HISPASAT satellite broadband solution powers Mars Spanish Mission sims

A HISPASAT-provided satellite broadband solution will ensure the Mars Spanish Mission enjoys high-quality web access and communications during its simulations.

The preliminary phase of the first Spanish simulated Mars colonization mission will take place in the Sierra Jubierre in Aragon, Spain from April 4 to 7, 2013. The final mission will be held in the U.S. province of Utah in 2014.

The researchers at the scientific camp will leverage HISPASAT's satellite broadband services and equipment to maintain communications with the Mission Support Center based at the European Business and Innovation Center (CEEI) in Zaragoza.

HISPASAT's satellite broadband solution grants the Mars Spanish Mission access to high-powered Internet from satellite connectivity wherever they may be the world, including areas outside the reach of terrestrial networks. The Company's services are supported by more than 4,000 dedicated satellite antennas in Spanish territory, cementing HISPASAT's command of the residential satellite broadband market in Spain.

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SS/L will build Jupiter 2/EchoStar XIX Ka-band broadband satellite for Hughes

An announcement from Hughes Network Systems, LLC made it known that Space Systems/Loral will be building the JUPITER 2/EchoStar XIX satellite. The new Ka-band broadband satellite will possess the highest capacity in the world and will be used by HughesNet high-speed Internet by satellite service.

Jupiter 2/EchoStar XIX will have over 150 Gbps throughput, half again as much as the earlier, SSL-built, Hughes-operated satellite EchoStar XVII launched on July 5, 2012. Like its predecessor, the new Hughes satellite will employ a next-generation architecture. More than 120 spot beams will deliver high quality satellite broadband coverage across the United States and parts of Canada during its expected service lifetime of 15 years.

Once the JUPITER 2/EchoStar XIX enters commercial service in 2016, it will be leveraged by HughesNet, the largest high-speed Internet by satellite service in the world with 659,000 subscribers as of the end of 2012. HughesNet will use the new capacity to drive further growth in North America.

ViaSat reports better than expected sales for 2013 3Q

ViaSat, a well-known direct broadcast satellite television broadcaster and pay TV operator, is happy to announce that the company’s shares increased by 24 percent after it reported sales and earnings that are even better than expected for the third quarter. For this period, ViaSat reached a revenue worth $286.4 million -- going past the $265.7 million predicted by experts.

Aside from the boom in earnings, the company also reported profits worth $1.8 million, which contradicts analysts who had forecasted a loss in earnings for the quarter. As a result, Needham & Co. raised ViaSat’s rating from “hold” to “buy.” On Thursday, the company’s shares rose from $9.55 to close at $49.29 on the Nasdaq.

ViaSat’s winnings mostly came from its defense and satellite broadband businesses. Its satellite Internet business wrapped up the quarter with $38,000 more subscribers compared to the previous quarter. Most of the increase was attributed to the distribution offer with DirecTV.

The company ended the quarter with a backlog of $939 million -- $364 million more than the same quarter of 2012.

Telefonica taps Eutelsat KA-SAT capacity for satellite Internet services

A joint announcement by Telefonica Global Solutions and Eutelsat unveiled their new plan to provide European carriers with satellite Internet services via a high-performance Eutelsat KA-SAT satellite.

Telefonica will use capacity from the KA-SAT satellite to deliver satellite Internet solutions to carriers throughout Europe, including rural areas and urban belts that terrestrial broadband networks cannot reach. The satellite broadband service can also provide fully diversified backup solutions to areas that do have access to terrestrial broadband networks.

KA-SAT capacity allows Telefonica to update the satellite Internet services it provides to operators and corporations. This allows the company to maintain the high quality of their services while also keeping their prices competitive. In addition, KA-SAT serves as an additional access technology for M2M, iHealth, and other services.

SES introduces Internet Satellite JET Ka-band broadband solution in France

Satellite operator SES will be the first to deliver Internet Satellite JET, a satellite broadband solution capable of offering up to 20 MBps of speed, to consumers in France.

Internet Satellite JET leverages the SES Astra 2F satellite for Ka-band capacity. It can provide high-speed Internet by satellite connectivity, VoIP telephony, and High-Definition TV services.

It is distributed by France Telecom-Orange affiliate NordNet through new generation end-user terminals provided by Gilat Satellite Technologies.

SES can finally match the features and prices of terrestrial broadband services in Europe through the pioneering Internet Satellite Jet. SES intends to offer new Ka-band satellite broadband solution to consumers in remote locations in France who would find it most suitable for their needs.

O3b, Gulfsat Madagascar team up for Internet on satellite services

A long-term capacity deal between O3b Networks and Gulfsat Madagascar is expected to generate high-speed Internet on satellite and telephony services for residential and commercial customers in Madagascar.

The O3 Medium Earth Orbit satellite fleet will provide Gulfsat Madagascar with unlimited and affordable Ka-band capacity. The African telecom service provider will use this connectivity to deliver a wide range of Internet on satellite, voice, and data transmission services.

Gulfsat reported that consumers and businesses in Madagascar are highly interested in an affordable, fast, and reliable Internet solution. Its partnership with O3b Networks will optimize Internet on satellite access for customers in Africa.

Hughes builds satellite broadband network for Mexican government

Hughes Network Systems won a $24-million contract with the Mexican Ministry of Communications and Transport for the construction of an 11,000-site satellite broadband network that will deliver high-speed satellite Internet and voice connectivity throughout Mexico.

Hughes will supply its HN System Network Operations Center and 11,000 broadband terminals to build the new network. It will also deliver and deploy data compression/optimization technology, fiber optic/Internet interconnection equipment, IP phones, and wireless access systems.

According to Mexican officials, the new satellite network will span the 32 states of Mexico. It will deliver satellite Internet, voice, and data services to community centers, government locations, hospitals, public calling offices, and schools in both accessible and remote regions.

Telecomunicaciones de Mexico will operate the Hughes-built broadband satellite network. A decentralized government office that manages Mexican telecommunications, Telecomunicaciones de Mexico possesses significant experience in satellite operations.

According to coordinator Monica Aspe Bernal of the Agency for Knowledge and Information of the SCT, Hughes Network Systems has proven its reliability as a provider of broadband satellite networks and services over the past 25 years. Hughes came out on top of other major satellite broadband equipment providers that participated in the open public competitive bid.

Space Data Corporation deploys Lemko DiMoWiNe broadband Internet solution in Alaska

Residents of the remote region of Atqasuk, Alaska can now access wireless broadband connectivity thanks to the new satellite-based commercial LTE network established by a collaboration between Space Data Corporation and Lemko Corporation. The first in the region, the DiMoWiNe-powered Space Data long term evolution (LTE) network will provide regional subscribers with high-speed mobile broadband.

Carrier company Space Data specializes in low-cost connectivity solutions for rural and remote areas where fiber or cell towers cannot be deployed due to terrain and costs. The Company leveraged the DiMoWiNe (Distributed Mobile Wireless Network) software solution by Lemko to create and deploy an affordable yet efficient LTE network.

The satellite Internet services of the LTE network are delivered by the high-altitude SkySite Network. Space Data designed its proprietary communications platforms to be operated by a single person and launched within a couple of minutes from any location on Earth.

Space Data's Alaskan LTE network is powered by Lemko's DiMoWiNe software solution. DiMoWiNe is a virtualized core software program collocated at the eNodeB that speeds up the network by reducing signaling traffic. Virtualizing the core moves switching and routing to the edge of the network. The result is an LTE solution that can tolerate greater amounts of latency and with the capability to deliver mobile broadband over satellite.

Avanti, InSat, Newtec finish testing Ka-band satellite Internet hub in Cyprus

A joint announcement by Avanti Communications, InSat, and Newtec reported a successful conclusion of their joint testing of the new Ka-band satellite Internet hub infrastructure built by Newtec in the island nation of Cyprus.

Newtec serves as the exclusive technology partner for all InSat services and a partner of satellite operator Avanti. In addition to installing the Cyprus Ka-band hub, Newtec will also provide two-way satellite broadband technology. Its MDM2200 broadband terminals can provide download speeds of up to 22 Mbps for InSat's ISP customers.

In fact, according to InSat, Afghan telecom and Internet service providers are already testing their managed services. Insat has installed on-site control stations and customer terminals in Afghanistan, which allows local Internet service providers to test out its Hi-Stream broadband Internet-from-satellite service.

InSat is a managed services provider (MSP) that uses the Newtec Sat3Play Broadband platform under the Hi-Stream brand name to provide IP access services for businesses and consumers. The service leverages the significant broadband capacity of Avanti's HYLAS 2 Ka-band satellite.

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Honeywell signs MDA with Inmarsat for GX Aviation services

Inmarsat and Honeywell have entered into a master distribution agreement (MDA) that will see Honeywell distributing Inmarsat’s Global Xpress Aviation satellite Internet services to the business aviation sector.

In addition to signing the MDA, Honeywell has secured five years worth of GX capacity. It has also reserved additional satellite broadband capacity up until 2021. This is a compelling endorsement of the future GX service.

Global Xpress is a future high-throughput satellite broadband network that can deliver speeds of up to 50Mbps anywhere in the world. Inmarsat’s GX Aviation solution will leverage the Ka-band satellite network to generate in-flight satellite Internet connectivity to aircraft cabins.

Inmarsat plans to launch GX during the last quarter of 2014. Honeywell will introduce and distribute the GX Aviation Internet-by-satellite solution to business aviation customers in 2015.

Bentley Walker debuts Freedomsat Ka-band satellite Internet in Iraq, Afghanistan

American military personnel and contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan will be able to enjoy satellite broadband thanks to Bentley Walker and its Freedomsat satellite Internet service.

Freedomsat taps the Hylas2 satellite for Ka-band capacity. It offers speeds of up to 10Mbps at low cost, twice that of the previous Bentley Walker service.

As part of its ongoing relationship with US military personnel serving overseas, Bentley Walker previously supplied 4Mbps Ku-band Internet service. The older service uses the HX50 modem and is currently the most popular Internet connectivity service for personnel in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Satellite Internet allows American military personnel and civilian contractors to stay in contact with family and friends back home. It also helps in rebuilding and installing infrastructure and other important tasks.

Bentley Walker is the first ISP that offered high-speed Ka-band satellite Internet service in Afghanistan and Iraq. Its Freedomsat package has a unique pin service that allows 24/7 activation and access for users. In addition, Bentley Walker also offers detailed web filtering services.

Hughes TurboPage with ActiveCompress upgrades HN/HX systems

Hughes recently announced that it will be upgrading its HN/HX systems with the TurboPage with ActiveCompression feature. The upgrade will greatly increase bandwidth efficiency and provide support for the newest generation of IPv6 Internet addressing.

HN/HX systems possess numerous IP features and functionality that make them perfect for satellite routing where full IP functionality and performance is needed. The Hughes-designed systems provide advanced bandwidth management capabilities that allow operators to customize various Quality of Service (QoS) and Service Level Agreements (SLAs) on a per-remote basis. Being pure IP-based solutions, they also incorporate a strong set of IP functions and features.

Hughes TurboPage with ActiveCompression can boost compression gain of transmitted HTTP traffic by up to 50 percent. It compresses both text and image data to decrease the volume of data transmitted through satellites. This improves bandwidth efficiency and performance across the entire network.

Hughes ActiveCompression also protects the original quality of both text and images during and after compression.

According to Adrian Morris, Executive Vice President of Engineering at Hughes, the HN/HX systems' new features future-proofs the networks of Hughes customers. "The Internet's growth creates an almost endless demand for new bandwidth,” he said, and added that same growth is causing the Internet to outstrip its own protocols.

“By providing network operators with higher compression rates for more efficient bandwidth use and dual-stack support to ease the transition to IPv6,” said EVP Morris, “we've given them the tools to ride out the Internet's growing pains without disrupting service to their customers.”

One such customer was Vodacom Group, Ltd., which needed to improve its converged service offerings in throughout Africa. Last year, Vodacom selected Hughes' HN and HX satellite broadband solutions to improve network speeds and bandwidth efficiency.

Satellite Broadband for the US via Dish Network

With the recent improvements in the US satellite industry, the country now has the technological capacity to support a nationwide satellite broadband project. The advancements in the satellite sector now enables operators to use higher-frequency bands.

Dish Network to deliver satellite broadband nationwide

Dish Network, in particular, is planning to roll-out internet by satellite with the help of EchoStar Corp's spacecraft, the EchoStar 17 satellite. The spacecraft itself has been delivering increased bandwidth capacity and can provide up to 15 megabits in download speeds. However, expect the broadband-Internet service to offer lower speeds, at around 5 megabits, in order to increase capacity for more customers.

The time frame for the project's implementation would be around September and October. Dish Network is targeting consumers in rural regions who are unable to access the Internet with the help of terrestrial infrastructure like cable broadband. 

The company has been offering broadband-Internet service via satellite in partnership with ViaSat, although the offers was limited to specific regions of the US. The latest project, however, will see Dish Network offer packages and bundles which would include video services.

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