Satellite Broadcasting Services Back to Contents 2 TABLE of CONTENTS Vol

Satellite Broadcasting Services Back to Contents 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS Vol. 2 No. 8, December 2004 Click on the title to go directly to the story

COVER STORY FEATURE EXECUTIVE REGIONAL SPOTLIGHT UPDATE

18 / Top Stories 21 / EMEA: Eager for 26 /CEO’s Share their 37/ Year in of 2004 2005 Growth Views on 2004 Review-Latin and Prospect for America 2004 By Virgil Labrador By Chris Forrester 2005 By Chris Forrester By Bernardo Schneiderman We look back at the year’s Europe’s major satellite . top stories which have made operators have weathered For our annual Year in Latin America will start 2005 the most impact on the the worst of the capacity Review issue, we asked with more potential for new satellite industry. downturn and have high- the views of CEOs of projects and investments in hopes for a HDTV-rich leading companies in the the satellite arena as it future. industry on how they saw closes this year with a very 2004 and what prospects positive outlook after the 39 / Case Study: are there for 2005. launch of two satellites in Government and 2004. Industry Partnership in X-band Communications

By “D” D’ Ambrosio REGULAR DEPARTMENTS With military operations in multiple theaters and an increased emphasis on 3 / Note from the Editor 15-17 / New Products homeland security, government emphasis on military 4 / Calendar of Events 41 / Stock Monitor communications infrastructure has never been greater. 9-11 / Industry News 41 / Advertiser’s Index 12-14 / Executives Moves

December 2004 SATMAGAZINE.COM Back to Contents 3 NOTES FROM THE EDITOR Published monthly by Satnews Publishers That’s One Small Step for Man... 800 Siesta Way, Sonoma, CA 95476 USA Phone (707) 939-9306 Fax (707) 939-9235 E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.satmagazine.com EDITORIAL Silvano Payne Publisher

Virgil Labrador Managing Editor and Editor, North America Chris Forrester Editor, Europe, Middle East and Africa

Bernardo Schneiderman Editor, Latin America

Peter I. Galace Editor, Asia-Pacific

John Puetz, Bruce Elbert Dan Freyer, Howard Greenfield Contributing Writers, The Americas

David Hartshorn, Martin Jarrold Contributing Writers, Europe Baden Woodford Contributing Writer, Africa

Jill Durfee ([email protected]) Advertising Sales

Joyce Schneider ([email protected]) Advertising Sales Satnews Publishers is the leading provider of information on the worldwide satellite industry. Fore more information, go to www.satnews.com Cover Design by: Simon Payne Copyright © 2004 Satnews Publishers All rights reserved.

December 2004 SATMAGAZINE.COM Back to Contents 4 2004 – 2005 CALENDAR OF EVENTS

November 30-December 3, Strasbourg, France 9th Annual ISU International Symposium on “Civil, Commercial and Security Space” E-mail: [email protected], www.isunet.edu February 2-3, Le Meridien Etoile, Paris, France SatCom Europe 2005 December 2-5, World Trade Center, Istanbul, Turkey Stefan Nilsson Broadcast, Cable & Satellite eurasia 2004 – A CeBIT Tel: +44 (0)20 7827 5997 Event - Fair and Conference Fax: +44 (0)20 7242 1508 Hannover-Messe International Istanbul E-mail: [email protected] Ufuk Altintop Website: www.terrapinn.com/2005/satcom Tel: +90.212.334 69 12 (direct) +90.212.334 69 00 Fax: +90.212.334 69 34 E-mail: [email protected] Web: www.cebit-bcs.com February 14-18, Johannesburg, South Africa SatCom Africa 2005 Richelle Sher December 7-8, Shangri-La, Pudong, Shanghai, China E-mail: [email protected] Emergency Communications Asia 2004 Tel: +27 11 516 4052 / Fax: +27 11 707 9965 Wendy Tay, Tel: +65 6322 2708 Website: www.satcomafrica.com Email: [email protected] Website: www.terrapinn.com/2004/eca_CN March 15-17, Chelsea Village, London, UK NewCom Africa 2005 2005 Paul Stahl Tel: +44-(0)208-954-2081 January 15, Ko’Olina Golf Club, Kapolei, Oahu, Hawaii, U.S.A. E-mail: [email protected] 5th Annual Cornisica Golf Classic (An official PTC event) Web: www.aitecafrica.com Barbara Coleman, IP Access International, Inc. Tel: 949-655-1035, Fax: 949-240-8072 E-mail: [email protected] April 16-21, Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.A. web: www.cornisica.com/golf/ NAB 2005 +1-202-595-2052 , +1-888-740-4622 January 16, Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.A. E-mail: [email protected] GVF Asia-Pac Satcoms Forum: Network Deployment and the Web: www.nabshow.com Asia-Pac Sustainability Imperative: ICT Applications and ‘Best Practice’ Satellite Strategies’ Martin Jarrold , Tel: + 44 1727 884513 E-mail: [email protected] Web: www.gvf.org May 31-June 2, Long Beach, CA, U.S.A. January 16-19, Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.A. ISCe Conference and Expo PTC ‘05, Gina Lerma Debbie Kamealoha Tel: +1-310-410-9191 / Fax: 1-310-410-9396 Tel: +1.808.941.3789 ext. 129, Fax: +1.808.944.4874 E-mail: [email protected] Email: [email protected] Website: www.isce.com Website: www.ptc.org

December 2004 SATMAGAZINE.COM Back to Contents 5 FEATURE ISCe’s article

December 2004 SATMAGAZINE.COM Back to Contents 6 FEATURE ISCe’s article

December 2004 SATMAGAZINE.COM Back to Contents 7 FEATURE ISCe’s article

December 2004 SATMAGAZINE.COM Back to Contents 8 FEATURE ISCe’s article

Bruce Elbert has over 30 years of experience in satellite communications and is the President of Application Technology Strategy, Inc., which assists satellite operators, network providers and users in the public and private sectors. He is an author and educator in these fields, having produced seven titles and conducted technical and business training around the world. During 25 years with Hughes Electronics, he directed major technical projects and led business activities in the U.S. and overseas. He is the author of The Satellite Communication Applications Handbook, second edition (Artech House, 2004). Web site: www.applicationstrategy.com / Email: [email protected]

December 2004 SATMAGAZINE.COM Back to Contents 9 INDUSTRY NEWS

‘Space Council’ Paves the Way for a To achieve this, a second “Space Council” meeting is planned for Spring 2005 to define general governance principles, identify European Space Program priorities as well as the roles and responsibilities of all stakeholders and establish industrial policy principles. The first ever European ‘Space Council’ was held in Brussels last Nov. 25 Arianespace in Final Preparations for offering ministers representing 27 European Union (EU) and European Helios IIA Launch; Integrates Six Space Agency (ESA) Member States Auxiliary Payloads for Flight 165 the first opportunity to jointly discuss the development of a coherent overall Arianespace European space program. announced on Nov. 25 that the During the meeting, ministers recognized that it is essential to six auxiliary utilize the available resources in an efficient and effective way so satellites to be that the supply of space-based services and infrastructures can orbited by Flight meet the demand from users for the benefit of all European 165 have also citizens. The ministers also agreed that the unique nature of the been mounted on space sector requires the development of an appropriate indus- a dispenser ring trial policy and public authorities close attention. that will be installed with the Liftoff of Flight 165 is set for Decem- German Minister for Education and Research Edelgard Bulmahn, Ariane 5’s primary ber 10 from the Spaceport’s ELA-3 current chair of the ESA council at ministerial level, said the payload. meeting was a great step forward for Europe’s ambitions in launch complex. space. These small satellites have varying missions, including communications with remote scientific ground stations, studies of the “Europe must federate its space efforts in order to better exploit Earth’s climate, and the validation of technologies for a future the potential of space technologies for the well-being of its space-based military electronic intelligence (ELINT) system. citizens. The European Space Program will significantly strengthen Europe’s role in this area of great economic and Ariane 5 G vehicle was moved last week from the integration political importance,” he said. facility to the Final Assembly Building, making a startup of the last major phase of preparations for this upcoming Arianespace Dutch Minister for Economic Affairs Laurens-Jan Brinkhorst, launch. With the launcher in the Final Assembly Building, current chair of the EU Competitiveness Council said the first Arianespace said Ariane 5 is ready to receive its primary payload EU-ESA Space Council Europe made a major step in the direction - the French Helios IIA military reconnaissance platform. of a strong and coherent European Space Program. The integration operation began last week with the installation of “Space technologies and applications will help Europe to reach Spain’s Nanosat on the Ariane 5 dispenser ring. Nanosat is its common goals in the field of i.e. competitiveness, environment Spain’s first small satellite, and it was built by the country’s and security. I am confident that our joint efforts will contribute INTA national space agency (Instituto Nacional de Técnia to a strong and independent position for Europe in the global Aeroespacial). With a weight of less than 20 kg., the spacecraft is arena,” he said. designed to demonstrate the feasibility of applying scaled-down components and sensors in mini satellites. A European space program, to be defined in concept by the end of 2005, will constitute a common, inclusive and flexible platform Nanosat carries extremely small magnetic and solar sensors, encompassing all activities and measures to be undertaken by along with a store-and-forward communications system that will the EC, ESA and other stakeholders (e.g. national organizations) relay information from remote scientific facilities in Antarctica in order to achieve the objectives set in the overall European and elsewhere to a central station in Madrid. space policy. The next satellite integrated on the Ariane 5 dispenser ring was Parasol, a small spacecraft from the French CNES National Space

December 2004 SATMAGAZINE.COM Back to Contents 10 INDUSTRY NEWS

Agency that will study the impact of aerosols and how they interact with clouds. This information is to help scientists better understand the Earth’s climate.

Parasol is equipped with a wide-field imaging radiometer/polarimeter called POLDER (Polarization and Directionality of the Earth’s Reflectances), designed in partnership with the LOA atmospheric optics laboratory in Lille, France.

During its planned two-year mission, Parasol is to join a so-called “A- Train” of spacecraft with a full complement of instruments to observe clouds and aerosols. Other satellites forming the “A-Train” will be Aqua and Aura (from the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration), Calipso (a NASA/CNES project), CloudSat (a U.S./Canadian partnership involving Colorado State University, NASA, the Canadian Space Agency, the U.S. Air Force and the U.S. Department of Energy), and the Orbiting Carbon Observatory (NASA).

VOOM Satellite Service to Increase Channel Capacity in 2005; Cablevision Orders 5 Satellites Worth $740 Million from Lockheed

Rainbow Media Enterprises, a subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corp. (NYSE:CVC), said its year-old VOOM satellite service will dramatically expand in March next year from its current 39 to more than 70 high- definition channels covering the full continental U.S.

Tom Dolan, CEO of Rainbow Media, said the plan is to simultaneously add nearly 200 standard definition channels. To facilitate the expansion, the VOOM service will utilize 16 transponders on the SES Americom AMC-6 satellite, which VOOM refers to as “Rainbow 2,” previously leased from SES Americom, a SES Global company.

Dolan explained that all the programming transmitted by both Rainbow 1 and Rainbow 2 will utilize a new encoding system from Harmonic, initially configured to run in MPEG-2 and software upgradeable to MPEG-4.

This is a step forward in our plans to advance VOOM to MPEG-4 later in 2005, Dolan said. “All VOOM customers have been provided with set-top boxes capable of receiving the MPEG-4 signal and we remain committed to offering more than 400 full continental US channels before the end of 2005,” he added.

Rainbow Media also disclosed that it filed with the Federal Communica- tions Commission a recently completed contract with Lockheed Martin for the construction of five Ka-band satellites for VOOM. These high power satellites, the first of which is to be completed and launched in approximately 34 months, will enable VOOM to increase its channel capacity to more than 5,000 high definition channels when operating in spot beam

December 2004 SATMAGAZINE.COM Back to Contents 11 INDUSTRY NEWS

mode. Subsequent satellites will be completed in three-month According to earlier increments, according to Lockheed. reports, the Board has concluded that based This will enable VOOM to have spot beams covering the entire on analysis and tests, United States including Alaska and Hawaii. With these satellites, Amazonas will have a VOOM will be operating with virtually no capacity constraints. useful life that will These satellites will be operated at the company’s orbital exceed ten years locations at 62W, 71W, 77W, 119W and 129W. despite a decrease in pressure of the satellite’s two oxidant Rainbow Media said the deal, worth about $740 million, under- The Astrium-built telecommuni- tanks detected last scores Cablevision’s determination to push ahead with the Voom cations satellite Amazonas is August 27. The Board service in spite of continuing doubts on its costs and future now providing a broad spectrum said Amazonas will be viability. of telecommunications services able to provide for Brazil and North and South commercial service The work will be overseen by Jefferson County-based Lockheed America. (Astrium photo) Martin Space Systems Co. The satellites will be designed and with full guarantees to developed in Newtown, Pa., and final integration will be done in Hispasat clients. Sunnyvale, Calif. Lockheed will also will provide tracking, telemetry and control equipment, satellite equipment, software Amazonas will also be used by Hispasat subsidiaries Hispamar and training. of Brazil and Hispasat Canarias to provide a multitude of communications services at both C- and Ku-band on both sides VOOM’ s 39 high-definition channels include ESPN HD, HBO of the Atlantic Ocean. HDTV, Cinemax HDTV and others. India’s ISRO and France’s CNES to Amazonas Satellite Enters Develop Atmospheric Satellite Commercial Operation with Full Service Capability The space agencies of India and France signed a Memorandum of Agreement last Nov. 19 to cooperate in launching a satellite that will help make climate predictions more accurate. Hispasat said middle of November the Amazonas satellite launched from Baikonur on August 5, 2004 has been deployed at Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) and the French 61 degrees West on the geostationary orbit and thoroughly National Space Centre (CNES) agreed to proceed with the tested at this location. The company described the communica- development and implementation of the joint atmospheric tions performance of its payload operating in C and Ku-bands as satellite mission, Megha-Tropiques. The launch is planned by “fully satisfactory.” 2008-2009. The Amazonas satellite carries 32 Ku-band and 19 C-band Megha-Tropiques (Megha meaning cloud in Sanskrit and operating transponders, which commercially provide a global Tropiques meaning tropics in French) is meant for investigating capacity of 63 equivalent transponders of 36 MHz. The technical the contribution of the water cycle in the tropical atmosphere to configuration of Amazonas covers, with maximum power, the climate dynamics. The satellite will carry three scientific instru- markets of Brazil and the rest of the American continent. The ments: a Multi-frequency Microwave Scanning Radiometer Amazonas also has transatlantic capacity allowing it to extend its (MADRAS) to be developed jointly by ISRO and CNES for coverage to Europe and North Africa, and complement the providing information on rain above the oceans, integrated water coverage of the current Hispasat fleet of satellites, including the vapor content in the atmosphere, liquid water in clouds, convec- West coast of the United States. tive rain over land and sea; a Multi-channel Microwave Instru- ment (SAPHIR) to be developed by CNES for providing vertical The Amazonas satellite is the third Eurostar E3000 satellite humidity profile in the atmosphere; and a Multi-channel Instru- launched this year to enter commercial service. Antoine Bouvier, ment (SCARAB), also to be developed by CNES, for providing CEO of EADS Astrium that built Amazonas said despite an data on the earth’s radiation budget. incident detected after launch, Amazonas will be able to provide SM full capacity for more than ten years. December 2004 SATMAGAZINE.COM Back to Contents 12 EXECUTIVE MOVES

Stevens to Become Strategic Command in Omaha, Neb., his entry at Sirius is a “perfect opportu- before retiring in July 2004 after 35 years nity” for him because he wants to lead a Lockheed Martin of service in the U.S. Navy. As Com- growth company that can reshape the Chairman Upon Coffman mander of the Strategic Command, Ellis landscape of the radio business. “I took Retirement from Board was responsible for the global command Infinity Broadcasting and Westwood One and control of U.S. strategic forces. In his to leadership positions in the industry Naval career, Ellis held numerous com- and am confident that Sirius will become a Lockheed Martin mands, including Commander, U.S. Allied market leader in short order,” he said. Corp. [NYSE: Forces Southern Europe. LMT] has announced that A graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, SpaceDev Promotes Vance D. Coffman Ellis also holds M.S. degrees in Aero- Richard B. Slansky to will retire from its space Engineering from the Georgia President; Becomes board of directors Institute of Technology and in Aeronauti- effective April cal Systems from the University of West Newest Member of the 2005. Replacing Florida. He served as a Naval aviator and Board of Directors Coffman is Robert was a graduate of the U.S. Naval Test J. Stevens who is Pilot School. SpaceDev (OTCBB:SPDV) Board of expected to be elected by the board of Directors has appointed Richard B. directors as chairman on April 2005 . Mel Karmazin Named Slansky as president and granted him a seat on the company’s board. Slansky will Coffman has served as chairman since CEO of Sirius; Joseph P. remain SpaceDev’s chief financial officer 1998 and retired as Lockheed Martin’s Clayton to Remain as and corporate secretary, positions he has CEO in August of this year when he Chairman held since joining the company in announced that he would remain as the February 2003.

board’s non-employee chairman until The Board of April 2005. Coffman began his career with Jim Benson, SpaceDev founding chairman Directors of Sirius Lockheed Martin 37 years ago as an and CEO said Richard not only has the Satellite Radio aerospace engineer and subsequently right combination of financial and (NASDAQ:SIRI) served in a series of key corporate operational experience but also the has named Mel leadership positions. enthusiasm and drive to contribute Karmazin as Chief substantially to the development of Executive Officer. Stevens became president and CEO in SpaceDev as president. He succeeds August. Prior to August, Stevens served Joseph P. Clayton, as Lockheed Martin’s president and CEO. Prior to joining SpaceDev, Slansky served who will remain at He has also served as the corporation’s in various positions, such as president, Sirius as chairman chief financial officer, among other key CFO, corporate secretary and vice of the board of positions. Photo by VIACOM president of finance, operations and directors. administration for Path 1 Network

Lockheed Martin also announced that Technologies, Inc., a U.S. publicly held Clayton said the hiring of Karmazin is the Norman R. Augustine will retire as a company, and Nautronix Inc., an Austra- final piece in the turnaround of Sirius that member of the board effective in April lian publicly held company. In addition to began when he joined the company three 2005. Augustine has served on the his current responsibilities at SpaceDev, years ago. “My contract was ending on Lockheed Martin board since the com- Slansky serves on the board of directors December 31, and I advised the board of pany was founded in 1995 and served as of two privately held high technology directors that I was willing to stay on for a its chairman from 1997 to 1998 and its companies, one closely held private real transitional period. When Mel left Viacom, CEO from 1996 to 1997. estate company and the not-for-profit we all felt we had a unique opportunity,” board of the Girl Scouts, San Diego- he said. Lockheed’s board also elected James O. Imperial Council.

Ellis, Jr. as a new member. Ellis most recently served as Commander, U.S. Karmazin, who served as president and CEO of Viacom until earlier this year, said December 2004 SATMAGAZINE.COM Back to Contents 13 Executives Moves

Slansky earned a bachelor’s degree in markets, signed major new customers and provider since 2003. He has been instru- economics and science from the Univer- negotiated the successful sale of the mental in the company’s post Chapter 11 sity of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of company. restructuring. Prior to this, Gersh was Business and a master’s degree in Executive Vice President and CFO at business administration in finance and Micek was also president & CEO of NextiraOne LLC in the US. He has held accounting from the University of broadband video software tools company senior international financial roles with Arizona. iKnowledge, where he restructured the British Telecommunications, and company, raised new financing and Motorola. Eagle Broadband implemented a new business plan focused on achieving aggressive revenue growth Gersh graduated with honors from City Appoints David Micek as targets. University of New York and is a Certified Chief Operating Officer Public Accountant. Prior to iKnowledge, he was vice presi- Eagle Broadband, Inc. (AMEX:EAG) has dent & general manager at Texas Instru- appointed David Micek, formerly with ments’ software business unit where he Eagle Broadband Texas Instruments, Borland and Ashton- managed P&L activities including product Tate, as chief operating officer, effective strategy, product management and Names Eric I. Blachno immediately. development, marketing, indirect sales as New Chief Financial and operations and helped achieve market Micek brings more than 25 years of leadership positions for two separate Officer senior-level product development, sales, product lines. Before Texas Instruments, marketing, operations and general Micek was also director & general Eagle Broadband, Inc. (AMEX:EAG) has management experience with Fortune 500, manager at software maker Borland where appointed Eric I. Blachno as chief start-up companies and corporate he managed P&L functions including financial officer effective immediately. turnarounds to Eagle Broadband. With a product strategy, product management Blachno, formerly with IBM, Bear Stearns proven track record of developing, and marketing and he successfully grew and Luminent, assumes the position from launching and growing new products into the company’s Paradox PC database current chief financial officer Richard market leaders, Micek has an established product to become a market-leader. Royall who is resigning to pursue other reputation for achieving dominant market interests. share positions for some of the most well- known technology brands including Alexander Gersh to Join Blachno brings almost two decades of Ashton-Tate’s dBASE and Borland’s NDS as Chief Financial financial and management leadership and PARADOX. In this new role at Eagle, Wall Street, technology and telecommuni- Micek will be responsible for directing Officer cations industry experience with both key operations of the company with a Fortune 500 and emerging growth special focus on new product develop- NDS Group plc, a News Corp. company, companies. Most recently he served as ment to speed time to market for strategic and a provider of technology solutions vice president of finance and chief product offerings that will fully meet for digital pay-TV, has announced that financial officer at Cascade Microtech, a customer needs and further drive revenue Alexander Gersh will join NDS as Chief manufacturer of semiconductor equip- growth. Financial Officer. ment, where he helped lead the company to profitability while managing the Most recently, Micek had several turn- Gersh will take up his NDS role at the financial, accounting and treasury around assignments including president beginning of January 2005. He will join functions. at Internet search company AltaVista NDS from his current responsibilities as Software where he led a restructuring, CFO with Flag Telecom Ltd. Prior to its Prior to Cascade Microtech, Blachno reduced costs and directed the successful amalgamation with Reliance Gateway, Flag served as vice president of finance and sale of the company’s enterprise software Telecom had an OTC listing (OTC: chief financial officer at Luminent, Inc., a business. Before AltaVista, he was FTGLF.PK). leading provider of fiber optic compo- president and CEO of wireless networking nents where he was responsible for company Zeus Wireless where he Alexander Gersh has been with Flag corporate strategy as well as all financial, refocused the company on high growth Telecom, a global network services accounting, treasury and investor

December 2004 SATMAGAZINE.COM Back to Contents 14 Executives Moves relations functions. While at Luminent he Operating Officer of NDS for Space Exploration. Banke will support took the company public with a $144 China effective immedi- the Space Foundation’s mission and million IPO and profitably scaled the ately. customers on Florida’s Space Coast and business from $60 million to a $200 million throughout the region. As director of the revenue run rate within two years until the As COO, Chen assumes Coalition for Space Exploration, Banke is company’s merger with MRV Communica- responsibility for NDS responsible for the Space Foundation’s tions. Luke China operations including support of a collaborative industry effort Chen Li account management, whose mission is to ensure the United Prior to his senior financial management Chien support, delivery and States will remain a leader in space, positions at Cascade Microtech and marketing. Chen reports to science and technology through promo- Luminent, Blachno served as managing Gary Zhou Yi Gang, General Manager of tion of the Vision for Space Exploration. director at technology and healthcare NDS China, and a member of the NDS investment banking firm PMG Capital Asia Pacific senior management. Chris DeGrant was named director of Corporation, where he led the company’s events and plans. She is the principal technology group and communications Sue Taylor, Vice President and General logistics and plans manager for Space equipment equity research. Prior to PMG, Manager of NDS Asia Pacific said, Chen’s Foundation major events, including the he was managing director and senior first priority will be to support the National Space Symposium held each communications equipment equity analyst growing number of NDS China customers. spring in Colorado Springs, Colo., and the for Bear Stearns & Co., Inc. Before his “Mr. Chen has extensive experience in Strategic Space Symposium held each fall Wall Street career, Blachno worked for digital TV delivery and account support in Omaha, Neb. DeGrant’s experience nearly a decade at IBM where he held a in China. He brings the expertise and includes managing high visibility and variety of management positions in professionalism of a Fortune 500 com- media events such as nationally televised finance, sales, marketing, corporate pany to NDS China,” she said. competitions and the final championship strategy and software development. He for the Professional Bull Riders. She also holds an MBA in finance from the Chen’s career spans three decades of was general manager for the Resistol Wharton School, University of Pennsyl- hardware and software testing, engineer- Relief Fund, a nonprofit division of the vania, an MS in Telecommunications from ing and customer support. Chen is an Bull Riders, where she developed and ran Pace University, and a BS in Computer authority on integrated circuit testing and many fund raising events. Science from the University of Florida. engineering. Recent positions that he has held include Chief Representative of Mary Ann Bobko joins the Space Founda- Dave Weisman, CEO of Eagle Broadband Texas Instruments China in Beijing, and tion as director of marketing. She is said Eric brings a unique combination of General Manager of Digivision Technol- responsible for marketing strategy, financial, telecommunications and ogy in Shanghai. including targeted marketing programs, technology industry experience, with a advertising and promotions, and overall well-respected reputation on Wall Street. Space brand management. Bobko brings broad marketing experience to the Space “I am confident Eric can provide Eagle Foundation Foundation, gained during 17 years in the with strong financial leadership and help Names New high-tech industry working for software drive the next phase of the company’s Vice startups to large international corpora- growth while enhancing our communications. Her background includes develop- tions with shareholders and maximizing president ing and managing marketing strategy, visibility for the company within the and building integrated marketing campaigns investment community,” he said. to drive new business, and creating Jim Banke Directors innovative programs for partners and Luke Chen Li Chien customers. The Space Foundation has named a new Joins NDS China vice president and selected four new Niki Moore has been named director of directors to fill newly created and ex- education development. Her responsibili- NDS Group plc, a News Corporation panded positions. Jim Banke was pro- ties include researching and developing company and a leading provider of moted to vice president of Florida relationships with business and govern- technology solutions for digital pay TV operations in addition to retaining ment and writing grants and securing has named Luke Chen Li Chien as Chief responsibility as director of the Coalition additional funds. SM December 2004 SATMAGAZINE.COM Back to Contents 15 New Products

Omneon Spectrum Media Server Attendees took a ‘virtual flight’ from the comfort of Inmarsat’s London headquarters to experience how the new onboard GSM System Deployed for Playout to mobile phone network works, enabling voice calls and SMS Japan’s Mobaho! messages at 30,000 feet. They placed and received calls on their personal mobile phones to test the new service, which is Omneon Video Networks said its Omneon Spectrum media server being marketed to the world’s airlines. system is being used by Tokyo-based NHK Technical Services (NTS) to operate Mobile.n channel programming on Mobaho!, “ARINC, Telenor, and Inmarsat want you to experience one of which it claims to be the world’s first multi-channel satellite service the first live demonstrations of this service, to find out what it broadcasting to mobile viewing terminals. will mean for travellers, airlines and the communications industry,” stated Graham Lake, ARINC Vice President and Mobaho!, a fee-based service from Japan’s Mobile Broadcasting Managing Director, Europe, Middle East & Africa. Corp. (MBCO), was launched Oct. 20, providing individual subscribers with almost 40 channels (seven video channels and 30 The system works through a small ‘picocell’ installed on the audio channels), plus 60 data services. Mobile.n is the all-around aircraft to create a mini mobile cell in the passenger cabin, video channel delivering programs in a variety of genres. Program- linked to the ground via a satellite connection. ming includes NHK’s eight-hours-a-day offering of general news programs from Japan and overseas, sports, and Stratos Offers “Come Sail Away” documentaries, as well as the service’s own programs. MBCO has Savings on Inmarsat Fleet Hardware given NTS responsibility for the Mobile.n channel transmission system design and operation. Mobile.n’s content is being ingested Stratos Global Corp. (TSX: SGB), a and played out via NTS’s six-channel Omneon server and distrib- distributor of Inmarsat satellite uted to viewers through MBCO’s MBSAT satellite. services, announced Wednesday the opportunity for fishing vessel Kenzo Muroi, director of digital technologies development for operators and other maritime NTS’s Business Development Center said their Omneon system customers to “Come Sail Away” with can be expanded in many ways without interrupting server savings of up to US$2000 on operation and they plan to take advantage of this capability in the Inmarsat Fleet F33 and F55 maritime future as the service grows. satellite terminals.

He said the Omneon Spectrum media server system is a good fit While supplies last, Stratos and its for their on-air transmission system and since actual on-air participating distribution partners are offering immediate operation started Oct. 20, the system has lived up to expectations discounts of US$1,500 on selected Fleet F33 and US$2,000 on and provided the best infrastructure for our efficient workflow. selected Fleet F55 maritime satellite terminals.

Both Fleet F33 and F55 solutions from Stratos provide global Mobile Phones Taking Flight as ARINC digital voice connectivity and an integrated data service option and Telenor Demonstrate New Cellular that is ideal for fax and batched data transmission, including file transfers. The integrated data service option, available System within Inmarsat’s spot beam coverage areas, provides fax service at 9.6 kbps, as well as effective dial-up data transmis- ARINC Incorporated and Telenor on sion speeds of up to 40 kbps using optional V40/V42 compres- Thursday gave leading UK and European sion. journalists a demonstration of the technology that will make in-flight mobile phone In addition, Inmarsat Fleet F33 and F55 offer a mobile packet service a reality. ARINC/Telenor Mobile data solution (MPDS) option that provides persistent connec- Connectivity—the GSM mobile phone tivity at speeds up to 64 kbps incoming from the satellite and solution for airlines that uses Inmarsat up to 28 kbps outgoing from the terminal. This always-on, aeronautical services—was deployed higher-speed option is particularly suited to IP-based data inside Inmarsat’s London headquarters for applications, such as Web surfing, intranet access and e-mail. use by an invited list of aviation and aerospace writers and MPDS connectivity is available within Inmarsat’s spot beam editors. December 2004 SATMAGAZINE.COM Back to Contents 16 NEW PRODUCTS coverage areas and users pay only for the amount of data sent offering delivers the best of both worlds — high-speed data and received, rather than the amount of time they are connected. transfer coupled with ubiquitous coverage to help fleets move faster and operate smarter in the field,” he said. Telenor Offers Holiday Satellite Calling Rates at Sea Cincinnati Bell, DirecTV to Offer

Telenor Satellite Services is offering worldwide reduced calling Bundled Suite of Services rates for sailors at sea this holiday season. Cincinnati Bell and DirecTV, Inc. announced Monday a new In conjunction with satellite operator Inmarsat, Telenor is strategic marketing alliance that will enable Cincinnati Bell to extending low-cost Super Quite Time (SQT) hours around-the- offer its residential customers DirecTV service as part of one of clock beginning 20:00 Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) Christmas the most the comprehensive suites of entertainment and commu- Eve 2004 and running until 6:00 GMT January 3, 2005. nication services in the marketplace.

Telenor’s Super Quiet Time (SQT) Program features substantially Consumers throughout the Cincinnati Bell service area, which reduced prices, less than a dollar a minute, for prepaid voice calls includes Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana, can now purchase a over maritime Inmarsat-B, -M, Mini-M, and all Fleet services. variety of calling and Internet services from Cincinnati Bell along with DirecTV service. In “Holidays are a time for sharing with family and friends. So, for addition to the DirecTV Total Choice Plus with those who are at sea and cannot be with their loved ones, Local Channels package which offers more than Telenor wants to make it as easy and affordable as possible for 135 digital-quality channels, customers will them to connect, even though they may be far away from home,” have access to the widest selection of DirecTV said Tore Hilde, CEO of Telenor Satellite Services. entertainment and sports programming like the DirecTV exclusive NFL SUNDAY TICKET, DirecTV digital video recording (DVR) technol- XATA Releases Multi-Mode ogy, high-definition programming and DirecTV- delivered local channels. Communications Platform “The addition of DirecTV ‘s satellite television service offering XATA Corp. (NASDAQ:XATA) has released an integrated to our product line-up enables us to close the gap on providing digital cellular and satellite communications platform that customers with the only all-inclusive bundled suite of services delivers both high-speed data download and ubiquitous cover- that is unmatched by our competition,” said Paul McAleese, age, eliminating the traditional bandwidth and gap limitations chief marketing officer for Cincinnati Bell. facing fleets trying to efficiently operate in real-time.

The combination of third-generation digital cellular and satellite Gilat’s Spacenet Subsidiary Offers networks, according to XATA, creates a speed and coverage advantage allowing fleets to optimize resources in real-time, Hybrid VSAT/DSL Services while reducing on-going wireless communication and software management costs. Gilat Satellite Networks, Ltd. (Nasdaq:GILTF) said its U.S. subsidiary, Spacenet Inc., has added commercial-grade, hybrid XATA MobileSync (patent pending) over-the-air application VSAT/DSL services to its Connexstar family of broadband management instantly makes new features available and reduces connectivity solutions. the cost of updating software in the vehicle, allowing fleets to select and implement additional applications “on the fly” and Spacenet President and CEO Bill Gerety said the DSL service is overcoming the traditional implementation bottlenecks associ- being integrated into the VSAT-based WAN solutions that the ated with onboard technology. company provides to its customers.

“The challenges for today’s fleet operators are to improve Gerety added Spacenet has enjoyed growth over the past five productivity and reduce costs real-time,” said Peter Thayer, chief years as a result of our tight focus on meeting the needs of large technical officer for XATA. “Our new digital cellular and satellite December 2004 SATMAGAZINE.COM Back to Contents 17 NEW PRODUCTS multi-site enterprises, primarily in the retail, hospitality and (TWTA) which covers the C, government sectors. X and Ku-Band uplink frequencies in a single “We remain convinced that for most of these businesses, VSAT- weatherized package. based networks are the most effective way to maximize value and network-wide efficiency. For some customer locations, however, CPI said the amplifier DSL may provide a better fit. For those sites, we now offer DSL provides up to 110 watts of services. Since Connexstar DSL utilizes much of the network power, weighs only 35 infrastructure used by our enterprise-grade Connexstar VSAT pounds and operates at service, our customers are assured of extremely high levels of temperatures up to 60ºC, security, performance and manageability,” he said. AnaCom’s 125W Ku-band including solar loading. It transceiver also features an integral CPI Introduces 110 W Tri-Band redundant switch control, an Outdoor TWTA SSIPA with linearizer, and increased output power of up to 140 watts are available as options. SM

Communications & Power Industries (CPI) Satcom Division, a supplier of uplink amplifiers for ground-based satellite communications, has introduced a Tri-Band traveling wave tube amplifier

December 2004 SATMAGAZINE.COM Back to Contents 18 COVER STORY TopTop StoriesStories ofof 20042004

Virgil Labrador

December 2004 SATMAGAZINE.COM Back to Contents 19 COVER STORY

December 2004 SATMAGAZINE.COM Back to Contents 20 COVER STORY

December 2004 SATMAGAZINE.COM Back to Contents 21 FEATURE

EMEA:EMEA: EagerEager forfor

20052005 GrowthGrowth By Chris Forrester

Salah Hamza, CEO of NileSat viewing its many urope is in good shape. The major satellite operators have channel offerings. weathered the worst of the capacity downturn and have Ehigh-hopes for a HDTV-rich future. Local merger and acquisition activity has also completed its first stages, although catastrophic bankruptcies under its belt (in the UK and Spain) SES Global is still seemingly looking for expansion-by-acquisi- has gone into negative growth territory. If (non-pay) terrestrial tion. Pay-TV broadcasters are also doing well. A study by set-top box ownership were examined then this number would be Screen Digest (“European pay-TV digital platforms”) states substantially positive, helped by Freeview’s success in the UK. that growth prospects for Europe’s pay-TV platforms are today more positive and represent more sustainable opportunities than Nevertheless, by 2008, there will be 94.4m pay TV house- for some years. “Growth in the number of European pay TV holds in Europe, compared to 82.4m at the end of 2003 – a rise of subscribers has seen a steady decline since the launch of 13%. Also helping sales is the continued drop in the cost of set- Europe’s first digital TV platforms between 1996 and 1998. For top boxes. “Digital homes are due to grow from just under one the first time since then there has been a rapid acceleration in third of the pay TV total at the end of 2003 to 58% in 2008. Much growth - the industry is on course for 2.6m net additions in 2004, of this growth will be driven by the cable sector – currently just compared with 1.3m in 2003,” says the report. 6% of Europe’s cable homes are digital but 36% will have been converted by 2008.” Break the figures out and it’s clear that DTH growth (albeit from a modest base) has, at 139% over the past 5 years, been The report says that the DTH consolidation process is over spectacular. Screen Digest is concentrating on the pay-TV side in Spain and Digital Plus should start delivering growth from the of the equation, consequently Digital Terrestrial, with two end of 2004. Sky Italia in 2004 passed the previous subscriber December 2004 SATMAGAZINE.COM Back to Contents 22 FEATURE

peak reached by its legacy platforms. by Premiere World in Germany, TPS Star and Canal Plus in In France, Canal Plus group has France, and a handful of channels from BSkyB next winter. disposed of its foreign units and Europe is to get a major push from Luxembourg, which during cleaned up its balance sheet, the 2005 holds the European Union’s revolving presidency. Luxem- result being the first increases in four bourg will host a major conference during the summer to draw years in its premium subscriber count in the first half of 2004. Amsterdam cable company UGC (via its Denver-based parent) has bought Canal Plus’ cable activities in the Netherlands, while Airbridge Investments and Greenfield Capital Partners, two Dutch investment groups, will retain CanalDigitaal, the DTH satellite TV platform serving the Dutch language market, and will continue to offer the Canal+ channels on this platform as part of a new long-term wholesale distribution agreement.

In other words the past year or so has seen Italy, Germany, Spain, the Netherlands and important emerging countries like Poland, all have new, unified ownership for their local DTH platforms. In November, David Chance, chairman of Modern Times Group, one of the two rival DTH players still slugging it out over the (fairly) small Scandinavian region, said he favoured a merger between the two players. If this were to happen – and it doesn’t seem on the horizon just yet – then only France would be left with competing DTH pay-TV operations, Canalsatellite from Canal Plus, and Television Par Satellite (TPS).

European Pay-TV (by distribution technology)* (000’s)

1998 2003 % growth Cable 51.049 59.172 16% DTH 8.250 19.715 139% Terrestrial 5.682 3.547 38%

*Data: Screen Digest

But Europe is also at a crossroads. While North America (and Japan, South Korea and Australia) is beginning to see very real progress in take-up of high-definition services, leading to a visible increase in satellite capacity, Europe still has just one HDTV channel, on SES Astra. During 2005 this will change, with a cluster of services promised

December 2004 SATMAGAZINE.COM Back to Contents 23 FEATURE

attention to the benefits of HD, and its local pride and joy, SES Datamonitor suggests that HDTV is developing into a Global. serious issue for broadcasters today because: • Consumer electronics manufacturers have spotted a A recent look at Europe’s potential HD market from massive opportunity to make consumers upgrade Datamonitor (‘High-definition TV in Europe: the upgrade cycle their televisions to HDTVs, and prices are now begins’) suggests that there will be 4.6m HDTV households in falling to relatively affordable levels. Europe by 2008. The study says Germany, the UK and France • There is a library of content being created by will lead the European rollout, and Italy a distant fourth. “Mo- producers around the world, much of which is mentum for HDTV is now building,” suggested Datamonitor’s already being broadcast on HD channels in other James Healey, senior media and broadcasting technologies markets. analyst. “Broadcasters have announced definite deployment • The cable industry has returned to financial good- plans. The consumer electronics (CE) industry is a-buzz over this health. The increasing competition for pay-TV new (and profitable) market.” Recognising that broadcasters will subscribers is encouraging the deployment of new adopt either MPEG4 or Microsoft’s WM9/VC9 codecs, Healey technologies, such as HDTV. firmly comes down on the side of the European developed MPEG4, which he says will win a 70% market share. Undoubtedly, this is all good news for satellite operators like SES and Eutelsat. Both players suggest they’ll have Datamonitor expects western European satellite TV to establish fresh capacity for any major HDTV expansion, operators to be the first to deploy HDTV services. Satellite given that its current hot-spots are more or less fully operators will be determined to maintain their technology commercialized. leadership, while cable operators are more likely to be focused on services such as video-on-demand. Cable operators are expected However, there’s plenty of growth left in ‘ordinary’ to be 12-18 months behind the satellite operators, principally due standard digital broadcasting. For example, this coming to this different focus, but also due to the greater financial/time February sees MTV Networks launch its 100th television investments required to apply new technology in a cable channel, ‘MTV Base in Africa’. MTV say the launch would network. represent breaching Africa’s “final frontier” as far as MTV

European HDTV Penetration, 2003-2008*

*Source: Datamonitor

December 2004 SATMAGAZINE.COM Back to Contents 24 FEATURE

Networks was concerned. The new channel, MTV Base in Africa, years from $36.2m in 2000 to an anticipated $55.8 this year, and will be “a localized version of MTV Base (although run out of more than $60m in 2005. NileSat’s two satellites (at 7 deg West) London), which is already viewed over much of Europe. The are almost full, and Hamza says his top priority is pushing hard channel will broadcast via satellite to 48 countries in sub- for extra capacity to be in position by the end of 2005. He says Saharan Africa, and should have an immediate audience of some NileSat is by far the most watched provider in the region, with 1.3m homes. While MTVN has exported its European channels more than 10m homes tuning in to some 240 channels. to African markets since 1995, this is the first service created specifically for African audiences,” said the broadcaster. Hamza is also a firm supporter of HDTV: “By the time of the Currently over 400,000 subscribers outside of South Africa are World Cup in 2006, and soccer is terribly important throughout previewing the UK version of MTV Base. MTV Base UK will this region, I’d expect the World Cup to be available on NileSat. continue to be available to viewers outside of South Africa via Technically, the best way to view the World Cup is in HD, so various emerging pay-TV platforms in Nigeria and elsewhere.

MTV Networks International is also to launch two new channels on the Sky Italia DTH platform. Nickelodeon went on air in November while Paramount Comedy launched on 1 December.

If Africa is seeing investment, there’s no doubt that India and the Middle East is booming, in television terms. After something of a long wait, India’s public broadcaster Prasar Bharati/Doordashan’s in November finally kicked off its $111m DTH venture and roping in a near-instant 200,000 subscribers, according to CEO Mr K S Sarma. The pub-caster is India’s second DTH operator following the Zee-backed Dish TV, which has managed to sign up around 150,000 over the past year. Sarma said Doordashan’s DTH would telecast only free-to-air channels, also airing All India Radio (AIR) channels as an add-on. ”So far, we have 17 Doordashan channels on the platform and 12 other channels, which include BBC World, Aaj Tak, Head- lines Today, Zee Cinema, Zee Music, Splash TV, Aakash Bangla, Sun TV, Kairali,” he said. Equipment is being sold at about Rs 2,500-3,500 [$55-$80 dollars] for a dish and STB. Doordashan’s CEO said their service will be initially targeted at non-cable and non-television coverage areas. About 900 private dealers in about 130 cities are marketing the service.

Finally, the Middle East, best summed up by the words of Salah Hamza, CEO at NileSat, who has supervised NileSat’s steady revenue growth over the past few

December 2004 SATMAGAZINE.COM Back to Contents 25 FEATURE

9% of SES changes hands

Mid-November saw two significant sales take place of Luxembourg- based SES Global stock (in the form of Fiduciary Depositary Receipts / FDR’s). First up was Deutsche Telekom which sold 42.5m shares (some 7.3% of SES stock, worth some €450m). DT back in May sold about 5.9% of SES, at the time saying its holdings were no longer considered core. Institutional interest in picking up the stock (sold at about €8.10, a modest discount compared to November 17 market price whether on an of about €8.30) was evidently “considerable” which experimental basis encouraged Dresdner Bank to step in and sell its 10m or as part of a shares at similar rates. service, I’d be surprised if it Additionally, a further 2m shares changed hands wasn’t available on Nov 18 on the Paris EuroNext market. In all, the here.” movements represent about 9% of SES stock. SES insiders say they are delighted with the increased NileSat has liquidity in SES Global stock. The trades mean that benefited hugely from what Hamza describes as a new broadcast about 40.5% of SES is now in free float, compared to “fever” affecting the Mid-East, not least in music channels. barely 23% a year ago. SES has also seen the benefits of “There are now 12 of them on NileSat, and all depend on SMS a steady rise in its stock valuation, today hovering and other interactive applications. I can tell you that all of them, all of them are making very good money. The fever continues around the €8.20 mark (although it has been as high as beyond even new investors who we congratulate for their €9 a share) and a significant improvement on the €5 innovation. But existing channels also have position back this time two years ago. new plans for additional capacity.” SM SES is also in an intensive launch phase, with the past months having seen AMC-10 and 11 launched and commercialised for HDTV, AMC-15 sent up back in October and AMC-16 due for launch on Dec 16 from Florida aboard an Atlas V. However, it seems SES Global has one or two reservations about the launch of London-based Chris Forrester, a well-known broadcasting WorldSat 2 (the former AMC-12) originally scheduled journalist is the Editor for Europe, Middle East and Africa for SATMAGAZINE. He reports on all aspects of the for a Baikonur launch this week (November 27). It has industry with special emphasis on content, the business slipped to February, first because SES want to be 100% of television and emerging technologies. He has a unique sure that all is well (according to SES) with the craft, and knowledge of the Middle East broadcasting scene, having second because of launch availability through the mid- interviewed at length the operational heads of each of the winter holiday season in Russia/Kazakhstan. main channels and pay-TV platforms. He can be reached at [email protected]

December 2004 SATMAGAZINE.COM Back to Contents 26 Executive Spotlights CEO’s Share their Views on 2004 and Prospect for 2005

For our annual Year in Review issue, we asked the views of CEOs of leading companies in the industry on how they saw 2004 and what prospects are there for 2005. Excerpts:

Romain be able to use its free cash flow to invest is lacking behind, and our challenge, Bausch, in business growth opportunities, our notably at SES ASTRA, is to make it CEO, SES competitors under their new ownerships happen in Europe too. With first custom- will be pressured to deliver short-term ers like BSkyB in the UK and Premiere in GLOBAL returns on investments and pay-back Germany now committed to HD, we are debt leveraged upon them by these new confident this can be achieved. Second: Key owners. Interactivity. We believe in more and more industry events interactivity via the television set and our in 2004 were Our guidance to the investor ambition is to make satellite truly interac- certainly the community and analysts for 2004 remains tive. That is why we developed SatMode, changes in unchanged, i.e. stable revenues, at a low-cost, narrow-band satellite return ownership at our constant exchange rates, and looking at channel system, together with the main competi- recurring revenues i.e. eliminating European Space Agency ESA and tors, be it Intelsat, PanAmSat, New Skies exceptional elements. We are indeed industry partners. SatMode should see its or Eutelsat. When we did our secondary confident that we can deliver on our market introduction during 2005. Last but offering at Euronext Paris in May, our outlook of double-digit growth in 2005 not least: satellite broadband. We objective was to position SES GLOBAL as and 2006. And I would like to stress that anticipate that 2005 will the year when the reference stock for the fixed satellite this outlook is based on the positive consumer premise equipment for interac- services sector. In the meantime Panamsat developments in our core business, tive satellite broadband applications will and New Skies are no longer listed; and meaning video broadcasting. It’s not first become available for end-consumers, Eutelsat, Intelsat and Inmarsat no longer about assumptions regarding the accep- starting with the US. We believe there is seek a tance of new considerable demand for satellite broad- listing. services or new band outside of the coverage areas of SES “The challenges in 2005 will center satellite products. It terrestrial systems and although it will GLOBAL around three main services: is based on existing always stay a niche market, we consider it today is HDTV, Interactivity and satellite or signed contracts. an important sector to cover, notably due the only broadband” That means it is to satellites obvious advantages in public reflected in our ubiquity as a means to bridge the ‘digital global contract backlog divide’. satellite operator. And we believe these number, which continuously increased changes in ownership will have profound over the last 12 month to an industry This year’s changes in ownership at repercussions on the strategy of our record of EUR 6.9 Billion. our competitors may turn out to have competitors going forward. Venture only been the prelude for the much touted capitalist usually have an investment The challenges in 2005 in my industry consolidation that numerous horizon of 3 to 5 years. After that they will opinion will center around three main industry observers have been anticipat- want to cash out on their investment. services: HDTV, Interactivity and satellite ing for several years now. If it is already Satellite operators however need to be broadband. While HDTV is already a going to happen in 2005, I don’t know. able to plan long-term. And while SES will reality in the US and parts of Asia, Europe But I do believe that the pressure to

December 2004 SATMAGAZINE.COM Back to Contents 27 Executive Spotlights

merge and rationalize the use of satellite has been to shift Intelsat’s assets will be increasing, and the only “We believe that 2005 will be the business more toward the true consolidation that has happened so video, enterprise and govern- far remains SES’ acquisition of GE year that the satellite broadband ment markets and expand our AMERICOM in 2001. market gets a boosts.” customer base, in part through geographic expansion into Conny 2003. There was an improvement over the North America and in part Kullman, previous year in that the market seemed through the development and enhance- CEO, to stabilize a bit. As it relates to services, ment of an end-to-end service portfolio that we believe is important in these key INTELSAT this year was positive for gaining some traction in the satellite broadband market areas. We have done all of these things in certain regions around the world. and are very pleased with the evolution of In terms of Additionally, HD programming really our business. the overall began to take off in North America. telecom market, Since the acquisition of Intelsat by 2004 has been a We did very well by executing on Zeus is not yet final we can’t project what stronger year than the strategy we set forth. Our strategy impact the transaction will have. How-

December 2004 SATMAGAZINE.COM Back to Contents 28 Executive Spotlights ever, Intelsat’s focus, to best serve Mark ing the opening of Ka band for consumer customers and the marketplace, will Dankberg, service in a major way – while also re- remain our primary interest. Zeus’ interest Chairman affirming that entertainment is still more in Intelsat comes from a number of valuable, & offers more growth, than different fronts, including our strong cash and CEO of broadband data. flow, leadership position in the industry ViaSat e) Connexion by Boeing entered and our flexibility to adapt to evolving service with Lufthansa airlines in the market demands – both from the perspec- 2004 has spring, others following. This established tive of our network & assets and the been a signifi- FSS Ku band capacity, coupled with small flexibility, professionalism, commercialism cant year. There flat antennas and sophisticated CDMA and technical excellence of our staff. have been waveforms, as a player in the mobile several important events: services market. It helps indicate the We expect 2005 to be a good year a) Successful launch of Telesat’s value of bandwidth cost reduction in with the growth of some technologies and ANIK F2 satellite, and subsequently SES creating and growing broadband services. development of new applications. We Americom’s AMC-15 mean that there are 2004 was a fantastic year for ViaSat. believe that 2005 will be the year that the now 2 Ka band spot beam satellites in We set new records for revenue, earnings, satellite broadband market gets a boost. orbit over North America. Our overall strategic direction is not This finally provides a changing in the coming year; we will critical element to test The most significant challenge (and continue to focus on North America, whether lower bandwidth opportunity) is for our industry to Africa and other regions. We will also costs and increased re-invent itself in a world where our continue to focus on growing and further speeds will help grow the developing our managed solutions and 2-way satellite broadband historic value proposition of GlobalConnexSM, Intelsat’s portfolio of data market. We believe “reach” is being marginalized by hybrid, end-to-end services which is very this will begin to become ever-expanding wireless and popular with our customers. evident during 2005. b) Private equity wired networks.) Unfortunately for the whole indus- investors made separate try, this year saw some satellite and deals to acquire Panamsat, New Skies, and backlog. We’ve had record growth in launch failures which have increased and Intelsat – changing the landscape in both our commercial and defense busi- insurance rates industry-wide. This will FSS. Private equity funds have also nesses. Our VSAT business is growing continue to impact operators in the acquired Inmarsat and Globalstar in the nicely. Our Linkstar broadband VSAT coming year. MSS sector. It almost certainly means systems have been very successful – we’ve hit the bottom in terms of capital with over 30,000 DVB-RCS capable Also, there has obviously been access for satellite operators & can terminals delivered to customers world- industry consolidation and ownership anticipate improvements going forward. It wide. We have also grown our Immeon change during 2004. Continuing with this also will probably mean these firms will broadband VSAT services business in the trend, we believe that 2005 will see an focus more on generating cash flow and US. increase in partnerships and joint venture less on top line revenue/market growth. We see 2005 as another record type relationships between the large c) Satellite radio in the US continued growth year for ViaSat – in both commer- operators and the smaller, regional players meaningful subscriber growth, and made cial and government markets. There are as they approach satellite replacement noteworthy deals for content to stimulate several clear challenges: cycles. further expansion. This is positive for the a) ViaSat, along with WildBlue satellite sector as evidence it’s still Communications & Telesat Canada intend possible to create new offerings that to show that low cost Ka band spot beam compete with terrestrial services under service, coupled with the open network the right conditions. DOCSIS standard, finally begins to fulfill d) US satellite TV operators contin- the promise of a competitive satellite ued to take subscribers from cable at broadband service. impressive rates. DirecTV re-purposed the b) The US DBS operators seem HNS Spaceway system for video, signal- determined to demonstrate they can

December 2004 SATMAGAZINE.COM Back to Contents 29 Executive Spotlights sustain their growth vs. cable by empha- We believe that satellite-based sizing High Definition, expanding into “We believe that services will continue to compete with more local markets, and offering PVR satellite-based services terrestrial and fiber solutions. Therefore, it capable set tops. They’ll need to ward off will continue to compete is critical that equipment vendors en- the cable “triple play” bundle of video, hance bandwidth efficiency options that data and voice – probably through with terrestrial and fiber enable improvement of monthly recurring alliances with telco’s and/or satellite solutions.” operational costs for users of satellite broadband service providers such as communications. WildBlue. Investment firms now control the c) There are fundamental growth Another factor that supported VSAT majority of commercial satellite fleets. We opportunities for satellite service provid- growth was continued expansion of expect the focus will be on optimizing ers driven by ever-increasing needs for cellular subscribers in rural areas. Band- operations and achieving maximum profits more bandwidth in the enterprise and width efficient satellite-based solutions versus committing capital and resources government sectors. are enabling GSM operators to provide to new satellites and service offerings. The most significant challenge (and instant infrastructure and increase This could have a negative impact on the opportunity) is for our industry to re- coverage in remote and inaccessible deployment of new infrastructure and invent itself in a world where our historic locations where they previously could equipment. value proposition of “reach” is being not realize return on investment. marginalized by ever-expanding wireless and wired networks. Satellite services Comtech EF Data’s parent company, Karl need to augment their current value Comtech Telecommunications Corp., Classen, posted significant sales growth driven by proposition in terms of bandwidth CEO, ND capacity and pricing. There are a lot of strong demand for our products, particu- tools available to do this, but there’s a larly in the telecommunications transmis- SATCOM need for vision, capital, and new technol- sion and mobile data communications ogy – coupled with tolerance for prudent segments, accompanied by dramatic The risks. It will be interesting to see if the operating efficiencies. We believe uptake of the large investments by private equity Comtech is positioned to do even better western companies in the industry are a catalyst in 2005. We will continue to focus on economies for change or clear the decks for a new delivering broad-based growth driven positively generation of upstarts. by our adherence to a strategy that influenced our emphasizes product and technology business in 2004. This has led to more Robert leadership, entrepreneurial management business in Europe compared to 2003. We McCollum, and a balanced customer base. In addi- see the market picking up for Broadband tion, we expect to continue our disci- President, VSAT solutions based on the DVB-RCS plined approach of identifying, assessing standard to accelerate growth in the Comtech EF and integrating acquisitions. European and Middle Eastern regions. Data The rollout of HDTV services will We will be closing 2004 with sales Demand require deployment of new bandwidth growing more than 15 % to a level close increased in efficient satellite modem solutions and to 100 Mio USD. Our backlog in orders 2004 for VSAT better video compression technologies consist of a healthy portfolio of business equipment in for both Broadcast and DSNG applica- segments globally. For 2005 we expect to both commer- tions. We anticipate the result will be continue our growth in the North Ameri- cial and government sectors compared to greater demand for new, efficient VSAT can, Asian, Middle Eastern and Eastern 2003. Most organizations continued to equipment. Additionally, a large portion of European markets with our broadband focus on methods for reducing operating the U.S. government’s deployment of a and broadcast solutions. expenses, driving the need for satellite new network-centric communications modems with bandwidth and power infrastructure is satellite-based. We Our strategy to focus on key market efficient forward error correction and expect this will yield positive impact for segments and to expand our sales and modulation. satellite equipment manufacturers. support organization in the respective regions is well appreciated by our

December 2004 SATMAGAZINE.COM Back to Contents 30 Executive Spotlights

base that wished to expand their net- and networks operation. Looking forward, “The demand for com- works. In addition, we were presented we will continue to strengthen both of mercial data and video with new customer opportunities, mainly these areas. In the services will continue to from smaller networks seeking larger networks operation area, we will be quantities as well as several new very focusing on Enterprise, SOHO/SME grow driven by globaliza- large networks. vertical markets, and on new channels. tion and regional eco- The first fruits of the company’s We have established ourselves as the nomic growth.” actions implemented in 2003 began to be clear market leader in rural networks and visible as of the beginning of 2004. we plan to continue to expand this Among the positive indicators, the business. customers. This strategy has led us to company had an ever increasing positive win large accounts in the different EBITDA in each of the quarters of 2004 Governmental projects focusing on regions. We will go ahead to strengthen and positive cash flow, for the first time in education and telecommunication our local organizations worldwide to many quarters. The company’s financial infrastructure is another market we are support a continuous improvement of our situation is very stable and improving aiming for. Gilat has the demonstrated presence and services globally. which allows for future growth and far ability to do large-scale turnkey projects, more flexibility in our decision-making. from A-Z, in very short periods of time. Over the next year, I expect the Just recently we were able to deploy twice satellite industry’s main business driver In addition, in early 2004, Gilat over 3,000 VSATs and a hub in six weeks to remain the same, with defence and launched its new SkyEdge family of and three weeks respectively for the government solutions and services products. This revolutionary VSAT Venezuelan Presidential referendum and continuing to sustain the market in the system clearly places Gilat at the front of local elections, an unprecedented quest for national security and disaster technological leadership within the deployment pace. Gilat can be viewed response. industry. Being the first to market with today as a complete satellite-network- new innovations, the Company has system-house, capable of providing end- The demand for commercial data and proven to be a technology leader for most to-end satellite-based solutions for almost video services will continue to grow of its history. The market has enthusiasti- any application on a national, regional or driven by globalization and regional cally accepted this new product launch a global basis. economic growth. and appreciates the values and concept In recent years, Gilat has moved for which the SkyEdge delivers. In the last from being a vendor of satellite access to Furthermore I expect that the two quarters, we have sold several being a vendor of satellite network increasing influence of the equity markets SkyEdge networks, purchased by solutions, in which VSATs may serve as on our industry will continue the consoli- customers in Australia, Asia, Africa and only part of the overall solution. We dation process in the satellite communica- the US. We clearly see this product family believe that 2005 will be another major tion industry. as one of the more important aspects of milestone in this direction. We have been the Company’s strategy looking forward. able to add to our VSAT networks hybrid

Shlomo Rodav, We have CEO, Gilat also launched new “The major changes for which the indus- solutions. try is faced with concerns the new owner- I believe that Examples of such overall, 2004 can be are the GlobaLight ships of FSS players and that of Hughes seen as a better - a portable man Network Systems.” year for the pack for homeland industry than 2003. security and Specifically, Gilat defense applications and the Sky-Abis - a solutions that include, for example, DSL, had a better GSM backhaul connectivity solution that wireless and other technologies. In success year in 2004, which we attain is enables GSM operator to deploy cellular addition, we will be focusing more and partially attributed to improved market infrastructure in remote locations. more on non-fixed applications such as conditions during the year. We recog- portable, transportable and in-motion nized further opportunities in the market, In terms of 2005, Gilat’s business solutions. particularly from our existing customer stands on two legs - technology sales December 2004 SATMAGAZINE.COM Back to Contents 31 Executive Spotlights

We have received an excellent services that For the fixed satellite service market, reception for our SkyEdge product family was slightly 2005 is expected to bring closer attention and our ahead of what to bottom line performance than in sales funnel continues to show more was seen in previous years. With the increased and more SkyEdge prospects, surpassing 2003. In ownership of the satellite industry’s core that of our traditional legacy products. In addition, the businesses by private equity firms, new the coming year, we will introduce increased use disciplines are likely to emerge in the additional phases of the SkyEdge system of commercial areas of capital spending and payback that include among other aspects, the space segment periods. The challenge across the DVB-RCS platform and compatible DVB- by the industry will be to carefully balance the RCS hub. Within this area, this will be the government need for future growth in the industry and year that Satlabs will be ready for the first and military for equity performance for its owners. At time for its DVB-RCS compliance certifica- homeland security and defense has Andrew, our challenge is to evolve our tion tests. Gilat’s SkyEdge DVB-RCS proven to be a growth area in our indus- solutions to address the financial de- platform is planned to complete its try for 2004. mands faced by customers and others in Satlabs certification process during the industry. quarter three of 2005. A key event for 2004 was the launch of Anik F2 and the anticipation of offering In the DTH market, HDTV and Other industry challenges deal with broadband services via satellite in North interactive television services will gain the acceptance issues of new programs America for the first time at Ka-band. The traction as desirable products for the that are planned to be launched, such as impact that this new satellite technology consumer. This bandwidth hungry the Ka Broadband offering in the US and will have on our industry is yet to be segment will produce many technical and the IPStar new service in Asia. realized, however it is expected that Ka-band will The major changes for which the deliver lower operating “In 2004, the satellite industry, like industry is faced with concerns the new costs and services at ownerships of FSS players and that of competitive prices. most business segments, saw con- Hughes Network Systems. tinued pressure on costs and a Andrew trend toward consolidation and We can also foresee an emphasis Corporation’s overall being displayed on marketing and company revenues were a ownership changes.” technology development efforts towards record $1.84 billion for better solutions for small networks. We fiscal 2004, supported by nearly $210 cost sensitive challenges for equipment believe we will also see a continued million in sales from satellite communica- providers such as Andrew to deliver strong demand for an efficient bundled tions. That was an increase of nearly 150 hardware that meets the economic offering of data and telephony solutions. percent in satellite communications sales business models required by the DTH In addition, there will be the need for new from the previous year, fueled by a provider in order to be successful. The applications and solutions using satellite combination of strong organic growth use of multi-satellite locations and co- communication, such as, a mobile satellite and the acquisition of Channel Master. located frequencies will be the near term offering. Andrew has sharpened its focus on this solution to meet the demand for band- market in 2005 with the reorganization of width. Paul Cox, President, Andrew its major product groups to create a new Corporation’s Satellite and Satellite Communications Group. This will In 2004, the satellite industry, like Communications Group enable us to devote even more attention most business segments, saw continued to the needs of customers in this market pressure on costs and a trend toward and contribute to greater momentum consolidation and ownership changes. In The optimism of 2003 began to bear throughout 2005 as new products and 2005, we foresee this continuing. some fruit in 2004 as new enterprise value-added services are introduced. services aligned themselves more closely to the needs of the market. This effort boosted demand for equipment and December 2004 SATMAGAZINE.COM Back to Contents 32 Executive Spotlights

Ted past four years of pursuing new business Gavrilis, “LMCSS foresees High aggressively and credibly. Our focus President, Definition Television remains laser sharp on the key factors of controlling cost, executing programs for Lockheed (HDTV) driving require- Mission Success, and increasing the Martin ments for new capacity. “ reliability of all our products for both our Commercial commercial and government customers. Space Systems for launch in mid-December, also for SES I think it is fair to say that in the past AMERICOM. four years since the market contracted, (LMCSS) there have been only few significant Also of note, our A2100 received an changes. Of note, the entry of Private In 2004, the market continued its industry award for reliability for the Equity in the operator domain has been slow recovery from the low point of 2002. second consecutive year. Frost & received with mixed emotions and New orders consisted primarily of Sullivan’s 2004 Satellite Reliability Award expectations, ranging from major shakeup replacement satellites, with some was given to LMCSS for excellence in the to welcomed infusion of new money. The providing expanded capacity and cover- production of flexible and reliable commu- emergence of full-service Ka-band age areas. Lockheed Martin was selected nications satellites. satellites is a welcome sign that perhaps for the first competitive order in 2004, marks the beginning of steady growth in tendered by JSAT Corporation of Japan Looking toward 2005, LMCSS will the marketplace. In 2005 I believe we will for JCSAT-10. We have also been continue to introduce performance see 12 to 15 new orders, some additional selected for two additional commercial improvements using a low risk, evolution- rationalization of in-orbit assets and orders this year, which will be announced ary approach. We are currently imple- possible further attempts at industry in the near future. menting an Agile Payload System that will consolidation overall. As for LMCSS, we offer operators enormous flexibility in will continue to pursue our strategy, Certainly, a defining event for orbit and we will continue to work closely which has served our customers well and LMCSS in 2004, and for the United States with our customers to develop and offer allowed us to increase our market share. Government, was the September award of solutions to their future needs. the Mobile User Objective System Gary Hatch, (MUOS) to a team led by Lockheed LMCSS foresees High Definition CEO, ATCi Martin. MUOS, the next-generation Television (HDTV) driving requirements tactical satellite communications system for new capacity. The major Direct-To- for the U.S. Navy, will dramatically Reflecting Home providers in the U.S., EchoStar and on the satellite increase real-time military communications DirecTV, have ordered spacecraft to meet voice, data, and video services to our industry from these new requirements. This is a very the past year, armed forces. LMCSS is responsible for positive development that we expect will the space segment of MUOS, and our we have seen a continue in the U.S. and will follow in marked award-winning A2100 design will serve as Europe and Asia, as evidenced by the spacecraft platform. improvement in increased interest from smaller operators. Military DOD sectors, continued application of Internet In early April we were awarded As an example, we foresee Ka-band JCSAT-10, the first competitive procure- Protocol throughout the satellite industry, payloads implemented in large systems in High Definition Television, improved ment of the year, plus two additional the next few years by companies such as orders in November, and we are pursuing compression alogrithms as well as all Rainbow (Cablevision), primarily to meet forms of digital video. The implementation several opportunities currently in the the consumer demand for HDTV. evaluation phase. of the increased 200 billion dollar DOD and military budget was a key event in The market will remain extremely this upswing, as well as the FCC’s We successfully launched AMC-10 competitive as the same number of in February, AMC-11 in May, and AMC-15 determination to implement digital video manufacturers competes for a limited and high definition television pointing in October. All three satellites were for number of procurements in a slowly SES AMERICOM. AMC-16 is scheduled towards the 2006 timeframe. growing market. We will continue the strategy we have implemented over the December 2004 SATMAGAZINE.COM Back to Contents 33 Executive Spotlights

Patrick from chapter 11 with a healthy balance “Over the next Brant, sheet going forward, long term service few years we will con- President, contracts with great customers, and little debt. tinue to see a broader Loral array of government Skynet, As we have evolved as a company, and defense communi- we have strengthened our focus on our core competency: fixed satellite services cations services via 2004 has (FSS). To that end, we’ve launched two been a better satellite.”) new satellites this year—Telstar 14/ year for the Estrela do Sul over Brazil and Telstar 18 industry over over Asia—that enhance and strengthen 2004 was a much better year for 2003, which was a challenging year for our global coverage. These new additions ATCi and the industry as a whole, we saw operators dealing with overcapacity and to Skynet’s fleet ensure that we have the notable improvement in our teleport stagnant, if not shrinking, revenues. services as well as the military and DOD capacity in space and the infrastructure on the ground to deliver video and data markets. In 2004, industry players have taken applications to customers around the stock of the evolving satellite landscape globe. Going forward, we will continue to ATCi sees new opportunities to and are implementing changes necessary focus on FSS, increasing our transponder supply high definition and other digital to respond to the challenges. services to the broadcast and cable utilization rates, reducing costs, and, as always, delivering the highest levels of markets. For example, perhaps the most customer service in the industry. challenging event has been the industry’s As far as challenges facing the leadership ‘technocracy,’ adjusting its For the industry as a whole, I expect industry and ATCi, we feel emphasis from technology concepts to that high-growth and underserved that everything we do is contingent upon bottom line business issues. Today, the markets, particularly Asia and Latin reasonable transponder paradigms, if major satellite players are moving away America, will continue to grow in impor- these paradigms are changed or adjusted, from the tech (build it and they will come) tance. Following the infrastructure we could greatly improve upon and model toward a more customer-driven and building boom of the late 1990s, mature provide more efficient broadband and solutions-oriented focus. It’s also forcing markets, like North America and Western video services to customers worldwide. most industry players to provide more Europe, have been suffering from too end-to-end services –something Skynet much supply of alternative communica- Over the next few years we will has been doing for more than 10 years, continue to see a broader array of government and defense communications services via satellite while the commercial “Perhaps the most challenging event has been the focus will be centered around secure content delivery. Additionally, Ka-band industry’s leadership ‘technocracy,’ adjusting its technologies will continue to create emphasis from technology concepts to bottom line profitable broadband ventures over business issues” satellite. It is important to further empower the profitible utilization of point-to-multpoint technology. We that is: providing seamless global tions platforms and too little demand. As will also continue to see cost model communications networking solutions up a result, infrastructure has gone paradigms. to and including the last mile. underutilized, prices have fallen, and profit margins have been squeezed. 2004 has been both rewarding and challenging, offering Loral Skynet the Today, these mature markets are, financial stability needed to capitalize on thankfully, on the mend due to new an improving industry environment and applications and global expansion. expanding our leadership role in the Nonetheless, more attractive returns on satellite services industry. We will emerge

December 2004 SATMAGAZINE.COM Back to Contents 34 Executive Spotlights investment can be found in underserved it’s not just markets. In Asia, particularly India and happening on a China, we are seeing strong economic regional basis— growth that will likely continue for some this is a trend time. New television channels are being that’s happening launched literally every week in these globally. countries. Fortunately, In Latin America, the market is we made an early beginning to show signs of coming back decision to be a and all indicators are pointing in the right front-runner in this direction, so we see this as another market with the opportunity. introduction of SkyReach, which Both regions are also privatizing we now offer in their telecom and media sectors, which both open should open up more opportunities for standards-based the satellite industry. Loral Skynet’s new and proprietary Telstar 14/Estrela do Sul and Telstar 18 platforms. We are satellites are ideally located and we expect also offering our to benefit from the increased demand for customers the satellite services in these regions. reassurance and redundancy of Of course, simply increasing SCPC-based IP capacity isn’t enough. That’s why we’re services using our rolling out new, innovative services to Digital Link help drive demand for capacity, such as product. SkyReachSM, our two way IP services solution. On a broad, global level the industry has also had services and the advent of satellite multi- We’ve seen a lot of changes in the to—and will continue to—juggle meeting beam technology that can make these last year or so, including: the communications needs of its civilian services more cost-effective for custom- • Migration to IP-based communi and military customers. Commercial ers. Broadband satellite services include cations platforms satellite communications are critical to everything from data services and private • Private equity ownership military and government information video distribution, such as IP-based • Meeting the needs of military dominance. Right now, our government business television and high-definition markets revenues are about 15 percent of our television (HDTV). Satellite multi-beam • Development of broadband business and with demand that is greater technology, currently used by our Telstar satellite services and the advent than ever, we expect this business to 14/Estrela do Sul satellite, will help of satellite multi-beam grow. We offer flexible, redundant C and broaden coverage and, perhaps of equal technology Ku-band services in every region of the importance, will go some way toward world. Plus, Loral has a key position in addressing price point issues many The migration to IP-based communi- forming the world’s first commercial X- customers have about satellite broad- cations platforms that are more cost band system: XTAR. Looking at all these band. effective is an important trend, not just options, we feel we’re positioned to meet SM among telcos, but also with governments, the demands of governments on a variety enterprises and media/entertainment of levels. organizations. 2005 should be the year that all the promise associated with IP’s One of the most important technical evolution will actually start to really changes in the industry has been the solidify and become truly apparent. And development of broadband satellite

December 2004 SATMAGAZINE.COM Back to Contents 35 VIEWPOINT 2004 - Oh, What a Year! Bruce Elbert President Application Technology Strategy, Inc.

ur industry has had its ups and network news and greater interest in ViaSat will introduce DOCSIS-based downs over the decades, often topics of personal interest that are served equipment to allow WildBlue to offer Ofollowing some familiar patterns. through specialty cable TV networks like Internet access services in competition But, to my way of thinking, 2004 was more Food TV, HGTV, and BBC America. with the Ku band operators, and a of a watershed than any I’ve experienced Shopping channel QVC has so affected renewed business model will be tested. in the past. What happened and what the habits of buyers that reportedly it is does this mean for years to come? Let me the second largest retailer in the US. In 2005, What? take us through this step by step. More new satellites were purchased It might be comforting to know that 2004 – The Year That Was this year than last, and orbital capacity is we satellite types are not the only ones on the increase with new launches asking this question. I attended the 3G This was a year of consolidation and underway. Thus, GEO FSS capacity is World Congress, held by IIR in Hong reorganization of the big players – like tending upward while usage, while Kong during November 15-17. The broad we’ve never seen before. Major satellite substantial, remains flat. Like the early melt down in telecom came in part from operators like Intelsat and PanAmSat are 1980s, the overhang of capacity is over exuberance over 3G wireless technol- now owned by investment bankers causing transponder lease rates to drop. ogy, largely for data. Cellular operators looking to make money. It is possible that This is not welcome to satellite operators were supposed to either buy into 3G or this could strengthen these operators as as well as the aerospace companies that face extinction. At the pre-conference their new financially-oriented owners pay manufacture spacecraft and launch workshop I attended, noted expert on close attention to cash flow as opposed vehicles. wireless economics, Hershel Shosteck of to EBITA. With the closed acquisition of the Shosteck Group, stated that adoption Hughes Electionics by News Corp, the New applications to exploit this of a new technology takes longer than final chapter ends on a great Los Ange- opportunity appear in digital content anticipated while older services hang on les-based company that over 100,000 of distribution and interactive data. How- longer – and make more money than us once worked for. But, the DBS TV ever, the cost of entry for potential expected. He suggests that the cycle for model that Hughes created is, well, huge, customers still presents a bit of a hurdle. new approaches will require 10 years to giving cable TV owners something to The problem is more acute in the indus- get going. The current status of 3G, still in really worry about, and mobile satellite trial countries where terrestrial services the demonstration phase, bears witness radio is moving to the next plateau of are more readily available. But developing to Dr. Shosteck’s observations. acceptability. markets, particularly in Africa, the Middle East and South Asia, are ready to give a Applying this concept to our Another development was the boost. I was encouraged to receive an industry, we easily see that the founda- eminence of audio and video channel enquiry from an engineer in Iraq who is in tion of our systems will likely continue formats that address specific interests the process of developing a broadband unabated. How else will cable TV net- which, along with Internet Web logs service using currently available VSATs. works distribute programming and add (Blogs), represent the “new media” that new services? The DBS operators also will shape how we are entertained and The first commercial GEO Ka band continue to expand and they, too, have no informed in years to come. I, for one, payload is operational in North America other means to reach their very-loyal spend more time reading web pages and from Telesat Canada. This is a proving customers. The developing world is listening to talk radio over the air and on ground for the greater bandwidth and developing, aided by technology of every XM Satellite Radio than I do watching TV. enhanced performance of multiple spot sort sold in a buyers market. The Internet We see retirements of the old hands in beams geared for the interactive market. is making any educated person wiser and

December 2004 SATMAGAZINE.COM Back to Contents 36 VIEWPOINT

more effective in literally every line of business and work.

HDTV is one technology that seems to have met the 10 year threshold. It’s suffered from a “chicken or egg” problem – providers of HDTV programs weren’t successful because affordable sets were not available, and set manufacturers couldn’t sell enough sets because of a lack of programming. 2005 does offer the prospect of giving us both chicken and egg at the same time. I, for one, will get a Sony plasma HDTV screen for Christmas and a DIRECTV triple LNB for HDTV programming. And just recently, VOOM announced an agreement with Lockheed Martin for the start of construction of as many as five satellites for its fledgling HDTV service.

Dr. Shosteck also points out that rising incomes in industrial and developing economies make all forms of communications affordable to larger and larger portions of the populace. Like the analogy of a rising tide that lifts all boats, improving incomes give more citizens the means to purchase PCs, cell phones and satellite dishes. Some significant portion of three billion people are thus within the grasp of this forcing function. Bruce Elbert has over 30 years of experience in satellite communi- I will leave it to you, the reader, to cations and is the President of Application Technology Strategy, consider how these phenomena could Inc., which assists satellite operators, network providers and increase interest and ultimately demand users in the public and private sectors. He is an author and for satellite capacity and services. Those educator in these fields, having produced seven titles and who “keep their powder dry” and stay conducted technical and business training around the world. focused will more likely succeed that During 25 years with Hughes Electronics, he directed major technical projects and others who readily seek an off-ramp. For led business activities in the U.S. and overseas. He is the author of The Satellite good or for bad, satellite investments are Communication Applications Handbook, second edition (Artech House, 2004). long term; so patience and creativity are Web site: www.applicationstrategy.com / Email: [email protected] paramount. SM

December 2004 SATMAGAZINE.COM Back to Contents 37 REGIONAL PROFILE Year in Review – Latin America 2004 Bernardo Schneiderman

atin America as with most of the gas micro-leak, but after some evaluation DirecTV affiliate Galaxy Mexico will close regions of the world had a good a press release announced that the its operations and sell its subscriber list Loverall satellite business year effective lifetime of the satellite was to Sky Mexico, while DirecTV acquires during 2004 and will start 2005 with more estimated to be more than 10 years. the interest of News Corp. It will also potential for new projects and invest- Commercial operation started early acquire jointly with Televisa, the interest ments in the satellite arena as it closes October. The Amazonas satellite is based of Liberty Media in Sky Mexico. The this year with a very positive outlook. on the Eurostar 3.000 platform, and it is group will also acquire the interests of equipped with 32 transponders in Ku Globo, Televisa, News Corp and Liberty Satellite Operators band and 19 in C band. Amazonas will Media in Sky Multi-Country Partners, and New Satellites provide telecommunication services which has DTH platforms in Colombia and (television, radio, telephony, wideband IP Chile. The Sky customers in Colombia and Two satellites were launched in 2004 services, corporate networks, etc.) with Chile migrated to DirecTV. DirecTV is 34 for Latin America markets and of new pan- American and transatlantic coverage. per cent owned by Fox Entertainment satellites for Brazil and Argentina were Group, which are about 82 per cent owned announced. With regards to new satellites in the by News Corp. region, Satmex VI that was planned to be The first satellite launched was launched this year still does not have a The DirecTV is confident it can add Telstar 14/Estrela do Sul owned by Loral new launch date due to the financial at least 5 million new DTH customers in Skynet do Brasil a subsidiary of US-based situation of the Mexican satellite operator, the Latin American region over the next operator, Loral Skynet. The satellite was Satmex. Brazil announced that it is in the three to four years with the agreements it successfully launched in mid-January by planning stage to build two new satellites reached to consolidate the operations of Sea Launch. After the launch the satellite focussing in Military and Aeronautical DirecTV Latin America and Sky Latin fully deployed its south solar array but Application with L and X-Band to be America DTH services in each country in only partially deployed its North solar contracted during 2005. Argentina late the region. As a result, residents in some array. Space Systems/Loral, the manufac- November had some expectation to review countries will receive service using Sky turer of the satellite, launched the satellite with China a potential to launch their equipment, while customers in others use to its geostationary orbit and declared second Domestic Satellite. This scenario DirecTV equipment. There will be only that the satellite was generating enough will depend of how the economics of one service in each country at the end of power to operate a minimum of 17 Ku- Argentina will develop during 2005. the consolidation of the operations. band transponders (the original plan was for 54 transponders). The satellite started DTH Satellite Services and System operation mid March meeting immediate Integrators customer requirements, as well as In the DTH - Direct to home satellite Brazilian government requirements and business in Latin America News Corp Latin America during 2004 received providing services in the Brazil, North sold its stake in Sky Latin America to its investments and new technologies from America and North Atlantic coverage partly owned DirecTV Group to ensure suppliers and service providers in the area. the long-term success of DirecTV Latin following paragraphs are the highlights of America. The long-awaited deal effec- some major announcements in the region. The second satellite launched in the tively merged the two satellite PAY-TV region was the Amazonas satellite in early operations in Latin America. Under the One of new technologies imple- August. Amazonas is owned by Hispamar, complex deal, DirecTV Brasil (Brazil) and mented in the regions was DVB-RCS a Joint -venture between Spanish satellite Sky Brasil will merge, DirecTV Brasil supplied by Nera (European Org.) was operator Hispasat and Telemar. After the customers will migrate to Sky Brasil and announced by Hispasat/Hispamar early launch, a pressure loss was detected in DirecTV will buy Liberty Media Corp’s 2004. The plan was to provide Internet one of its oxidation tanks, caused by a and News Corp’s stake in Sky Brasil. services with the new platform in Latin December 2004 SATMAGAZINE.COM Back to Contents 38 REGIONAL PROFILE

America for both Hispasat and Hispamar first large scale roll-out in Latin America. Compartel selected in a bid two consortia Satellites. Later this year another Satellite ViaSat Inc. supplied a LinkStar® broad- (Comsat Colombia and Internet por Carrier enters this market providing DVB- band satellite communications system for Colombia) to provide broadband Internet RCS was Loral Skynet. Velconet S.A., a privately owned Argen- access for more than 3700 sites (schools, tine company. Velconet will use the hospitals and government agencies) From the VSAT Supplier’s side Gilat LinkStar networking platform to expand using satellite and WI-Max. Compartel is expanded their operation in Brazil with the reach of broadband services in developing a new project for 2005 to Star One, Embratel and GSAC (Internet for Argentina. In this first stage, installation provide to 15,000 Government sites in government and schools) and major of LinkStar remote subscriber terminals is Colombia with broadband Access where project for the retailer Boticario with 2,000 underway. Velconet was already an satellite will be a key role. sites. Gilat announced early 2004 an established customer of ViaSat, comple- agreement with Telecomunicaciones de menting its mesh architecture Chile is in the process to select a México for its telecom´s public services. LINKWAY® multi-service VSAT system bidder until the end of 2004 to provide The agreement was for a deployment of a with the new hub-based LinkStar system. broadband Internet for more than 600 hub and up to 2,000 remote sites. In the schools. Brazil has several projects that initial phases, completed in Q4 of 2003, A new player that joint the VSAT satellite will be playing a key to provide Gilat provided a hub and 733 VSATs to business in Latin America was iDirect that broadband for schools and government expand and replace existing satellite- provided solution for the Puerto Rico organizations and 2005 will be a hot time based technology. Gilat anticipates Department of Education (PRDE) that for this region. Besides Brazil, Peru and providing an additional 1,267 VSATs selected iDirect Technologies to support Argentina are developing major projects during the course of 2004. Gilat had a contract to provide high-speed internet to provide Internet broadband access for already deployed 3,000 satellite-based connectivity to 1,539 school locations education in the region and E-GOV rural telephony sites for the SCT, using its throughout Puerto Rico. Mobile Universe, Projects are being studied and imple- DialAw@y IP VSAT platform. In addition, a provider of mobile and wireless commu- mented from Mexico to Argentina Gilat’s large customer base in Mexico nication solutions will be acting as the covering Central America, Caribbean includes among others, companies such prime contractor to the Puerto Rico Islands and South America. as Telmex, Elektra, GlobalSat and Comsat. Department of Education. IDirect pro- Gilat was among several companies vided the technology, program manage- With regards to the Service Provid- chosen to partake in a large-scale project ment and deployment expertise for the ers we saw more consolidation in the for identifying voters and keeping track of project. IDirect provided for a Service region where Chilesat merged with Telmex voter registry in the referendum for the Provider in Venezuela another System in Chile and Comsat International finalize continuation of the term of Venezuelan during 2004. the acquisition of Vicom in Brazil. President Hugo Chavez, last August. The Hughes Network Systems with its network, based on Gilat’s Skystar 360E Hub Services in Brazil expanded their Overall the general consensus platform, included a hub in Caracas and operation with new clients in Brazil and at among providers, enterprises and other 5,000 remote terminals at polling stations the same time provided VSAT networks players in the region is that Latin America throughout the country. for new clients in the financial sector will be having a another positive growth (Bradesco and Prodemge). year in 2005 for companies that are ViaSat in Latin America supplied a looking to establish the a long term LinkStar® broadband satellite communi- Another main project in Latin businesses in the region. SM cations system to Motorola’s Commercial, America in the satellite arena was in Government and Industrial Solutions Colombia where the government agency, Sector in Latin America for a distance learning network in Honduras. The system is to supply a distance learning Bernardo Schneiderman has over 20 years of experience in Satellite communica- network for Consejo Hondureno de tions and is the President of Telematics Business consultants based in Irvine, CA. He has been working in Business Development, Sales and Marketing for Satellite Ciencia y Tecnica Licitacion Publica Carriers, VSAT Equipment Manufacturer and Consulting Companies in the USA, International (COHCIT), an institution Latin America, Brazil and Africa developing business for the Telecom, Broadcast created by the Honduran government in and the Enterprise Market Segment. He was the editor of the Publication Brazil Telematics 1993 to promote development of science Newsletter during 1995-2003. He has a MBA from University of San Francisco with Major in Telecom and International Marketing and BSEE from UFRJ in Brazil. He can be contacted at and technology. Another project in the [email protected] region was “The eMexico project was a December 2004 SATMAGAZINE.COM Back to Contents 39 Case Study Government and Industry Partnership in X-band Communications

“D”. D’Ambrosio Vice President, Government Services XTAR, LCC

ith military operations in agent for all communica- multiple theaters and an tions for the Department of Wincreased emphasis on home- Defense (DOD), spent land security, government demand for approximately $273M for communications infrastructure has never commercial fixed satellite been greater. services in the C- and Ku- band frequencies to Government and industry satellite augment its military satellite communications partnerships are a model systems (MILSATCOM). dominated primarily by traditional defense DISA spent another $181M contractors and governed by a few limited that same year on equip- contracts between government and ment to access the commer- industry. Overlooked in this partnership cial networks, since the model is another approach that costs government does not have taxpayers nothing and will provide terminals operating in significant benefits to war-fighters facing commercial bands. a critical communications need: commercial technology that benefits government High-powered Satellite or military needs for services, and Coverage Wherever and logistics and infrastructure requirements satisfies communications shortfalls Whenever It’s Needed and mission critical needs. related to the country’s war-fighting ability. Demand for satellite bandwidth will Commercial satellite communications continue to exceed government-owned are critical to military and government In a novel approach that combines capacity for the foreseeable future. XTAR information dominance, and serve a the benefits of commercial and govern- addresses that need by providing high- significant role in support of the Global ment satellite communications, Loral powered X-band capacity and flexible, Information Grid (GIG). The XTAR system Space and Communications is leading a defense- and security-specific services at is designed specifically to provide joint venture with Spain’s HISDESAT that the right place and at the right time. This customized, defense-specific communica- will offer communications services in the is done without the government users tions services to U.S. and Allied govern- X-band frequency exclusively to govern- having to invest critical capital into the ment agencies and military services to ment users. As part of its unique partner- development of the satellite and related support military, diplomatic and security ship, XTAR will operate XTAR-EUR, and terrestrial infrastructure. Troops and communications requirements. will lease capacity on a second bird, other users can move their steerable XTAR-LANT (SPAINSAT), operated by XTAR spot beam coverage any distance Between XTAR-EUR and XTAR- HISDESAT primarily for the Spanish required, in real time. Whether for LANT (SPAINSAT), XTAR will cover a military. deployment of troops, vehicles or region stretching from Singapore west vessels, XTAR’s X-band spot beams can across Asia, the Middle East and Europe, In 2003, the Defense Information be dynamically moved in real time to to Denver, Colorado. Initial XTAR Systems Agency (DISA), the procurement support long-haul communications, operations are planned for early 2005 on

December 2004 SATMAGAZINE.COM Back to Contents 40 Case Study

XTAR-EUR, which will be located in execution of an information dominance XTAR worked with the U.S. Govern- geostationary orbit at 29 degrees East strategy. ment and invested in National Security longitude. Additional capacity will Agency (NSA) approved encryption for become available by the end of 2005 when One of the major reasons govern- its command links. Through its Spanish XTAR-LANT (SPAINSAT) is launched to ment users prefer X-band over commercial partner, XTAR negotiated to install its 30 degrees West longitude. bands is that the frequency is exclusive to primary XTAR-EUR TT&C antennas on government customers. With its X-band Spanish government facilities, while the Through its unique partnership with satellites, XTAR has dedicated its entire TT&C facilities for XTAR-LANT HISDESAT, XTAR was able to secure capacity to U.S. and Allied government (SPAINSAT) are located at a facility satellite slots that will not interfere with users. In addition to its government-only operated through cooperation with the U.S. Government’s Defense Systems usage, another key advantage of X-band HISDESAT. The additional security Communications Satellites (DSCS) or is that the band is covered under Status provided by these TT&C locations was a Wideband Gapfiller Satellites (WGS). of Forces Agreements. This means the critical factor for XTAR to be considered Another key benefit of XTAR is the U.S. government is not burdened with as an augmentation system for Govern- compatibility of its capacity with the same negotiating Host Nation Agreements ment-owned and operated capacity. The X-band terminals currently operated by (HNAs), generally required for all com- additional level of security mirrors those government users to access the DSCS mercial capacity landing in a given of government users and allows them to satellites and, eventually, WGS. This country. employ and integrate XTAR’s X-band allows DISA to save its customers capacity in a manner that is transparent to significant additional investment costs in Unlike other government/industry their own networks. both terminals and infrastructure. partnerships, XTAR developed its satellites without the benefit of any U.S. XTAR alone cannot satisfy the U.S. Large Transponders, Steerable government funding or commitment. Government’s SATCOM requirements, Spot Beams Financed privately, construction con- but it will significantly augment band- tracts for the two satellites, XTAR-EUR width in the government’s critical commu- XTAR offers a unique capability to and XTAR-LANT (SPAINSAT), were nication frequency, X-band. Through its U.S. and Allied government customers awarded to Space Systems/Loral (SS/L). unique partnership, XTAR provides a new that is not available over current military model of government/industry partner- satellites - large 72Mhz transponders, XTAR has applied a number of ship that can have a considerable impact powerful 100 watt TWTs and multiple techniques and technologies that have on the communications costs, capability steerable spot beams. These features been proven onboard a variety of and responsiveness of our U.S. and Allied allow users to put multiple transponders commercial communications satellites to troops and security personnel. SM into any steerable spot beam, which can provide its government customers with then be moved over any area of interest services currently unavailable on existing that is in the satellites’ view. In addition, DSCS. The two-satellite system is based XTAR’s steerable spot beams can be on SS/L’s 1300 satellite platform, which stacked over the same given area. has a record of reliable operation (there are 47 SS/L-built geostationary satellites The benefit of these features to currently on orbit). These satellites will government customers is that any of the allow XTAR to offer the government user satellites’ capability can be shifted to a market a reliable platform from which it specific geographic region (assuming a can provide significant service improve- single customer had secured the tran- ments in bandwidth over existing X-band sponders and the appropriate steerable satellites. The two satellites went from spot beams). In military terms, this would design to operational status faster than target the communications power of this expected and within budget. space-based asset on a particular region, delivering overwhelming communications capability. This type of capacity and “D” D’Ambrosio is Vice President, Government Services, XTAR, LLC. flexibility to move bandwidth as required XTAR, is headquartered in Rockville Md., with offices in Madrid, Spain; Arling- to support operations is critical in the ton, Virginia and Palo Alto, California. For more information visit: www.xtarllc.com.

December 2004 SATMAGAZINE.COM Back to Contents 41 ADVERTISER’S STOCK MONITOR INDEX

○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○ AAE 00 APT SATELLITE HOLDINGS ATS 1.95 1.59-4.60 www. ANDREW CORP. ANDW 19.8 8.80 - 21.67 COMTECH EF DATA 00 ASIASAT SAT 16.85 14.31 - 22.80 www.comtechefdata.com BALL AEROSPACE BLL 70.95 42.30 - 72.46

BOEING BA 49.69 31.00 - 51.49 GLOBAL LINK 00 BRITISH SKY BROADCASTING BSY 45.40 40.07 - 59.24 www.satnews.com/globallink CALIFORNIA AMPLIFIER, INC. CAMP 7.36 3.19 - 17.20 ISCe 00 COM DEV INTL CDV.TO 3.64 1.23 - 3.80 www.isce.com COMTECH TELECOMM. CMTL 21.73 13.62- 39.52 KAVERA 00 DIRECTV GROUP DTV 17.26 14.70 - 18.81 www.kavera.com ECHOSTAR DISH 30.60 29.27 - 41.00 NARDA SATELLITE FREQUENCY ELECTRONICS INC. FEI 14.00 8.96-17.13 NETWORKS-L3 00 GILAT SATELLITE NETWORKS GILTF 5.50 4.50 - 9.86 www.l-3com/snd/

7.29 ○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○ HARRIS CORPORATION HRS 50.26 28.70 - 51.19 HONEYWELL SPACE SYSTEMS HON 36.14 25.94 - 37.65 PANAMSAT 00 www.panamsat.com INTEGRAL SYSTEMS INC ISYS 16.03 15.29 - 22.12 KVH INDUSTRIES INC KVHI 12.69 12.36 - 34.729

L3 COMMUNICATIONS LLL 65.43 41.63 - 64.32 SES GLOBAL 00 www.ses-global.com LOCKHEED MARTIN LMT 51.67 43.10 - 55.00 NEW SKIES SATELLITES NSK 7.71 4.49 - 8.16

NEWS CORP NWS 35.33 29.80 - 39.74 NORSAT INTERNATIONAL INC. NSATF.OB 0.58 0.38 - 1.03 NTL NTLI 57.08 3.76 - 20.15

ORBITAL SCIENCES CORP. ORB 13.60 7.11-14.19 PANAMSAT SPOT 23.15 13.80 - 26.01 PASIFIK SATELIT NUSANTARA PSNRY.PK 0.15 N/A PEGASUS COMMUNICATIONS PGTV 23.04 11.70 - 51.00 QUALCOMM, INC. QCOM 72.11 34.33- 73.33 RADYNE COMSTREAM RADN 8.01 2.02 - 13.426

SCIENTIFIC-ATLANTA SFA 33.15 19.46 - 38.59 SIRIUS SATELLITE RADIO INC. SIRI 3.022 1.40 - 4.20 SES GLOBAL SDSFa.F 6.75 5.17 - 8.85

TRIMBLE NAVIGATION TRMB 27.20 13.48- 28.78 VIASAT VSAT 23.99 12.20 - 28.91 XM SATELLITE RADIO XMSR 27.21 10.02 - 30.96

Company Symbol Price 52-week Range

For real-time, up-to-the minute stock quotes of satellite companies go to: www.satnews.com/free/finance.html December 2004 SATMAGAZINE.COM