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May
23rd 2008 --
Pondering DISH's Future Satellite
Capacity
DISH Network may be lacking in the high-def programming
department. And the mid-March launch anomaly experienced
by the AMC-14 satellite that the company was set to
utilize for an expansion of its HD slate didn't help
matters.
But the small dish service has some options for future
satellite capacity.
The company is preparing for the launch of the EchoStar
XI satellite for later in the year. A specific timeline
for the satellite mission is fuzzy, but most peg lift
off for the Loral-built spacecraft for the second half
of 2008. Sea Launch is handling the flight.
Also, Loral is building the EchoStar XIV and EchoStar
XV satellites. There is no timeline available for the
EchoStar XIV launch effort, but Loral said EchoStar
XV could fly in 2010.
Also, EchoStar disclosed in a Securities and Exchange
Commission filing in March that it entered into an agreement
with Canada's Bell ExpressVu that provides, among other
things, access to 16 transponders on the future Nimiq
5 satellite. The bird, which is set for launch in the
second half of 2009, will be located at the 72.7-degree
orbital location, stated the filing.
XM Has Stanley Cup Covered
XM Satellite Radio said it will carry three separate
broadcasts of every game of the 2008 NHL Stanley Cup
Finals, which will feature the Detroit Red Wings challenging
the Pittsburgh Penguins. The games start Saturday.
Hockey fans nationwide can hear the Pittsburgh Penguins
broadcast, or the Detroit Red Wings broadcast, and the
NHL Radio broadcast for every game live on XM.
Also, throughout the Stanley Cup games, XM said it will
provide up-to-the-minute news and commentary, including
daily live on-site reports from Detroit and Pittsburgh.
The coverage will be on the NHL Home Ice channel.
May
6th 2008 --
NEWS BRIEFS: More Updates from
NDS/EchoStar Case
According to additional press reports, the federal judge
presiding over the EchoStar/NDS trial has said that
News Corp.-controlled NDS could lose the case if News
Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch doesn't testify on what
he knew about the matter. The trial is focused on claims
that NDS allegedly hacked EchoStar's conditional access
technology and reportedly shared the information with
pirates. The judge's statement joined another comment
in which he criticized the lack of testimony from NDS
CEO Abe Peled.
INTERNATIONAL - Hughes introduced a VPN offering in
India called the "Managed Broadband VPN," a solution
that's a part of its Managed Network Services portfolio.
Managed Broadband VPN utilizes terrestrial or satellite
platforms to deliver connectivity services.
NCTC Fights News Corp. Conditions
Request
Another entity has weighed in with its
opposition to News Corp.'s request for release from
its obligations to provide programming access to pay-TV
services.
As part of its takeover of the DIRECTV stake five years
ago, News Corp. was required to allow pay-TV competitor
access to its key programming properties, such as broadcast
stations and regional sports networks. Given that News
Corp. sold its stake in the satellite TV company to
Liberty Media earlier this year, Rupert Murdoch's company
has asked to be released from those provisions.
The National Cable Television Cooperative told the FCC
in its comments on the issue that it would be "patently
unfair and contrary to the public interest" for the
media giant to escape the conditions. Also, such a move
would be unfair to any arbitration proceedings or program
carriage negotiations that were commenced before News
Corp.'s divesture of the DIRECTV stake.
NCTC said it is involved in two arbitration proceedings
covering a number of News Corp.-affiliated RSNs.
"NCTC and the small cable companies that it represents
have expended considerable time and resources to prosecute
these arbitrations with the expectation that the proceedings
would not suddenly be terminated if and when the bargaining
agent and arbitration conditions expire," the cooperative
said in its comments.
May
3rd 2008 --
Small Cable Chimes in on News
Corp. Conditions Request
Small cable interests had some opinions on News Corp.'s
effort to escape conditions placed on its DIRECTV acquisition
in 2003, provisions that involve pay-TV competitor access
to programming controlled by the media giant.
News Corp. has approached the Federal Communications
Commission about the conditions tied to its deal for
the satellite TV service. The company sold its controlling
stake in DIRECTV to Liberty Media earlier in the year.
And it has told the commission that it should no longer
be tied to conditions that were part of its 2003 transaction.
The conditions are set to expire in 2010.
In its filing on the matter, the American Cable Association,
which represents small, independent cable operators,
said a granting of the News Corp. petition would erode
the benefits gained from the conditions. The association
said the conditions have protected competition by allowing
for pay-TV company access to "must have" programming.
Also, the conditions have not resulted in any appreciable
harm to News Corp., ACA said in its comments filed Thursday.
"News Corp's efforts to change the rules long after
the game has started is certainly unreasonable," Matt
Polka, ACA president and CEO, said in a statement. "But
its attempts to deceive the commission and suppress
their true intent to skirt the conditions of the previous
order is unforgivable."
Small Cable Chimes
in on News Corp. Conditions Request
More lawmakers wrote Federal Communications Commission
Chairman Kevin Martin about the proposed merger between
XM and Sirius, calling for conditions on the deal before
any green light is given to the companies to combine
operations.
A letter written by John Dingell, the Michigan Democrat
and chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee,
and Ed Markey of Massachusetts, chair of the House Telecom
Subcommittee, made no suggestions one way or another
about their feelings on the pending satellite radio
combination. "We are not taking a position at this time
on whether the commission should approve the merger,"
they said.
Instead, "If the commission decides to approve the license
transfer, we believe the public interest requires it
to take concrete steps to protect consumers," stated
the letter sent this week to Martin.
Both Dingell and Markey said the FCC should require
a merged satellite radio entity to adhere to pricing
constraints that XM and Sirius have proposed to regulators.
"Such a condition would ensure that a combined entity
does not take advantage of consumers by leveraging its
position as sole provider of satellite radio services
by raising prices," stated the letter.
Also, the lawmakers said the FCC should force a combined
entity to incorporate other digital audio technology
into their receivers, including HD Radio capabilities
or an iPod port.
The FCC remains the only regulatory hurdle for the satellite
radio companies to combine operations. In March, the
Justice Department's antitrust staff cleared the merger.
May
1st 2008 --
Advantech Pushes Production Higher
and Faster and Offers Antennas...
Advantech AMT has launched its new,
expanded production line for Frequency Converters. Over
the last few years, Advantech's series of Frequency Converters
and Test Loop Translators, covering various IF bands
(L-band and 70/140 MHz) and standard and extended RF bands
(S-, C-, X-, Ku- and Ka-bands), have won acclaim in the
industry for their RF performance, reliability and configuration
features, all highly valued and at a competitive price.
These features include multiple conversion chains (and/or
redundant systems) in a single 1RU chassis, wide dynamic
range, group delay equalization, and more. Advantech field-proven
converters are used in the most demanding applications by
government agencies and Tier 1 telecom and satellite operators
in the US, Canada, Europe and globally. Due to the continued
success of the converter product line, Advantech has invested
in the creation of a state-of-the art production operation
which spans the company's two main Canadian manufacturing
facilities in Cornwall, Ontario and Dorval,
Quebec. It is now possible to deliver any indoor converter
out of the list of standard products with configurations
available on
www.advantechconverters.com in no more than 30 days
after receiving an order from the customer.
Plus, the company has launched their new mobile antenna
systems. Each system incorporates the company's IPOINT
auto acquisition controller. This allows anyone to acquire
satellites in less than 3 minutes and makes the system ready
to communicate as soon as the user. The first two integrated
Pioneer120 with 100W Extended Ku-band amplifiers
have now been delivered to Gestiona Servicios Audiovisuales,
Spain, and are also fully integrated and commissioned in
a turnkey DSNG truck supplied by Gestiona to a Spanish broadcaster
-- Montreal, Canada
XM, Sirius Postpone Annual
Meetings
On Tuesday, both XM and Sirius postponed their respective
annual shareholder meetings that were originally scheduled
for late May.
The Federal Communications Commission is still conducting
a review of their proposed merger, and that may have
compelled the companies to put off their shareholder
meetings. XM's meeting was set for May 23, while Sirius'
meeting was scheduled for May 20.
The companies said they will announce a new date for
the meetings when they have further information relating
to the timing of their pending merger.
The FCC remains the only regulatory hurdle for the companies.
In March, the Justice Department's antitrust staff cleared
the merger.
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