ITV

Tag: David McGlade

  • Casbaa to organise satellite industry forum in Singapore in June

    Casbaa to organise satellite industry forum in Singapore in June

    MUMBAI: The Cable and Satellite Broadcasting Association of Asia (Casbaa) will stage the seventh annual Casbaa Satellite Industry Forum in Singapore on 18 June 2007.

    The Casbaa Satellite Industry Forum traditionally acts as a curtain-raiser for the CommunicAsia and BroadcastAsia trade shows in Singapore.

    Themed Converging on Satellite, issues to be addressed during the e meeting of global and regional industry leaders include the impact on satellite markets of proposed Wimax deployments, the real story behind the satellite-to-mobile TV opportunity and the demand drivers for HDTV services.

    Invited satellite industry leaders include International Telecommunications Union (ITU) Secretary General Hamadoun Toure, Intelsat CEO David McGlade and Telesat CEO Dan Goldberg.

    There will be a focus on satellite market development within Asia, with leading speakers drawn from some of the fastest growing markets in the world – India, Indonesia, Thailand, Japan and Malaysia – sharing their insights.

    Meanwhile, the regulatory environment underpins our industry and a close examination of that environment will provide new insights on the future of the Asia-Pacific market.

    Casbaa Satellite Industry Committee chairman David ball says, “Given the opportunities provided by the changing Asian landscape and the challenges from new technologies, we are seeing unprecedented development within Asia”.

    Casbaa CEO Simon Twiston Davies says, “The Casbaa Satellite Industry Forum is the premier forum in Asia for satellite market strategy discussions. This year will be a banner year for Asia Pacific satellite services as their value as primary carriers for video and back up for data services is reinforced.”

  • Intelsat-Panamsat merger approved by FCC

    Intelsat-Panamsat merger approved by FCC

    MUMBAI: America’s media regulatory body Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has approved Intelsat’s acquisition of Panamsat.

    Noting that the transaction was unopposed, the FCC Commissioners found that “the transaction will be in the public interest,” and they therefore granted Intelsat’s application for a transfer of control of Panamsat’s FCC licenses. No other regulatory approvals are required, in the US or elsewhere, prior to the closing of the transaction.

    Intelsat is planning on completing the Panamsat acquisition on 3 July 2006. Intelsat CEO David McGlade said, “The closing of the merger will open a new chapter for our industry and our customers, who will benefit from expanded services and improved network flexibility and resilience as we bring together these two great companies.

    “Serving our customers with innovation and quality is our highest priority, and the first step in accomplishing that objective is through implementing a seamless integration.”

    Intelsat and Panamsat had announced their merger agreement on 29 August 2005. Under the agreement, Intelsat will acquire Panamsat for $25 per share in cash, or approximately $3.2 billion in the aggregate.

  • US Justice Dept. clears Intelsat-PanAmSat merger

    US Justice Dept. clears Intelsat-PanAmSat merger

    MUMBAI: PanAmSat Holding Corporation has announced that the United States Department of Justice is closing its antitrust investigation of the company’s proposed merger with satellite provider, Intelsat Ltd. The Justice Department is not seeking any conditions and is not otherwise commenting on, the proposed merger.

    The transaction, in which Intelsat is to acquire PanAmSat for $3.2 billion in August, remains under review by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC), states an official release.

    “PanAmSat today has worked hard to become one of the world’s leading providers of standard and high-definition television signals, with a highly reliable satellite fleet, top-notch service and a professional style of management,” said PanAmSat CEO Joe Wright. “We’ve reached the point where this merger with Intelsat makes a lot of sense for our shareholders, customers and employees. You won’t be able to match the combined quality of these two companies. We look forward to our new relationship with Dave McGlade, his management team and his employees.”

    Commenting on the same, Intelsat Chief Executive David McGlade said, “With the Justice Department’s decision not to challenge our transaction, we are moving full speed ahead with our integration planning and preparations.

    “We will be finalizing our financing over the next few weeks and should be in a position to close soon after receiving FCC approval.”

    Intelsat and PanAmSat announced their merger agreement on 29 August 2005. Under the agreement, Intelsat will acquire PanAmSat for $25 per share in cash, or $3.2 billion. In addition, approximately $3.2 billion in debt of PanAmSat and its subsidiaries will remain outstanding or be refinanced. Closing of the transaction is subject, among other things, to the receipt of financing by Intelsat and to obtaining regulatory approval from the FCC, adds the release.

    In addition, all other regulatory approvals required prior to closing have been obtained.

  • Intelsat launches open architecture content management service

    Intelsat launches open architecture content management service

    MUMBAI: Satellite operator Intelsat has introduced Ampiage. This is a new satellite-based, open-architecture, content delivery and management service for US multiple system operators (MSOs) seeking to cost-effectively upgrade to MPEG-4 and telecommunications operators (telcos) looking to enter the IPTV market.

    Intelsat CEO David McGlade says, “Our goal is to offer services that help our customers reach their goals, and Ampiage will benefit phone companies and cable operators in two very different ways. This is a game-starter for phone companies looking to launch IPTV services for their subscribers and make a video play.

    “Separately, it is also a cost-effective way for cable companies to upgrade to MPEG-4 without having to invest new capital in equipment. Lastly, Ampiage also showcases Intelsat’s ability to introduce innovative services that address new and growing markets created by the convergence of telecom and media.”

    Modelled on a “super head-end” for content distribution Ampiage will upgrade and convert video stream for MSOs from MPEG-2 to MPEG-4 using state-of-the-art equipment. The move to MPEG-4 is being driven by the desire for both higher transmission quality and efficient utilization of bandwidth. The service is designed to include fully redundant facilities and transmission capacity, thus it is expected that Ampiage services will have the ‘gold standard’ service excellence and high availability for which Intelsat is known.

    Intelsat says that Telco customers will realise cost savings by taking advantage of Intelsat’s packaged offering, which, if the elements were procured separately and on their own, would cost them millions of dollars. Telco customers are expected to benefit from Intelsat’s volume relationships with content creators worldwide, its ability to secure transport rights and its relationships with coveted niche and international programmers, which will enable them to create local packages that are highly customised to demographic concentrations.

    Ampiage cost-effectively packages the acquisition, aggregation, encoding, encapsulation and encryption of licensed TV programming from content providers and has the ability to redistribute it in MPEG-2 or MPEG-4 format to cable and telecom service providers. This allows MSOs and telcos either to establish or enhance their digital programming lineups quickly and with low capital investment.

    Ampiage completely centralises the aggregation of national TV programmer content and offers hundreds of video and audio channels in full digital quality. This enables telcos to efficiently bundle an attractive standard and high definition programming package with their voice and broadband services without incurring a significant upgrade cost.

    Ampiage originates from Intelsat’s Video Operations Center, where video and audio are received and processed for distribution to telco and MSO video hubs nationwide. Leveraging the complete coverage of North America offered by the Intelsat Americas fleet, Ampiage distributes the programming to regional telecom and cable service providers. Telcos and MSOs then distribute this programming content via xDSL, fiber, conventional cable networks and other broadband networks to their residential subscribers across North America.