PanAmSat began 6-month beta test of high-speed Net/36 network designed to deliver IP audio, video and data to ISPs with goal of starting commercial service by midyear. Beta test is using 1-2 transponders aboard PanAmSat Galaxy satellite, Qwest Communications DSL service in western U.S. and Excite@Home cable modem network on both coasts, CEO Douglas Kahn said Mon. at C.E. Unterberg, Towbin satellite conference in N.Y.C. Agreements with BellSouth and Hughes Network Systems’ DirecPC in addition to Qwest and Excite@Home give Net36 access to 3.5 million homes in U.S., although goal is to pass 16 million worldwide as service expands to 24 transponders by 2004, he said. PanAmSat will spend $250 million in developing service and draw heavily on fleet of 21 satellites to deliver it worldwide, Kahn said. Of 16 million homes, half will be in U.S., others in Europe and Asia, he said. Plan is to have Net/36 act as middleman in delivering programming content to edge of DSL and cable modem networks. PanAmSat has agreements with dozen programmers including ABC-TV, Walt Disney Co., Bloomberg TV and Hollywood.com, Kahn said. Despite start of beta test, PanAmSat still has several hurdles to clear, including digital rights management issues raised by content providers. “This concern has taken on a tremendous amount of significance for them and we'll have to address that,” Kahn said. Adoption of Net/36 platform among broadband service providers also has been slower than expected, he conceded. Number of homes that had access to Net/36 stood at “several hundred thousand” in late Nov. before additions were made in following month, he said. “We're going to invest a little bit less [in Net/36] this year because we expect the revenues are going to be a little bit slower,” Kahn said. Executive conceded that PanAmSat had been “frustrated” at pace of DSL deals, noting that even after reaching agreements, RBOCs “are not fast movers” in deploying technology. PanAmSat also is aggressively pursuing Ka-band spot beam satellite business and is likely to enter market with 2 birds, Kahn said. PanAmSat has received authorization for 7 Ka-band slots, with 5 others pending, he said. While PanAmSat had aimed to have some Ka-band agreements secured by late last year, Kahn said it was likely no deals would be signed by midyear. “Our objective is to be comfortable with what the spot beams are going to be used for,” he said. “It’s better to take a little bit more time to get it right.”
Radarsat International and Canadian Space Agency said they agreed with Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research (INPE) to provide Radarsat-1 data to INPE for scientific research related to environmental monitoring, including estimating deforestation of Amazon River Basin.
Europolitan and Hi3G, which won 3rd-generation wireless licenses in Sweden last month, signed agreement to jointly build part of their next-generation infrastructure, terms not disclosed. Europolitan and Hi3G will form separate company that will build infrastructure mostly outside of metro areas of Gothenburg, Malmoe, Stockholm. Under cooperative agreement, companies said they jointly would build and maintain up to 70% of infrastructure required by their licenses. Each will have equal access to network and retain operating independence.
N.J. Senate Education Committee passed onto Senate floor bill (A-592) that would bar K-12 schools from posting personal information about students on their Web sites. Bill, passed by Assembly last year and held over for 2001 session, is intended to address concerns that pedophiles and other criminals might use personal information on schools’ Web sites to harm children. Bill was inspired last year by S. Jersey school district that posted names and pictures of students going on class field trips.
Nextel Partners posted loss of $202.2 million from operations in 2000, up from $71.6 million in 1999. Company said loss includes stock-based compensation expense of $70.1 million. Due in part to strong subscriber growth, Nextel Partners had revenue of $135.9 million in 2000, vs. $32.7 million in 1999. Company ended year with 227,400 digital subscribers, up from 181,300 at end of 1999.
FCC issued notice of proposed rulemaking that begins re- examination of whether there is continued need for spectrum cap and cellular cross-interest rule for commercial mobile radio service providers. Agency said it seeks comments on whether “competitive or other developments” warrant elimination of or changes to one or both of these requirements.
Level 3 Communications announced Tues. European Investor.com, Gilat Satellite Networks, iBeam and Verestar had signed contracts to use its CrossRoads Internet access service to deliver services to their satellite communications customers. CrossRoads is high- performance network service.
Radio ad revenue grew 3% in Nov., and overall revenue for first 11 months of year was up 11%, Radio Ad Bureau said. For Nov., local ad revenue was up 4% and national ads were flat, it said.
In wake of aborted XM launch, Sea Launch said it may change countdown procedures (CD Jan 11 p2) while technicians check spacecraft and satellites for possible flaws that could cause in- orbit problems. Boeing Satellite Systems waited until 24 sec. before liftoff to issue order and 2 sec. before ignition before deciding to stop launch because of apparent out-of-specification condition that later was determined to be within operating parameters, spokesman said. Boeing engineers gave order that halted launch. Once preignition fluid was injected into Sea Launch rocket’s main engine, entire process, including engine refurbishing, must take place before it can be used in another launch attempt. “Once you get an engine wet, it has to be cleaned out,” Sea Launch spokeswoman said: “If we had done it earlier, there could have been a faster turnaround” on relaunch. Sea Launch and its customers would have to agree before change could be made.