markets where we hope to consummate joint-ventures with key players across the region in the coming months. We are confident that these major investments, underpinned by our strong balance sheet and robust cash flows from our Malaysian operations, will secure our long term future, and importantly, sustain revenues, profitability and cash flow growth for shareholders in the medium and long term,” Astro Group chief executive officier Ralph Marshall wrote yesterday to the company’s shareholders.

    The company is scouting for equity participation in joint venture with local partners in these large under-penetrated markets, Marshall said. In India, Astro has, along with NDTV and infotech company Value Labs, already bought out Radio Today’s FM radio operations under Red FM brand.

    “Following liberalisation of the radio sector by the Indian Government, we are hopeful of making new investments and thereby participate in further growth of the radio broadcasting sector in the country,” Marshall said.

    In China, an Astro joint venture has secured approval and a 25-year licence to offer advertising services in the country. The joint-venture, with Hangzhou-based Tiansheng Culture Media Ltd, will initially provide marketing and airtime management services to seven radio stations in Zhejiang Province, and subsequently expand its services to other media companies, particularly in the TV broadcasting segment, in other territories across China.

    Astro, meanwhile, has reported a 66 per cent increase in net profit to RM 73.04 million for its second quarter ended 31 July 2006, from RM 44 million a year ago. This was on back of the Fifa World Cup and a strong demand for its pay-TV and advertising services in the period, the company said.

    Revenue rose 14 per cent to RM 569.08 million from RM 499.32 million while earnings per share was 3.79 sen from 2.29 sen.

    During the period under review, the Group has generated free cash of RM 162.6 million. “Taking advantage of the strong financial position, the Group repaid most of its bank borrowings in January this year, and secured access to fresh long-term capital funds totalling USD 300 million on more attractive terms,” Astro said in a release.

    Having recently launched seven channels, Astro plans to add more and has RM 2 billion to fund its expansion plans.

  • Liquid propellant strap-on failure primary cause for Insat 4C crash

    Liquid propellant strap-on failure primary cause for Insat 4C crash

    BANGALORE:The Failure Analysis Committee (FAC), constituted for investigating the failure of ISRO’s Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle, GSLV-F02 mission from Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC SHAR) Sriharikota, on 10 July, 2006 has submitted its report.

    The 49 metre tall and 414 tonne GSLV comprises three stages. The first stage consists of a solid propellant motor and four liquid propellant strap-ons. The second stage is also a liquid propellant stage and the third is a cryogenic stage.

    GSLV-F02 launch was the fourth in the series. All the three earlier missions (GSLV-D1, D2 and F01) were completely successful. The mission objective of GSLV-F02 was to place Insat-4C, an operational satellite into Geo-synchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO). About 55 sec into the flight, GSLV-F02 started deviating significantly from its nominal flight path resulting in the vehicle breaking up at 62 sec after lift-off. The debris fell into Bay of Bengal.

    The 15 member FAC chaired by K Narayana, former Director of SDSC SHAR, with the participation of experts from academic and research institutions besides ISRO, has reviewed the performance of GSLV-F02 from lift-off to the end of flight. FAC had detailed deliberations for over 100 hours in several sittings and was assisted by eight specialist sub-committees examining the flight data of vehicle subsystems, manufacturing documents, inspection, calibration and test results, etc. Especially, the details related to the realisation of liquid propulsion stage of GSLV were closely scrutinized. Several tests simulating possible failure modes were also conducted to identify the exact cause.

    FAC has concluded that the performance of all vehicle subsystems, except one strap-on stage was normal until 56.4 sec. The primary cause for the failure was the sudden loss of thrust in one out of the four liquid propellant strap-on stages (S4) immediately after lift-off at 0.2 sec. With only three strap-on stages working, there was significant reduction in the control capability. However the vehicle attitude could be controlled till about 50 sec. At the same time the vehicle reached the transonic regime of flight and the vehicle attitude errors built up to large values, resulting in aerodynamic loads exceeding the design limits thus leading to break up of the vehicle.

    The thrust of the liquid engines used in the strap-on stages is precisely controlled by a set of regulators. Detailed analyses have indicated that in S4 engine the thrust control was not effective. Instead of stabilizing at 5.85 MPa (Mega Pascal) chamber pressure, it reached 7.11 MPa at 2.8 sec. This was much beyond the design limits and the engine failed at 0.2 sec after lift-off, that is 5 sec after its ignition.

    Simulations and analyses of flight data and verification through calibration tests have led to the conclusion that the propellant regulator in the failed engine had much higher discharge coefficient in its closed condition. The reason for this could be an inadvertent error in manufacturing, which escaped the subsequent inspection, and acceptance test procedures. This regulator has functioned satisfactorily in all the previous 50 engines manufactured and tested so far, states an official release.

    The larger flow of propellant led to higher operating pressure in the gas generator (4.7 MPa against design specification of 3.6 MPa). Due to this higher operating pressure of the gas generator, the water flow rate into it got reduced. The combined effect of larger flow of propellants and reduced flow of water led to a very high gas temperature of 1823 K against design specification of 900 K and pressure of 4.7 MPa against the design specification of 3.6 MPa. The very high operating pressure and temperature resulted in the structural failure of the gas generator. The consequent abrupt stopping of the turbo pumps that feed propellants at very high pressures to the engines led to loss of thrust of S4 engine. The water calibration tests conducted simulating the malfunction of the propellant regulator hardware could closely reproduce the flight phenomenon thereby confirming the larger flow area.

    FAC has concluded that the design of GSLV is robust and recommended implementation of strict control on fabrication, inspection and acceptance procedures. Among others, FAC has recommended fabrication processes to be critically reviewed and updated. It has recommended for independent inspection of all critical dimensions of components and subassemblies by in-house agencies. Further, long duration hot test on one out of every 20 engines fabricated has been recommended to ensure that production process is under control. In addition, FAC has recommended strengthening the process of clearance of launch during Automatic Launch Sequence (ALS) phase.

    FAC conclusions and recommendations have been accepted and necessary action has been initiated to implement all of them, the release adds.

  • Brunei’s RTB International using Asiasat to expand presence across Asia

    Brunei’s RTB International using Asiasat to expand presence across Asia

    MUMBAI: Asian satellite operator Asiasat and Brinei’s pubcaster Radio Television Brunei (RTB) gave signed a lease agreement.
    This is for the use of C-band capacity on Asiasat 2 for free to air distribution of the ‘RTB International’ channel, serving viewers in Asia, Australasia and the Middle East.

    RTB International has commenced broadcasting on Asiasat 2. It offers programming in Malay and English languages 24 hours a day on a range of content including news, current affairs, religious, dramas, musicals, game shows, documentaries, sports, magazines and educational programmes.

    “We are very excited to expand our broadcast service to the whole of Asia, and further to the Middle East and Australasia via Asiasat 2. We have been using Asiasat 2 for the Asiavision daily television news exchange service with many other Asian broadcasters for the last few years.

    RTB director Lim Sam Lee says, “We are very satisfied with Asiasat 2’s service and we found it a very popular satellite among Asia’s leading broadcasters. Our launch of service on Asiasat 2 would enhance our capability to access more viewers across the Asia Pacific region and to introduce to international audiences the socio-economic and cultural development in Brunei Darussalam”.

    Asia CEO Peter Jackson says, “We are very pleased to have RTB International on Asiasat 2. The introduction of this channel further strengthens Asiasat 2’s Asian content offerings. This, along with the other television programming from the Middle East, Europe and the US affirms Asiasat 2’s position of being Asia’s most comprehensive and popular broadcast platform for international broadcasting”.

    RTB International will be available on AsiaSat 2 in C-band with the following reception parameters:

    Transponder: 5B
    Frequency: 3786.5 MHz
    Polarisation: Horizontal
    Modulation: QPSK
    Symbol Rate: 6.00 Msym/sec
    FEC: 7/8

  • Arianespace to launch Arabsat’s BADR-6 satellite

    MUMBAI: As part of its upcoming ambitious fleet renewal and expansion program for the next 3 years, Satcom operator Arabsat has selected Arianespace for the launch of its recently ordered BADR-6 satellite in 2008.

    BADR-6, a fourth-generation satellite, will be built jointly by EADS-Astrium and AlcatelAleniaSpace for the communications payload, based on the Eurostar 2000+ platform. Weighing 3,400 kg at launch, the satellite will be fitted with 24 C-band and 20 Ku-band transponders with a design life of about 15 years. BADR-6 is designed to primarily provide video broadcasting services for the entire Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region from Arabsat’s 26°East geostationary orbital location and by far the MENA region’s leading video neighbourhood.

    Co-located with the rest of the BADR constellation of satellites at Arabsat’s “hot-spot” for DTH entertainment, it will be reaching an audience of 130 Million viewers from Morocco to the Gulf and a large part of sub-Saharan Africa. Moreover, BADR-6 will also provide Arabsat with additional in-orbit back-up capacity for its core television and radio customers, as well as a significantly larger number of options for optimising its telephony and data transmissions.

    Arianespace CEO Jean-Yves Le Gall says, “Arianespace is very proud and honoured to have once again been chosen by the leading operator Arabsat. We have maintained a preferred relationship with Arabsat since launching the Arabsat-1A satellite in 1985. Furthermore, being chosen for this new satellite launch right when Arabsat has announced an ambitious deployment plan is a clear recognition of the top quality and excellence offered by Arianespace’s launch service. We consider it as a significant milestone, hopefully strengthening our cooperation in the close future”.

  • Indiavision targets 5 November launch for entertainment channel ‘Yes’

    Indiavision targets 5 November launch for entertainment channel ‘Yes’

    MUMBAI: Kerala’s Indiavision Satellite Communications Ltd, which runs the news channel Indiavision, is gearing up to launch an entertainment channel in the Malayalam television market. The company is targeting 5 November for the launch of its proposed youth-oriented entertainment channel ‘Yes’.

    “The new channel will be an out-and-out entertainment channel with programmes mainly targeted at the Malayalam-speaking youth. We are investing about Rs 200 million in the venture,” Indiavision resident director Jamaal Farooq tells indiantelevision.com.

    According to Farooq, the funding would be done through equity mobilisation. He adds that the company is looking to source the funding from individuals based in Kerala. “Our flagship (news) channel Indiavision is mainly driven by investments from Non Resident Indians (NRIs). But, in the case of Yes, we are tapping only Kerala-based individuals.”

    Farooq also informs that the Indian Medical Association (IMA) has offered to invest Rs 20 million in Indiavision.

    Yes, a free-to-air channel, will be using a transponder space of 4.5 mbps on the Insat 4A satellite.

    Indiavision is also planning to launch an English news channel targeting South Indian expats based in the Middle East. “We are planning to launch an English news channel in the Middle East after the launch of Yes,” says Farooq.