17 September 2003
EADS Astrium will be the builders of the Hot Bird 8 broadcast satellite, to be launched in early 2006 by Arianespace on-board an Ariane 5 rocket. With 64 transponders that can be operated simultaneously, of which 58 transponders will operate at full power for most of the satellites lifetime, Hot Bird 8 is the largest satellite yet ordered by Eutelsat. It will join the companys constellation of Hot Bird broadcasting satellites at 13 degrees East that provide television, radio and interactive services to almost 100 million cable and satellite homes in Europe, North Africa and the Middle East.
The satellite has been designed to cover all 102 Ku-band transponders/frequencies at 13 degrees East which means that it can substitute any transponder on the other Hot Bird satellites.
Hot Bird 8 is based on the E3000 version of the Eurostar family, already ordered by five major satellite operators. 34 Eurostar spacecraft have been ordered to date, of which 23 have already been launched and have proven highly reliable in operational service.
16 September 2003
Convened by ESOA (European Satellite Operators Association) and SIA (Satellite Industry Association) chief executives and senior representatives from member satellite operators met in Paris to discuss the critical role satellites can play in meeting the needs of the Information Society.
This first session of the two associations, whose member operators reach the four corners of the globe, focussed on how satellites can serve the broadband needs of businesses, individuals and communities in developing and developed nations. Broadband objectives in different countries that call for universal access to high-speed networks within the next five years can only be met if satellites are a contributing technology, particularly for rural communities and for developing countries.
The CEOs underlined the need for ESOA and the SIA to work together on building improved awareness of how satellite communications provide enormous public benefits.
16 September 2003
ND SatCom AG, an AIB member and a leading global supplier of satellite based broadband VSAT, broadcast and military communication network and ground station solutions, introduced at IBC 2003 its new SkyWAN Compact solution. With this new product ND SatCom expands its model family from the high end VSAT market with fully meshed networks to comprehensive but lower priced star-topology VSAT solutions.
The SkyWAN Compact package combines SkyWAN IDU 2000 with the low-power Radio Frequency Transmitter family in a highly integrated and compact format solution. SkyWAN IDU 2000 is a derivative of ND SatComs flagship the SkyWAN IDU 5000. It is based on the same technology platform. This slim version is offered off-the-shelf in star topology configuration. Seamless integration into SkyWAN networks is possible.
SkyWAN is a highly flexible and versatile VSAT system for establishing wide area corporate networks whilst providing IP router and frame relay switch functionality. Thus a wide variety of end-user business communication applications are supported in a manner as yet
unparalleled in the industry.
16 September 2003
George Soros, the international financier and media philanthropist, and Dr Gro Harlem Brundtland, the retiring director general of the World Health Organisation, and former prime minister of Norway, will address delegates at this years News Xchange conference in Budapest on 6-7 November.
George Soros has spent tens of millions of dollars supporting free and independent media in post-conflict countries..
Dr. Brundtlands keynote will focus on the the role the media play in covering health crises prior to an exhaustive study into the medias role in covering the SARS crisis as well as other health pandemics.
15 September 2003
Peter Senger, Director of Marketing, Distribution and Engineering at Germany’s international broadcaster Deutsche Welle and Chairman of the Digital Radio Mondiale consortium, has been awarded the EBU International Broadcasting Committee’s Lifetime Achievement Award.
At a ceremony during the IBC convention in Amsterdam on 15 September, Lodewijk Bouwens, Chair of the EBU Committee and Director of Radio Netherlands, presented the award on behalf of the EBU. Citing Senger’s work on DRM as one of the prime reasons for the award, Bouwens said that the DRM system will have a lasting and positive impact on international broadcasters worldwide.
