Satellite service provider offers standardized ground services in many regions of the world

Serving as sub-contractor to the satellite service provider, atrexx is currently completing installation works that include the setting up of redundant antennas at each site in Ku- and C-band.

The company has experienced a surge in demand for ground services that include all supporting services such as site survey, choice of antenna location, planning of installation, installation itself, commissioning, as well as preventive and corrective maintenance. As a response to this demand, atrexx has focused on standardizing its offerings and has developed specific products that can enable them to deliver best-in-class products to their clients.

Over the past few years, atrexx has placed great emphasis on recruiting and training many installers in Africa and Asia, with a special focus on the African Continent and the Middle East so that projects like the one above can be handled no matter where in the world they are required. Markus Schäfer, Managing Director of atrexx commented: “atrexx is pleased with the ongoing project. It shows that our installer network can handle the request with professionalism.”

Deployments such as these are not without their complications. Mr. Schäfer explained: “The security measures of the embassies and the safety regulations regarding the statics have sometimes been a challenge for our staff in the field, but we have overcome these challenges with professional project management and flexibility.”

atrexx’ near ten year experience in the VSAT market and knowledge of the provision of remote connectivity solutions gives the company a unique edge. Experience with regulatory and licensing issues in different regions is essential, as is a good degree of familiarity with the region where deployment is taking place. This coupled with a high level of technical expertise and a relationship with installers in different countries, enables atrexx to deliver the complete package so that the client can be sure of a high quality service.

Mr. Schäfer continued: “We recognize that the ground service element of VSAT communications is not necessarily the most attractive to satellite service providers. It is often viewed as the ‘dirty work’. However, without it there is no VSAT service. Good ground services are crucial to our clients in terms of winning large contracts, and we are proud to be able to offer these types of services at such a high standard. We plan to extend our standardized VSAT ground services further East to the Asian region in the near future.”

Ground-breaking High Throughput Satellite with record 70 Gbps capacity to serve users across Europe and Mediterranean Basin.

Michel de Rosen, Eutelsat CEO, commented after successful completion of the first satellite manoeuvres: “We are delighted to confirm that our KA-SAT satellite is now on its way to 9° East, and thank ILS and Khrunichev for this new launch success. KA-SAT will be the cornerstone of a breakthrough infrastructure deployed by Eutelsat for users across Europe and the Mediterranean Basin. By combining a satellite equipped with more than 80 spotbeams and a network of ground stations, this new programme will deliver more capacity than any other satellite programme deployed worldwide. These new resources will in particular benefit Internet Service Providers, enabling them to extend broadband to consumers and enterprises in areas unserved by terrestrial networks. KA-SAT will also consolidate Eutelsat’s Professional Data Network activity, which generates 15% of our revenues, with solutions for enterprises and public administrations that drive down costs of terminals and bandwidth. The launch of KA-SAT is further evidence of the sustained commitment to investment and innovation that Eutelsat has successfully pursued, with the objective of increasing the contribution of satellites to a booming digital economy.”

Built for Eutelsat by Astrium using the Eurostar E3000 platform, KA-SAT ushers in a new generation of multi-spotbeam satellites. Its revolutionary concept is based on a payload with 82 narrow spotbeams connected to 10 ground stations. This configuration enables frequencies to be reused 20 times and takes total throughput beyond 70 Gbps. The ground network will use ViaSat’s SurfBeam® technology, similar to the solution already powering broadband connectivity for almost 450,000 satellite homes in North America. The combination of KA-SAT’s exceptional capacity and ViaSat’s SurfBeam® technology will make it possible to deliver Internet connectivity for more than one million homes, at speeds comparable to ADSL.

KA-SAT will in particular boost to up to 10 Mbps the speeds of Eutelsat’s Tooway^TM consumer broadband service, which has been operated since 2008 by its Skylogic affiliate. Tooway^TM satellite antennas equipped with dual feeds will be able to benefit from broadband connectivity via KA-SAT and broadcast services delivered by satellites located up to 10 degrees from Ka-SAT’s 9° East location. By driving down terminal and transmissions costs, KA-SAT will also lower the barrier to entry for VSAT services for connecting enterprises, providing back-up for private networks, facilitating emergency communications and for transport markets. With each spotbeam delivering total capacity of 900 Mbps, shared between the forward and return paths, significant new resources will also be opened for services needing high throughput and quality that include regional television, newsgathering and connecting local networks to the Internet backbone.

The deployment of the KA-SAT programme, both in space and on the ground, will be pursued with three key phases prior to full entry into commercial service. The first phase comprises circularising the satellite’s orbit, with four firings of the apogee motor over the coming seven days. Once the satellite is on station at 9° East, it will undergo a series of in-orbit tests. This will be followed by the final phase of integrated validation of the satellite and ground stations before commercial entry into service, which is planned for end May 2011.

The KA-SAT satellite was originally scheduled to launch on December 20th from the Baikonur Cosmodrome using the Proton Breeze M launch vehicle. The KA-SAT spacecraft is currently in a nominal configuration mated atop the Breeze M upper stage and adaptor awaiting resumption of joint operations for the mission..

The State Commission was convened on December 5th to determine the cause of the Proton M Block DM-03 GLONASS mission failure as well as corrective actions. According to the preliminary State Commission report, dated 10 December, the three lower Proton M stages performed nominally. It states that there were “no issues with the functioning of LV systems and assemblies that have been detected. The trajectory parameters calculated by the LV motion control system conform to the trajectory measurements obtained from external sources. Command generation times of the flight timeline correspond to estimated values. The LV motion control system was found to have been functioning nominally, in line with the preset algorithms.”

The final report, which is anticipated within one week, will include details on the performance of the Block DM-03 upper stage built and operated by RSC Energia (Energia).

Further information will be provided on the status of the upcoming ILS Proton KA-SAT launch and final State Commission report release as soon as it is available.

Ukrkosmos’ channel portfolio includes state-owned UTR, Kultura and KDRTRK, as well as Sport 1, Sport 2, Malyatko TV and Menu TV. Since UTR and Kultura are subject to must-carry rules, cable operators are obliged to offer the two channels as part of their bouquet. This allows SES ASTRA to immediately gain significant reach in Ukraine.

31.5 degrees East is SES ASTRA’s orbital position for Eastern Europe and the Middle East. It complements SES ASTRA’s very successful 5 degrees East orbital position that already delivers a large variety of channels to Ukraine and allows for further growth in the region.

Norbert Hölzle, Chief Commercial Officer of SES ASTRA, said: “We are delighted about this agreement with Ukrkosmos which demonstrates the strong dynamic in the region. Further to strengthening our long standing relationship with Ukrkosmos and its shareholder, the National Space agency of Ukraine, the agreement shows that we have succeeded in establishing 31.5 degrees East as an important orbital position for the Ukrainian market. We look forward to winning additional customers for this growing orbital position.”

Sergey Kapshtyk, General Director of State Enterprise Ukrkosmos: “The capacity agreement with SES ASTRA will allow us to offer superior signal quality and coverage over Ukraine and optimise the distribution of our customer’s content to terrestrial and cable networks. We are looking forward to continue working extensively with our colleagues from SES ASTRA to improve our offer to customers in Ukraine.”

“KA-SAT’s multi-spotbeam design, use of Ka-band frequencies and proven systems deployed in North America by our technology partner, ViaSat, will transform the volume of bandwidth available through a single satellite and the scope and economics for new services,” said Michel de Rosen, Eutelsat’s CEO. “With this pan-European infrastructure complementing our Ku-band resources that will be progressively expanded and modernised with six new satellites, Eutelsat is uniquely positioned to further push back the boundaries of satellite-delivered services across the markets we serve.”

The agreement to acquire Schlumberger GCS follows the Harris acquisition of CapRock Communications on July 30, 2010. CapRock Communications is a premier global provider of managed satellite communications solutions – including broadband Internet, IP voice services, secure networking and real-time video – for the energy, government and maritime industries, as well as for disaster recovery. CapRock’s robust global infrastructure includes four self-owned and operated teleports and 11 regional support centers across North America, Central and South America, Europe, West Africa and Asia Pacific.

“Combining Schlumberger GCS with CapRock Communications will create an organization with unsurpassed global satellite network capabilities, broad service offerings, and a large experienced service team to provide customers with superior remote and in-the-field support,” said Howard L. Lance, chairman, president and CEO of Harris. “Harris CapRock Communications will be able to use its capabilities and expertise to offer customers the most secure, reliable and efficient solutions in the industry.”

Under the terms of the agreement, Harris will purchase the Schlumberger GCS business for $397.5 million in cash, subject to post-closing adjustments. The goodwill arising on completion of the acquisition will be an allowable tax expense with an estimated net present value of $50 million, resulting in an effective purchase price of $347.5 million. For the calendar year ending December 31, 2010, Schlumberger GCS revenue is expected to be $170 million, and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) is expected to be $41 million. Excluding acquisition-related charges, the acquisition is expected to have minimal impact on Harris non-GAAP earnings in fiscal 2011; be slightly accretive in fiscal 2012; and a significant contributor to earnings and growth in fiscal 2013 and beyond. The transaction is subject to customary regulatory reviews and closing conditions, and it is expected to close during the third quarter of fiscal 2011. Harris will finance the acquisition using a combination of cash on hand, commercial paper, borrowings under its committed credit facilities, and long-term debt.

“Schlumberger has successfully developed its Global Connectivity Services business over the past 10 years to reach an extensive global products and services offering. This acquisition by Harris will ensure continued growth and new technology deployment in a focused communications organization,” said Tony Bowman, president of Schlumberger Information Solutions. “Schlumberger will continue to take advantage of these capabilities once the transaction is concluded through a long-term contract with Harris CapRock Communications.”

It is expected that the transaction will close during the first quarter of 2011, subject to the realisation of certain conditions including regulatory approvals.

SES ASTRA has a long-standing business relationship with Astrium and has ordered a total of nine satellites from the satellite manufacturer. Six of these satellites are currently under construction at Astrium’s facilities across Europe.

Ferdinand Kayser, President and CEO of SES ASTRA, said: “This transaction will strengthen our relationship with Astrium Services through a joint shareholding in ND SatCom. It will also underpin our efforts to further enlarge the scope of our satellite infrastructure offering for governments and institutions, and to grow this promising new business segment. Together with Astrium Services, we will be able to take ND SatCom to the next phase of its development and strengthen its position.”

Eric Béranger, CEO of Astrium Services, said: “This move underlines our strong commitment to growing our business across Germany – one of our key home markets. With the deal due to conclude early next year, we will then have an opportunity to deploy significantly wider product range by combining Astrium’s secure satcoms, networks and terminals expertise with ND SatCom’s for a stronger offering to the civil, governmental and military markets.”

BGAN, Global Network, Internet Satellite Global

atrexx, a leading solutions provider for the telecommunication and broadcast industries, is offering customers that activate new SIM cards the opportunity to purchase pre-paid BGAN vouchers at discounted rates until 31 December 2010. Inmarsat’s BGAN (Broadband Global Area Network) is a mobile satellite service that allows subscribers to access Internet at broadband speed and to make phone calls at the same time at almost any location on the planet, using a terminal of less than a notebook PC size.

Discounts offered on exclusive BGAN prepay service

Especially beneficial for occasional users, the BGAN vouchers from atrexx are available with a discount of 10 percent for 250 traffic units and up to 20 percent for 5000 units. One traffic unit represents a one-minute call to a fixed network worldwide. atrexx will also waive the fee for service and SIM card activation during the promotional period.

 ”This offer is a great opportunity for new BGAN users. The option to buy pre-paid units is extremely popular, especially in regions like Africa where 99 percent of traditional land mobile communications is estimated to be on a pre-paid basis” said Miriam Zude, Account Manager at atrexx. “We are giving our customers the chance to use BGAN with no monthly fee but we can also offer them the option of topping up their pre-paid account online at $0.90 per unit using a credit card. After they have bought their units, they can then have peace of mind by monitoring the account online making it easy to manage.”

BGAN is a perfect communications choice for anyone that works or travels to regions where the communications infrastructure is lacking or non-existent. Another main attraction of the BGAN system is the fact that no specialist technical knowledge is required to deploy it and it can therefore be used by a huge range of user groups such as journalists, military personnel, aid workers, civil engineers and researchers to name a few.

Valid for 24 months after activation or after the last top-up, the atrexx prepaid service package provides voice applications with unique rates for terrestrial fixed networks and for cellular networks worldwide, broadband Internet access and SMS services. The SIM card may be used in any BGAN hardware.

Ms. Zude continued: “There are very few BGAN providers that offer a prepaid service and atrexx is proud to be one of those. We also offer customer BGAN equipment rental options at just $8.90 per day. This, coupled with the prepaid option, is the perfect choice for users who only need the equipment for a limited time. Prepay BGAN services give the customer flexibility and control over how much they spend at a time where budgets are constrained.”

Comprised of maritime satellite service providers and technology manufacturers, the Maritime Satcom Forum aims to heighten awareness of satellite communications in the industry, strengthen advocacy efforts, expand delivery of training at the end-customer level and provide a single voice to help shipping companies understand the value of satellite services. The group’s formation follows a five-year period of intense growth in the maritime sector during which demand for satellite technology has rapidly expanded. The forum will host meetings and events to provide members with opportunities to discuss key market trends and developments.

“We’ve seen remarkable growth in the demand for satellite communications onboard vessels,” said Simon Bull, a Comsys satellite communications analyst who will Chair the newly-formed group’s first meeting. “With so many shipping operators looking to convert their vessels into fully-connected mobile offices, there is a tremendous need to educate end users on the service levels, capabilities and benefits of VSAT technology.

“The Maritime Satcom Forum is just the first in a series of groups that will target specific verticals to drive greater awareness of satellite communications and ultimately accelerate its adoption,” said David Hartshorn, the secretary general of GVF. “For us, the maritime industry was an obvious place to start because the need for satellite communications is immediate and the opportunity for providers is tremendous.”

The IS-27 UHF hosted payload provides capability to complement the existing UHF Follow-On (UFO) and future Multi-User Objective System (MUOS) satellites. The payload supports DAMA and IW operations, and is digitally tunable and completely interoperable with existing terminals.

“Intelsat has been providing commercial UHF services to the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) and our allies since the MARISAT and LEASAT programs. This payload continues that heritage and builds upon our current program with the Australian Defence Force,” said Don Brown, Vice President of Hosted Payloads for Intelsat General Corporation. “The IS-27 UHF payload will be functionally equivalent to the Navy’s UFO-11 satellite.”

In March 2010, the Navy submitted a UHF augmentation plan to Congress. A commercially hosted UHF payload was one of the solutions described to mitigate the shortfall in UHF capability. On May 10, 2010, SPAWAR issued a Sources Sought notice to industry requesting solutions for UHF augmentation. “Our intended customers for this payload are the Navy and DoD tactical users, as well as NATO and other allies,” said Kay Sears, President of Intelsat General Corporation. “The requirements outlined in the Sources Sought were at the forefront of our payload design process. Intelsat’s payload will arrive at a critical time and location to sustain warfighter communications.”

Sears continued, “We understand the military’s need for control and autonomy, and plan to offer our customers a variety of different contractual options for this UHF payload.” Intelsat signed an agreement with Boeing Space and Intelligence Systems for manufacturing of IS-27 earlier this month. Intelsat authorized Boeing to proceed with the UHF hosted payload in the second quarter of 2010 for longlead construction in order to meet a launch date in 2012.