Verizon's New 3G Market Opportunities

With United States' largest mobile network operator, Verizon Wireless, moving its customers to their Long Term Evolution (LTE) network, their 3G airwaves will perhaps soon be left unoccupied and obsolete.

Fortunately, Verizon found a way of making this 3G airwaves useful by launching two new prepaid phone plans last Friday, February 1, 2013. These said plans include unlimited voice minutes and messaging. With the limitation that these plans run only on 3G phones (10 times slower than LTE devices), they offer 500 MB of mobile data for $60, and another $10 to boost the broadband bucket to 2GB per month. The plans do not involve a contract.

The plans highlight its budget-friendly pricing. "So, when it comes time to think about the important task of keeping in touch with friends and family, taking time to investigate wallet-friendly options can mean a few extra dollars for weekend fun or paying down those holiday bills," said Verizon in a post in their website.

"With an affordable prepaid plan, and some creativity, you can stay in touch with friends and family and save a few dollars along the way."

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NSPO Taiwan taps Surrey Satellite Technology to build weather satellite constellation

Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd. (SSTL) has been chosen by the National Space Organization (NSPO) of Taiwan to design and build as many as 12 satellite platforms for the FORMOSAT-7/COSMIC-2 constellation. This mission is a joint civil programme between NSPO and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in the U.S, aiming to provide continuity for the highly successful FORMOSAT-3 mission.

The new constellation is intended to consist of 12 spacecraft that will collect atmospheric data at low and mid latitudes, and enhance regional and global weather forecasting for over 5,000 registered users all over the world. The satellites will also supply scientific data to support climate studies and ionospheric science. The first six spacecraft in the constellation is intended to be launched in 2016.

Under the agreement, SSTL will design and build satellites for the FORMOSAT-7 program at its facilities in Guildford, United Kingdom, while the payloads will be manufactured by NSPO’s partners in the U.S. NSPO is responsible for the integration of the majority of the spacecraft at its facilities in Taiwan. The design phase of the spacecraft is already in motion and SSTL is tailoring a new 200kg platform to the mission requirements. The FORMOSAT-7 spacecraft is known as the fifth constellation that SSTL has been involved with, following on from the Disaster Monitoring Constellation, RapidEye, DMC3, and the Galileo FOC.

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Export-Import Bank approves financing guarantee for Hispasat deal

Spanish communication satellites provider Hispasat has been granted an $87.1 million guarantee of a loan by the Export-Import Bank of the United States, extended by Crédit Agricole and other European lenders. This new development is said to aid Hispasat finance the assembly and purchase of a satellite that will be built by Orbital Sciences Corporation.

The Department of Commerce and Labor reported that this guarantee will help support almost 600 U.S jobs, and also marks the third business transaction between Export-Import Bank and Hispasat. A previous transaction between the two major companies was acknowledged as “Deal of the Year” during the 2012 Ex-Im Bank Annual Conference.

This is not the first time Export-Import Bank financed a satellite company. It also supported other commercial satellites manufactured by Orbital Sciences Corporation. This move is to improve the participation of the U.S in the international market, thus supporting jobs in Orbital’s workforce and its U.S suppliers.

A year ago, Export-Import Bank broke the company’s record by granting $1.4 billion to finance the exporting of U.S-made telecommunications satellites. For the first quarter of this year, it has already authorized $516.9 million.

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Spacecom chosen to broadcast African Cup of Nations 2013 in South Africa

Space Communication, the operator of the AMOS satellite fleet and a communications satellite operator in the Middle East, European Union and North America, has been appointed to provide broadcast capacity for the 29th Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) which will be held South Africa from January 19th to February 10th. The AMOS-5 satellite of Spacecom will broadcast all games from all five South African stadiums in high definition using its pan-African C-band at 17 degrees East.

AMOS-5 is known as the prime mover of African sporting events since it launched its operations in January of last year. The communications satellite has transmitted the recent South African Super Rugby Games, as well as the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic games from London to Africa. AMOS-5 provides high-quality HD transmission of sporting events both on ad hoc and occasional use bases.

AMOS-5 supports Africa using a high power pan-African C-band and three Ku-band beams that cover the whole continent together, with connectivity to Europe and the Middle East. The state-of-the-art satellite is rapidly being recognized as a key carrier of African satellite communications traffic in both broadcast and data services.

Vietnamese Academy of Science and Technology chooses Astrium, Arianespace to launch satellite

Commercial space transportation company Arianespace and EADS aerospace subsidiary Astrium have just inked a deal with Vietnamese Academy of Science and Technology to launch the VNREDSat-1A Earth observation satellite.

France-based Arianespace will be launching VNREDSat-1A in the second quarter of 2013 using the company’s second Vega launcher, Verta 1, from the Guiana Space Center for the European Space Agency (ESA). VNREDSat-1A will then be infused into sun-synchronous orbit (SSO).

The agreement to launch VNREDSat-1A represents the first contract of Arianespace for this year. The 120-kg Astrium-built observation satellite aims to provide Vietnam with a complete satellite system and ground receiving facilities.

Chairman and CEO of Arianespace Jean-Yves Le Gall said in a statement, “We are especially proud of once again being able to work with Vietnam, following the successful launches of Vinasat-1 and -2 communications satellites. With this contract, the fourth we signed for Vega, Arianespace clearly shows that it can offer customers a launch service perfectly adapted to this type of mission.”

Telefonica taps Eutelsat KA-SAT for Internet by satellite in Europe

In a recently-announced agreement, Telefonica Global Solutions will be using Eutelsat Communications' KA-SAT satellite to deliver Internet by satellite broadband services to European carriers.

KA-SAT will enable Telefonica to offer a new selection of Internet by satellite services. The new solutions can match the reliability and prices of existing terrestrial broadband services in Europe.

In addition, KA-SAT allows Telefonica to reach rural areas or urban belts that usually lie outside the coverage of land-based networks. The Company's Internet by satellite broadband services can also serve as fully diversified backup solutions for areas that do have access to terrestrial networks.

China Mobile, Thuraya form new mobile satellite phone business

A joint announcement from China Mobile Satellite Communication Group Ltd., China Telecom Satellite Communications Co Ltd., and Thuraya Telecommunications Co. revealed that the three partners have successfully debuted a new business focusing on mobile satellite phones.

China Mobile is the only company licensed to operate in the Yangtze River Delta Region. As part of an exclusive partnership agreement, China Mobile will introduce and exclusively offer Thuraya's mobile satellite communications devices and services to enterprise consumers in China.

In return, UAE-based satellite mobile telecom operator Thuraya will extend technical and marketing support to China Mobile customers.

China Mobile Satellite Communication Group will introduce the the first batch of Thuraya satellite phones to the enterprise market in March 2013.

The maritime industry in China operates a million fishing boats. It is considered to be the biggest target market of mobile satellite phone services.

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