11 November 2015
Over the course of 2015, Intelsat S. A. (NYSE: I), the world’s leading provider of satellite services, has forged strategic partnerships with leading networking hardware and antenna manufacturers as it implements its strategy to drive performance, improve economics and simplify access to the company’s next-generation high throughput satellite platform, Intelsat EpicNG.
Building on that momentum, the company announced that it has appointed long-standing Intelsat executive Jay Yass to Vice President of Business Development and named Hazem Moakkit to the newly created role of Vice President of Corporate and Spectrum Strategy. Mr. Yass and Mr. Moakkit will report to Bruno Fromont, Intelsat’s Senior Vice President of Strategy and Asset Management and be based in the company’s McLean, VA office.
In his new role, Mr. Yass will add to his market development responsibilities and lead Intelsat’s global business development initiatives. He will oversee the company’s business development team and work closely with Intelsat’s corporate strategy, product management as well as its innovation and service architecture teams to identify and establish partnerships that will complement the type and value of the services delivered to customers. Prior to his current position, Mr. Yass served as Intelsat’s Vice President of Global Accounts and Strategic Sales as well as Intelsat’s Vice President of Network Services Product Management. Before joining Intelsat in 2003, he held senior sales and business development management roles at Telogy Network (now part of Texas Instruments) and GTE Satellite Corporation.
In his newly created role, Mr. Moakkit will lead the corporate strategy and spectrum teams, analyzing shifts in market trends to guide the strategic direction of the company. He will also be responsible for optimizing Intelsat’s orbital spectrum rights to support the company’s overall business plans. Bringing more than two decades of industry experience to Intelsat, Mr. Moakkit has held executive regulatory and spectrum affairs positions at O3b Satellite Networks and Yahsat.
”As Intelsat continues to look for innovative approaches that will drive value for our customers, Jay’s and Hazem’s leadership and expertise will be essential to accelerating our business development initiatives and delivering new services to the marketplace,” said Bruno Fromont, Senior Vice President, Strategy and Asset Management, Intelsat. “Jay is a long-standing Intelsat executive with a proven track record of developing strong ecosystem partnerships, enabling him to effectively lead our Business Development team. Similarly, Hazem’s wealth of experience in spectrum strategy and development will prove invaluable as Intelsat analyzes and identifies new applications where our satellite-based solutions will play a meaningful role in the continuing expansion of broadband connectivity everywhere.”
11 November 2015
Arabsat’s first satellite of the 6th generation, “Badr-7” , was launched successfully this morning from Kourou base, French Guyana, in South America by the Ariane 5 rocket.
The Ariane 5 rocket blasted off at 21:34 GMT on Wednesday 11th ( 12:34 Makkah time) , carrying Badr-7, a Eurostar satellite, manufactured by Airbus Defense & Space with Thales Alenia Space, to be placed in ARABSAT’s exclusive orbital hotspot 26° East.
This step comes as part of ARABSAT’s ambitious expansion projects, and it is the 6th satellite launched during the past seven years on three different orbital positions to provide diverse TV broadcasting and telecommunications services . Badr -7 will join Arabsat satellites Badr – 4, Badr-5 and Badr -6 on its exclusive TV broadcasting orbital position 26° East.
This successful launch comes 30 years after the launch of Arabsat first generation satellites, which was supervised by the first Arab Muslim astronaut, His Royal Highness Prince Sultan bin Salman bin Abdul Aziz, now President of the Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage (SCTH), during his famous Space journey aboard the Shuttle “Discovery” in 1985.
On this occasion, His Royal Highness Prince Sultan extended his congratulations to Arabsat for the successful launch of Badr-7, stressing that Arabsat has been playing a vital role in connecting the Arab World since launching its first satellite in 1985. Over the past years ARABSAT has developed and adapted to the latest advanced technology in satellite broadcasting and the telecommunications field to become one of the leading satellite operators in the world.
Eng./ Khalid bin Ahmed Balkheyour, President & CEO of Arabsat, said “We are very pleased with the successful launch of Arabsat’s first 6th generation satellite. Badr-7 has great satellite capacities with a wide range of coverage on a variety of different frequency beams including Ka band to provide broadband and internet services as well as direct TV broadcasting and satellite telecommunications services. “
Balkheyour added “ ARABSAT currently has three new satellites under manufacturing within the 6th generation project, they will be successively launched over the next three years, with about US $1.5 billion investments, part of which Badr-7 manufacture and launching share is 400 million.
Balkheyour concluded ” Arabsat success was not possible without the hard work of a group of Arab engineers from our headquarters in Riyadh and our two control stations in Riyadh and Tunisia, where these young dedicated Arab engineers are operating and controlling the satellites. They also participate fully in the designing and supervising during the stages of manufacturing of these satellites, so I dedicate to them my highest regards and appreciation”. (Source: Arabsat press release)
10 November 2015
Intelsat S.A. (NYSE: I), the world’s leading provider of satellite services, announced today that Intelsat 29e, the first of the Intelsat Epic
NG high throughput satellites, is scheduled to launch on January 27, 2016, aboard an Arianespace Ariane 5 ECA launch vehicle from the Guiana Space Center in Kourou, French Guiana.
Manufactured by Boeing, Intelsat’s EpicNG satellites operate in both C-and Ku-band, and are fully interoperable with the entire Intelsat satellite fleet. The Intelsat EpicNG satellites will operate the most advanced digital payload commercially available, providing commercial and government customers access to high throughput capabilities, which will result in a flexible broadband infrastructure that will scale to meet their needs.
Located at 310° East, Intelsat 29e will replace Intelsat 1R and Intelsat 805. The payload will enable the delivery of enterprise-grade, broadband services to fixed and mobile network operators, aero and maritime mobility service providers, and to government customers operating throughout the Americas. The satellite will also provide spot beams for mobility customers serving the heavily trafficked North Atlantic region. To date, companies such as Harris CapRock, Panasonic, EMC (formerly MTN), Axesat and leading national telecom operators in Latin America will be among the first to deploy services on the platform.
“This is an exciting time for our company, with Intelsat leading the way with new satellite-based solutions that address the needs of our always-connected world,” stated Stephen Spengler, Chief Executive Officer, Intelsat. “With broadband demands only increasing, Intelsat 29e will enable our customers to extend the reach of their networks and provide high quality, fast, reliable connectivity, whether they are serving end users in flight, at sea or increasing the amount of throughput on existing broadband infrastructure. With 2016 fast approaching, Intelsat 29e is completed and awaiting shipment to the launch site. Intelsat continues to work closely with Boeing and Arianespace to ensure that Intelsat 29e is ready for its planned January launch date and to mark the next evolution in Intelsat’s longstanding history of innovation.”
Intelsat 29e marks the first of Intelsat’s next generation EpicNG satellite fleet that combines wide beams and spot beams with frequency reuse technology to meet customers’ growing demand for broadband connectivity worldwide. Intelsat29e will be the 56th Intelsat satellite orbited by Arianespace and the first dedicated launch aboard an Ariane 5 rocket for Intelsat. Intelsat expects to launch the second Intelsat EpicNG satellite, Intelsat 33e, which will serve Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia, in the third quarter of 2016, also aboard an Arianespace launcher.
Supporting Resources
4 November 2015
The winners of the 2015 AIBs were announced on the 4th November at a gala dinner at LSO St Luke’s in London. These annual international broadcasting awards are now in their eleventh year and celebrate the best in radio, TV and online – journalism, programmes and talent. The AIBs are judged by an independent and international panel of distinguished media professionals representing broadcasting across the world and they ensure that the awards are judged independently from commercial influence. The chosen winners demonstrate the best in engaging, powerful, moving and innovative reporting and investigation from entries which are submitted by countries in every continent of the world.
Simon Spanswick, AIB CEO said: ”The entries in 2015 demonstrated the continuing dedication of programme makers and journalists to uncover important and challenging stories, to take risks, both personally and professionally and to work expertly to investigate and explain complex subjects. The entries educate, entertain and engage their audience using the latest technologies at their disposal. We have seen important and sometimes harrowing stories brought to light, the power of the voice to captivate as well as exciting and engrossing coverage of sporting events. Once again the judges have had the hard but rewarding search for the best out of a very strong set of entries.”
This year’s awards were hosted by CNN’s Hala Gorani. Hala is based in London and anchors The World Right Now, with Hala Gorani, which airs every weekday evening. As an accomplished international journalist, Hala frequently goes into the field to report on major breaking news stories. Most recently, she’s been covering the refugee crisis in Europe and the Middle East.
The AIBs 2015 | Winners and highly commended finalists are:
TV Journalism
The winner is CNN for its coverage of the migrant crisis in the Mediterranean.
Highly commended
Al Jazeera English for Nepal in Ruins
Euronews for Fighting Boko Haram
Domestic current affairs
The winner is Channel 4 for My Last Summer, a programme that gathered together five terminally ill patients to share their experiences of coping with the last months of their lives and the effect on their families and friends.
Highly commended
Antena 3 for The Thing with Rom-Mania
Verve Productions for Filming My Father: In Life and Death
International Current Affairs
The winner is Al Jazeera Media Network for Al Jazeera Investigates – Broken Dreams: The Boeing 787. This was a disturbing tale of corporate greed as the world’s major aircraft manufacturer put profit ahead of safety.
Highly commended
Mongoose Pictures/Quicksilver Media for Outbreak: The Truth about Ebola
True Vision Productions for Kids in Camps
Domestic investigative
The winner is VRT for The Price of Cheap Food. This documentary looked at the never ending price war between supermarkets to lure consumers in with the cheapest possible food, asking who pays for this cheap food and whether a Pandora’s box has been opened in which food producers – principally farmers – have become the first victims.
Highly commended
BBC Northern Ireland for Spotlight: A Woman Alone with the IRA
Channel 4 for The Paedophile Hunter
International Investigative
The winner is Flying Cloud Productions for Human Harvest, a programme that investigated claims that first emerged from China in 2006 that state-run hospitals were killing prisoners of conscience to sell their organs.
Highly commended
Al Jazeera Media Network for Al Jazeera Investigates – Inside Kenya’s Death Squads
Sky News Arabia for Death Boats
Children’s Factual
The winner is Strix Television (part of the Nice Group) that produced The Museum for SVT. The Museum is a competition show in which knowledge, excitement, history and the present day are woven together in a children’s programme that is just as much fun for adults.
Highly commended
BBC for Being Me – A Newsround Special
deMENSEN for The Blacklist – Getting Married
Science programme
The winner is Channel 4 for Drugs Live: Cannabis on Trial which was a ground-breaking scientific trial looking at the effects on the brain of two different forms of cannabis – ‘skunk’ and ‘hash’.
Highly commended
Flimmer Film for Death – A Series about Life
True Vision Productions for Curing Cancer
Short news report
The winner is VICE News for Russian Roulette, Dispatch Fifty Seven in which Simon Ostrovsky spoke to residents in Eastern Ukraine which are innocently caught up in the middle of a bloody campaign – and who are dying as a result.
Highly commended
CNN for Ebola Battle through Nurse’s Eyes
TVC News for Customised Coffins in Ghana
Short feature
The winner is Blue Chalk Media for Burned Girl. Ragini is one of millions of children who are suffering from severe burn injuries. Blue Chalk Media travelled to India to document Ragini’s story through video and still photographs.
Highly commended
BBC World Service for Hooked
ITN for On Assignment: Heroin on the East Coast
Specialist programme
The winner is by TBI Media with Snappin’ Turtle Productions for D-Day 70 Years On. The BBC brought the UK together in a tour de force production to mark the 70th anniversary of the D-Day landings – the programme was broadcast on TV and radio, and screened in cinemas across the country.
Highly commended
LOOKS Film & TV Produktionen & ARTE for 14 – Diaries of the Great War
Kansai Telecasting for Bunraku – Soul of the Art
Online factual
The winner is Bayerischer Rundfunk for Do Not Track which explored how information about you is collected and used as you browse the web.
Highly commended
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty for My Ukraine
Radio journalism
The winner is BBC World Service for its Ebola Coverage, one of the biggest stories the international broadcaster covered during 2014.
Radio current affairs
The winner is RTE Radio One for Voices which, over 12 episodes, explored issues like suicide, abortion, addiction, and raised questions about who we are and how we live.
Highly commended
ABC for Indigenous Soldiers Who Hid their Identity to Serve – the Untold Story
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty for Tradition of the Blade
Radio investigative documentary
The winner is BBC World Service for The Lost Children of the Holocaust. At the end of the Second World War, the BBC began a series of special radio appeals on behalf of a group of children who had survived the Holocaust but were now stranded in post-war Europe. 70 yearson, Alex Last tries to find out what happened to the children named in the recording.
Radio creative feature
The winner is BFBS for Children of Belsen, a compelling anniversary story that deserved to be told and to reach a wider audience.
Highly commended
RTHK for Bipolar Express
Television personality
The winner is Christiane Amanpour, CNN’s chief international correspondent and anchor of the
network’s award-winning, flagship global affairs programme Amanpour.
Radio personality
The winner is Kathryn Ryan of Radio New Zealand, where she anchors the daily Nine to Noon, a
three-hour live news and current affairs programme which runs each weekday.
AIB Founders Award – Mike Wooldridge
The AIB Founders’ Award is in recognition of Mike Wooldridge’s lifetime work as an outstanding correspondent.
AIB Lifetime Achievement Award – Larry King
The inaugural AIB Lifetime Achievement Award is in recognition of Larry King’s remarkable career on radio and television, and his extraordinary impact on the news industry.
