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Tag: satellite operator

  • XTreme-AsiaSat to provide 4K premium UHD content

    XTreme-AsiaSat to provide 4K premium UHD content

    MUMBAI: 4K-SAT, the Ultra-HD channel operated by Asia’s premier satellite operator Asia Satellite Telecommunications Co. Ltd. (AsiaSat), will be broadcasting premium extreme and outdoor content from XTreme Video on AsiaSat 4.

    XTreme Video is producing the best 4K content for extreme sports fans worldwide. Its UHD content on 4K-SAT will include some of the most stunning extreme and outdoor content, such as the successful mountain biking series ‘MTB Insights’ and the world’s wildest freestyle motocross show ‘Masters of Dirt’.

    “The brilliance of 4K definition truly comes into its own when the subject matter is as visually captivating as extreme and outdoor programming. We’re committed to bringing the highest quality programming to audiences around the globe, via partnerships with platforms, broadcasters and partners like AsiaSat,” said Joe Nilsson, senior director of business

    “XTreme Video offers exciting, adrenaline pumping programs that are very popular amongst viewers of all ages that are interested in extreme sports. We want to bring an immersive quality viewing experience to viewers via our platform on AsiaSat 4,” said Sabrina Cubbon, vice president, marketing and global accounts of AsiaSat.

    ‘4K-SAT’ continues to impress major TV operators and viewers across the region with unique and compelling UHD content in fashion, lifestyle, nature, movies, TV series, documentaries, extreme sports and technology.

    Since 1994, XTreme has been the home of independent creators capturing and documenting the culture, locations and stories of extreme activities. Asia Satellite Telecommunications, the leading satellite operator in Asia, serves over two-thirds of the world’s population with its six satellites.

  • XTreme-AsiaSat to provide 4K premium UHD content

    XTreme-AsiaSat to provide 4K premium UHD content

    MUMBAI: 4K-SAT, the Ultra-HD channel operated by Asia’s premier satellite operator Asia Satellite Telecommunications Co. Ltd. (AsiaSat), will be broadcasting premium extreme and outdoor content from XTreme Video on AsiaSat 4.

    XTreme Video is producing the best 4K content for extreme sports fans worldwide. Its UHD content on 4K-SAT will include some of the most stunning extreme and outdoor content, such as the successful mountain biking series ‘MTB Insights’ and the world’s wildest freestyle motocross show ‘Masters of Dirt’.

    “The brilliance of 4K definition truly comes into its own when the subject matter is as visually captivating as extreme and outdoor programming. We’re committed to bringing the highest quality programming to audiences around the globe, via partnerships with platforms, broadcasters and partners like AsiaSat,” said Joe Nilsson, senior director of business

    “XTreme Video offers exciting, adrenaline pumping programs that are very popular amongst viewers of all ages that are interested in extreme sports. We want to bring an immersive quality viewing experience to viewers via our platform on AsiaSat 4,” said Sabrina Cubbon, vice president, marketing and global accounts of AsiaSat.

    ‘4K-SAT’ continues to impress major TV operators and viewers across the region with unique and compelling UHD content in fashion, lifestyle, nature, movies, TV series, documentaries, extreme sports and technology.

    Since 1994, XTreme has been the home of independent creators capturing and documenting the culture, locations and stories of extreme activities. Asia Satellite Telecommunications, the leading satellite operator in Asia, serves over two-thirds of the world’s population with its six satellites.

  • Thaicom promotes Paiboon Panuwattanawong as CEO

    Thaicom promotes Paiboon Panuwattanawong as CEO

    MUMBAI: Asian satellite operator Thaicom Plc has appointed Paiboon Panuwattanawong as the new CEO and authorised director of Thaicom, effective from October 1. 

     

    Panuwattanawong has been serving Thaicom for 23 years now with the last six years in the role of chief technical officer (CTO).

     

    The previous CEO, Suphajee Suthumpun, will serve as an adviser to support the new CEO during the leadership transition period from 1 October – 31 December.  

     

    During her four years at Thaicom, Suthumpun created sustainable growth and success for Thaicom and the Intouch Group. 

     

    Suthumpun’s efforts and accomplishments have been widely recognised and honoured by many reputable customers, Thai and international institutions alike.

     

    Over the past few years, the company has been implementing a succession plan in order to ensure business continuity. Panuwattanawong was identified as the natural successor to Suthumpun as CEO. 

     

    Bachelor of Engineering (Electronics) from Yale University, Panuwattanawong has also attended the Directors Certification Program at Thai Institute of Directors Association in 2009. 

  • AsiaSat announces sales solutions team

    AsiaSat announces sales solutions team

    MUMBAI: Satellite  operator  Asia  Satellite Telecommunications  (AsiaSat)  has  announced  an  enhancement  of  its  sales development and support activities in order to improve the solutions it delivers to its clients.

    A new sales solutions team has been formed and will provide focused and solutions-driven support to the company’s sales and business development activities.  Led by Alan Wong, manager, sales solutions, this team will have an increased focus of identifying and implementing the best solution for each customer’s requirements.

    “With rapidly-changing markets and requirements, this group, working together with our Sales and Engineering & Operations teams, is a key asset for better addressing customer needs and strengthening our partnerships with current and prospective clients,” said Philip Balaam, Vice President, Sales and Business Development.  “As part of our continuous improvement we are looking at offering a more effective and targeted sales approach and the Sales Solutions team will be an important pillar of that effort.”

  • SES to launch SES-12 for Asia

    SES to launch SES-12 for Asia

    MUMBAI: Satellite operator SES is looking at building a new hybrid communications satellite, SES-12. And for the same, the operator has selected Airbus Defence and Space. The new satellite, which is set for a launch in 2017, aims to serve the fast growing direct to home (DTH), data, mobility and government markets in Asia.

     

    The new satellite will expand SES’s capabilities to provide DTH broadcasting, VSAT, Mobility and High Throughput Satellite (HTS) data connectivity services in the Asia-Pacific region, including rapidly growing markets such as India and Indonesia.

     

    The spacecraft will be positioned at the well-established SES orbital slot of 95 degrees east, providing incremental as well as replacement capacity with excellent view angles across the Asia-Pacific region.

     

    SES-12 will replace SES’s existing NSS-6 satellite and will be co-located with SES-8.  The satellite operator currently serves close to 20 million DTH households in India and Indo-china from this orbital slot.

     

    The new satellite will be built by Airbus Defence and Space based on the highly reliable Eurostar E3000 platform. The satellite is designed to operate for 15 years, with a payload consisting of 68 high-power physical Ku-band transponders and eight physical Ka-band transponders. The spacecraft will be equipped with an electric plasma propulsion system for orbit raising and on-orbit maneuvers. The payload of the hybrid SES-12 satellite consists of two distinct but complementary missions: first, traditional wide beam coverage, and second, a high-powered Ku-band multi spot beam payload (HTS).

     

    The traditional wide-beam mission consists of 54 (36 MHz equivalent) transponders that will provide state-of-the-art replacement and growth capacity for SES’s existing DTH, government and VSAT customers allowing for a seamless transition from NSS-6 to SES-12. In addition, the design provides incremental growth capacity to support new DTH platforms and other services targeting the Asia-Pacific region. The second mission consists of 70 Ku-band spot beams and 11 Ka-band spot beams delivering over 14 GHz for VSAT, Enterprise, Mobility and Government applications. This mission also includes a Digital Transparent Processor (DTP) which provides anti-jamming capabilities as well as increased payload flexibility in order to provide customised bandwidth solutions to SES customers.

     

    “I salute SES’s ambitions when it comes to innovation and responsiveness in a rapidly changing market, and we are pleased to be able to provide them with our very best technology for both the payload and the platform,” said Airbus Defence and Space head of space systems Francois Auque. He added, “We have been using electric propulsion for station-keeping for 10 years now and have equipped 10 Eurostar E3000 satellites with this technology, which we are now also offering for initial orbit raising. The resulting weight saving will enable us to combine two high-capacity missions equivalent to two conventional satellites in one satellite, SES-12.”

     

    SES-12 is the eleventh spacecraft that SES has ordered from Airbus Defence and Space, eight of these satellites are in operational service, one is ready to be launched and a tenth, ordered this year, is currently under construction. The satellite operator has decided that it will keep its annual spending to around Euro 450 million. It has also drawn up a five year plan, as part of which SES from 2014 to 2018 will spend a total of Euro 2.3 billion. It currently has four satellites under construction, including SES-12. Plans are also afoot to start more five satellite builds during this five year period. 

     

    SES chief technology officer Martin Halliwell said, “We look forward to working again with Airbus Defence and Space on this important addition to our global fleet. SES-12 will greatly expand our capacity over Asia and is fully in line with our capital expenditure plan. Through its unique hybrid DTH/HTS design, SES-12 will continue to support our growing DTH platforms and provide a new, lower cost HTS product, further enhancing our customer’s options for growth.” 

  • MEASAT elevates Alex Tan to senior sales director

    MEASAT elevates Alex Tan to senior sales director

     MUMBAI: MEASAT Satellite Systems (MEASAT) has elevated Alex Tan from sales director to senior sales director – Telecoms & VAS (Asia Pacific). In his new role, Tan will continue to lead the Asia -Pacific telecom’s sales team with focus on growing MEASAT’s business across the region.

     

     Tan joined MEASAT in 2008. During his six years with the satellite operator, Tan has raised MEASAT’s profile building relationships with leading telecom operators, oil & gas service providers, Malaysian GLCs (Government-Linked Companies) and VSAT operators.

     

     He has over 17 years of experience in the satellite and telecommunications industry. Prior to joining MEASAT, Tan served as senior regional manager, business development with SpeedCast, focusing on development of VSAT business within South East Asia, Indochina and Central Asia.

     

     Tan holds a Bachelor of Engineering in Electronic Engineering, majoring in telecommunications. He graduated with Honours (2nd Class Upper) from University of South Australia, Australia.

     

    In another development, MEASAT is all set to reveal its updated corporate image on 17 June 2014 during CommunicAsia. The revised corporate image, rooted in the previous branding introduced in 2006, introduces additional colors to reflect the changes in the organisation over the past eight years.

  • SES renews contract with Sony Entertainment Television Asia

    SES renews contract with Sony Entertainment Television Asia

    MUMBAI: SES – a world-leading satellite operator with a fleet of 54 geostationary satellites – today announced a renewal of its contract with Sony Entertainment Television (SET) Asia.

    The new agreement will enable SET Asia to reach out to its subscribers in the UK and Ireland at SES’ prime orbital arc of 28.2/28.5 degrees East, as well as distribute its platform to affiliates across Europe.

    The satellite operator serves almost 13 million satellite households across the UK and Ireland from its constellation of four satellites positioned at the orbital arc of 28.2/28.5. The company is in the process of a full fleet renewal at the prime orbital location: ASTRA 2F was launched September 2012 while ASTRA 2E was recently launched successfully on 30 September 2013. ASTRA 2G will be launched in Q1 2014.

    SES chief commercial officer Ferdinand Kayser says: “We are delighted that SET Asia has chosen SES to continue to deliver their premium service at the orbital arc of 28.2/28.5 degrees East. This long-term partnership shows SET Asia’s confidence in our ability to provide leading edge technologies that will ensure seamless delivery of their service to subscribers.”

    “Our prime service, SET Asia, has been on ASTRA satellites since 1999,” says SET Asia executive VP Neeraj Arora. “We have found the reliability and coverage offered by SES to be exemplary and we are very pleased to have renewed our contract.”

  • Eutelsat acquires GE-23 satellite for $228 mn

    Eutelsat acquires GE-23 satellite for $228 mn

    MUMBAI: Satellite operator Eutelsat has concluded negotiations to acquire from GE Capital the GE-23 satellite, associated customer contracts and orbital rights.

     

    The deal for $228 million is expected to close in the second half of the year, subject to regulatory approvals.

     

    Built by Thales Alenia Space, GE-23 was launched in December 2005 and has an expected life of 15 years. From its location in geostationary orbit at 172°E, the satellite offers unique coverage over the Asia-Pacific region via a payload of 20 Ku-band transponders accessing five interconnecting beams and 18 C-band transponders connected to a trans-Pacific beam.

    Leveraging its coverage and high-bandwidth capability, GE-23 offers a broad range of telecom services to a diverse base of blue chip customers.

     

    GE-23 will be integrated into the Eutelsat’s fleet, with a smooth transition for existing customers. It will be renamed Eutelsat 172A.

     

    The opportunity was assessed consistently with the Group’s disciplined approach to both organic and external growth opportunities. The transaction is expected to be accretive to EBITDA margin and to EPS in year 1.

     

    It will be financed through Eutelsat’s existing liquidity. From a leverage standpoint, it will lead to a moderate increase in the Net Debt / EBITDA ratio, and will, therefore, have no material impact on Eutelsat’s financial flexibility.

    Expanding Eutelsat’s reach and commercial offering in Asia

     

    The acquisition of GE-23 fits with Eutelsat’s strategy to expand its presence in the most dynamic geographic regions. The satellite brings coverage of the Asia-Pacific markets where growth is driven by a broad range of applications. It will complement Eutelsat’s organic initiatives, notably the Eutelsat 70B satellite, equipped with a dedicated Asian beam, which is scheduled to launch in the fourth quarter of 2012.

     

    With GE-23, Eutelsat is also acquiring a quality customer portfolio with a strong track record of contract renewals. The extended coverage also opens the way for Eutelsat to broaden its offering to its existing clients and to develop new business.