12 January 2016
Kymeta Corporation and Intelsat S.A. (NYSE: I), the world’s leading provider of satellite services, are making the next evolution of connected car a reality. The companies will combine Intelsat’s leadership in space-based communication with Kymeta’s innovative antenna technology to bring high speed connectivity to cars on a global basis. This will enable the creation of new services on every continent, support software over-the-air applications, advance the potential for autonomous driving and pave the way for the future of the connected car.
Last month, in an industry first, Kymeta and Intelsat proved that a “dish” ground antenna was unnecessary for on-the-move satellite connectivity. The team recently completed an 8,000 mile demonstration across the United States using the Kymeta satellite-enabled test car. Over the course of the journey, the mTenna™ technology, embedded into the roof of the automobile, automatically acquired and tracked Intelsat Ku-band satellite signals while on the move.
The future of automotive connectivity is being revolutionized by high throughput satellite connectivity, combined with advancements in software-enabled, metamaterials-based electronic beamforming antenna technology. Together, the technologies allow for connected car solutions that address critical requirements including reliable and consistent service availability, economic multicast distribution, and global ubiquity of service levels with an unmatched security environment. In order to enable software over the air, unlock the new services for streamed content that consumers expect and support advancements in autonomous driving, the industry needs the efficient, consistent connectivity options and a global, scalable solution that only satellite can provide.
“Satellite connectivity can best address the capacity, coverage and security concerns of conventional solutions to car connectivity. Better yet, these assets are available now. We don’t have to wait 10 years for a next generation cellular network to be invented and deployed,” said Dr. Nathan Kundtz, Chief Executive Officer of Kymeta. “This will be crucial because five years from now, every car that comes off a production line should be connected. In fact, we should stop calling it the ‘connected car’, and just call it ‘the car’ because this is the future of automotive.”
“The automotive sector is a global business, where scalability and quality are essential to success,” said Intelsat CEO Stephen Spengler. “We are enhancing the world’s largest satellite-broadband infrastructure with our next generation fleet, Intelsat EpicNG, allowing us to deliver highly efficient broadband services in the air, sea, and with Kymeta, to the automotive sector. With our global connectivity, automotive manufacturers and car owners alike will benefit from consistent, highly reliable and secure connectivity, literally anywhere in the world. Intelsat is confident that the future of connected car means satellite-enabled.”
Kymeta’s satellite antennas remove the need for mechanical components by using software to electronically track and steer towards satellites. This ensures that connectivity is maintained regardless of location, and gives manufacturers the ability to use a simple push-notification for software upgrades to guarantee futureproof technology. Working together, Kymeta and Intelsat will ensure that mobility customers are able to receive fast, reliable and cost-effective connectivity regardless of location. (Source: Intelsat press release)
4 January 2016
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| On 4 January, Africanews launched from its headquarters in Congo Brazzaville. Africanews says that it is the first independent pan-African news media, initially reaching its audience through its digital community;:website, YouTube channel, Facebook and Twitter and its innovative and interactive app, “Story Hunters”.
Africanews provides news not just on Africa, but also on the rest of the world, from a purely African perspective. At our current offices in Pointe Noire, 85 media professionals, of 15 different nationalities from all over sub-Saharan Africa, work under the direction of Mame Campbell Touré, Bureau Chief, Isaac Khaguli Esipisu, Editor in Chief, and François Chignac, Director of Editorial Development. An extensive network of correspondents in every African country rounds out the team.
Michael Peters, CEO of Euronews and Africanews stated:
“This is a milestone in the history of our Group. It all began with the recognition that the rising African continent is an incredible source of news and that there is a great pool of talent that lacks a quality media environment. I want to thank all of the people at Africanews and Euronews who have been working together for months to prepare the launch of this new media whose mission is to ensure the independence and diversity of the news, as a founding principle of Africanews. Africanews is the first organisation to provide news from a pan-African point of view and it will spotlight all the talents of Africa.”
In the news stories, features and magazines, Africanews will reflect the great creative diversity, ideas and perspectives of the evolving sub-Saharan Africa. The news coverage will be immediately available on africanews.com and, in a few weeks, the TV channel will start broadcasting across the major distribution networks.
africanews.com
People in Africa and anywhere in the world can now access the africanews.com website.
Presented in four key areas – News / Economy / Sports / Culture – all the essential African and international news will be available in French and English on africanews.com.
With its responsive web design, africanews.com is suited to all mobile, tablet and computer screens and has the added feature of adapting to the quality of the available connection. Viewers may choose from three versions:
| Lite version
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Standard version |
Advanced version |
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| For weak connections, the day’s headlines load quickly (text format only).
Users can browse the news and magazines of Africanews, check the stock markets, get sports scores or select features in the field that interests them the most. |
For a normal connection, the articles are illustrated by photos or standard resolution videos.
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For high-speed connections, the complete site is displayed with texts, photos and HD videos. |
The Africanews media comes with a community app known as “Story Hunters” which invites Africanews TV viewers and website users to play an active role in finding and creating news stories.
The Story Hunters app:
contribute, like, share, comment
More than just an app or a social network, Story Hunters is a news-sharing platform designed to be a forum for expression of all things important for Africa.
Available for iOS and Android devices, in French and English, the app allows users to watch video content published by Africanews, to comment on the items, rate them, send an emoticon, share or re-post them.
Africanews also invites news hunters to join the community so that they can contribute their own photos and videos, by sending them directly from their mobile phone via the app.
Download the app:
The Africanews team will select the best contributions and include them in the special ‘Story Hunters’ programme.
To round out its digital presence, Africanews has also created its first two YouTube channels, and Facebook and Twitter accounts. |
| Advertising sales
Sales of advertising space start today on digital media and on TV in a few weeks.
The first advertisers are: the mobile phone company MTN Congo, Brussels Airlines, and the hotel chain Accor Africa.
Sales contact for advertisers and ad agencies in Africa
Marianne Michelet,
Senior Account Director Africa
tel. +33 (0)1 53 96 60 49 marianne.michelet@euronews.com
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15 December 2015
With over 8,000 miles of successful road testing, Kymeta and Intelsat take significant step towards making global, high-speed connectivity for the connected car a reality
Completion of the first maritime product prototype provides path to scalable, high quality, low cost mobility solutions and compatibility with fleet of Intelsat satellites.
Kymeta Corporation and Intelsat S.A. (NYSE: I), the world’s leading provider of satellite services, have successfully completed initial testing of the mobility performance of Kymeta’s flat-panel antennas on Intelsat’s global satellite network for both maritime and automotive applications. Kymeta and Intelsat are the first companies to meet this significant milestone with a flat panel, software-based antenna.
In the automotive portion of the test, the team embedded Kymeta’s flat-panel antenna into the roof of an automobile and over the course of 8,000 miles, proved that the company’s mTenna™ technology was able to automatically acquire and track satellite signals while on the move. The Ku-band antenna was able to both transmit and receive signals with Intelsat satellites. It is designed for Intelsat’s current satellites and its next generation high throughput satellites, Intelsat EpicNG, the first of which is expected to launch on January 27, 2016.
Kymeta has also completed building and testing its first glass-on-glass, thin-film-transistor-based antennas, with receive and transmit on the same aperture. This maritime prototype is the workhorse of Kymeta’s 70cm Ku-band product and are currently being produced on existing liquid-crystal display TV display lines, marking the first step towards mass-volume and low-cost attainability for Kymeta antennas.
“We’re excited about these significant milestones and what they mean for our customers,” said, Dr. Nathan Kundtz, Chief Executive Officer of Kymeta. “In partnership with Intelsat, we’re ushering in a new generation of mobile communications that is lower cost and higher bandwidth.”
Kymeta’s flat panel, software-based antennas simplify the access to Intelsat’s satellite fleet by removing the need for mechanical components and by using software to electronically point, steer and acquire the satellite signal. This allows for both the rapid setup and installation of the hardware, in addition to the improved ability to acquire and track satellite signal. Working together, Kymeta and Intelsat will ensure that mobility customers are able to receive fast, reliable and cost-effective connectivity regardless of location.
“At Intelsat, we are pursuing innovation in both satellite technology and ground systems to enable simpler access to our services,” stated Stephen Spengler, Chief Executive Officer of Intelsat. “Our partnership with Kymeta will help ensure that our customers have much easier and more cost effective access to our fleet to leverage the power and higher performance of our satellites to solve their complex connectivity issues. Together, I look forward to using our collective expertise to expand the addressable markets for satellite technology and provide ubiquitous and fast broadband services to the billions of people and devices that need connectivity.”
14 December 2015
Globecast, the global solutions provider for media, today announced that it has launched a new satellite platform on the AMC-11 satellite. As a result, prospective and current clients can benefit from the most powerful orbital position in the US for distribution to cable headends. This is evidenced by the fact that the satellite already hosts over 70 major Tier-1 American channels.
Eddie Ferraro, Managing Director, The Americas, at Globecast said, “This new platform on AMC-11 is in a very desirable orbital position. Using DVB-S2 modulation means we can offer a larger and more diverse range of premium cable distribution capacity, over and above our capacity on SES-3. Because we also offer origination and playout services supported by Media Factory, our cloud-based content preparation platform, this means we can provide our customers with end-to-end solutions to reach their chosen audiences.”
AMC-11, which covers the entire North American and Central American area, is owned by SES. “Steve Bunke, Vice President, Sales of North America, at SES said, “Globecast is a long-term partner and has platforms on other SES satellites serving the Americas and Europe. SES is pleased that Globecast has chosen to build a new platform on AMC-11, which is located at a premium orbital position. Together, we aim to enable the cost-effective and optimal delivery of broadcasting services across the Americas.”
The new AMC-11 platform also allows Globecast to offer all content providers a Tier -1 neighborhood and the best possible North American footprint coverage at a competitive price point. The platform and uplink are managed out of the state-of- the-art Culver City facility near Los Angeles.
Sports channel Gol TV, a 24/7 network dedicated to soccer and an existing customer, is the first to have taken the opportunity to transition their HD feed onto Globecast’s new platform. As well as Gol TV, Globecast has signed additional contracts with companies including Revenue Frontier.
13 December 2015
Starting Tuesday, December 15, 2015, West European viewers can receive Deutsche Welle’s Arabic-language television program via Astra satellite. DW and satellite-operator SES arranged the partner project with the aim of reaching refugees who come from the Middle East. Plans are made to expand the program in the coming months into a conduit of information and an aid to integration. Politicians are welcoming the initiative.
The Arabic-language TV program of the German foreign broadcaster will be transmitted in Europe via Astra 1M. DW (Arabia) offers round-the-clock news and information about Germany. Until now it was available in Germany exclusively via Internet livestream at dw.com/arabic.
Norbert Hölzle, Senior Vice President Commercial Europe of SES, pledged to DW Director General Peter Limbourg to transmit the channel at no cost for twelve months.
Limbourg: “Thanks to SES, we are in the position to make available a high-value TV-program for refugees and all interested parties from the Arab region. It is an important goal of ours to convey European values and to provide access to reliable information from a German perspective, initially in their native language. In that way, Deutsche Welle contributes to the refugees’ participation in German society.”
Hölzle outlined the motive behind the pro-bono project: “We are a market leader in Europe, and we see it as our duty to provide good, additional offerings. At the same time, we want to show how important social engagement is to us.”
The charitable project is not the company’s first, Hölzle said. For example, SES was engaged in Haiti and Nepal after devastating earthquakes there, as well as in the Philippines after the typhoon. In the midst of the Ebola crisis, SES used its satellite fleet to broadcast an educational channel throughout West Africa.
Hölzle: “With this project we want to contribute towards providing better information and integration for the refugees. Deutsche Welle is an ideal partner, because as an internationally-oriented media company it has a good reputation as a fair and neutral intermediary.”
DW (Arabia) offers a diverse program with an emphasis on providing information, understanding, and cultural exchange.
Politicians respond
Peter Altmaier, chief of staff of the German Chancellery in charge of coordinating the country’s refugee policy, welcomed the initiative. “This mission of democracy, freedom of opinion and cultural exchange can provide a valuable contribution to the integration of Arab refugees fleeing from war,” Altmaier said.
Minister of Culture Monika Grütters said: “The media, especially international broadcasters like Deutsche Welle, assume a special responsibility in times marked by war and terror. People from war-torn areas seeking safety, not only in Germany, are reliant on it for trustworthy and objective information about the situation in their homeland as well as that in their places of refuge. The continuing dialogue with the Arab world about values and ideologies as well as about the worth of respecting universal human rights is more important than ever.”
Deutsche Welle acts as a symbol for democracy and freedom of opinion and against intolerance and terror, the culture minister said. “Shows like Shababtalk also contribute to that, in addressing topics that are critical of society and are often taboo in the Arab-speaking world. I thank SES for making this possible,” Grütters added.
Germany’s commissioner for migration, refugees and integration, Aydan Özoğuz, said: “Information knows no boundaries. I therefore greatly appreciate that Deutsche Welle’s Arabic TV program can now be received via satellite in West Europe. DW stands for democracy, freedom of opinion and cultural exchange – now it does in our country as well.”
Step-by-step expansion planned
Initially, the full extent of the Arabic channel will be adopted as it is currently received in Arab countries. Adjustments are planned to match the needs of the target group in Germany – including, for instance, a German-language course crafted for television and bought-in features from German and European partners.
A satellite-receiver is all that is necessary to receive the new channel. The service can therefore be easily accessed at refugee accommodation facilities.
A publically traded company, SES has its headquarters in Luxembourg. By its own account, it operates over 50 geostationary satellites worldwide. SES offers services for broadcasters, content and Internet providers, mobile and stationary network providers, business associations, and governmental organizations. (Source: DW press release)
