The fuboTV vMVPD service will be available on U.S. flights using ViaSat satellite internet, the companies said Thursday. They said the arrangement is the first to employ Streaming Video Alliance open caching specifications in flight. They said the fubo Sports Network will be free, while fuboTV will be available to its current subscribers or to passengers who sign up for a free seven-day trial.
Amazon's simulations of the operational environment for non-geostationary orbit processing round participants shows its proposed Kuiper broadband mega constellation won't materially affect the Ka-band NGSO environment as long as operators coordinate in good faith. So said a posting Wednesday recapping Amazon representatives meeting with FCC International Bureau officials. Amazon said it would initiate good faith coordination with NGSO operators, urging OK'ing its application.
Satellite operators AsiaSat, Eutelsat, Inmarsat, Intelsat and SES plus the Global VSAT Forum issued guidance to antenna makers on how to comply with their new satellite operator minimum performance specifications. GVF said the SOMAP initiative and requirements are aimed in part at reducing interference. It said SOMAP covers antenna testing and performance requirements, plus performance data on manufacturer product data sheets.
Expanding on a marketing strategy that has been successful with car dealerships, SiriusXM said Tuesday it’s offering auto repair shops that use Bolt On Technology’s digital communication software a program giving customers three months free of All Access service. The program is free to the shops, which can use it to build customer service and loyalty programs, said the companies. Bolt On sells to thousands of auto service and repair shops in the U.S. The collaboration allows the company to provide enhanced service to its customers and allows SiriusXM to “reach many more owners of SiriusXM-enabled vehicles,” said Gail Berger, general manager-automotive remarketing, SiriusXM. Bolt On will provide participating shops with co-branded point-of-sale materials that communicate and explain the program benefits to vehicle owners, along with a social media campaign promoting the link between driving and listening to music, they said.
Globalstar subsidiary Spot announced Monday a next-generation two-way satellite messenger device that connects to a smartphone via Bluetooth to send and receive messages. The $249 device (starting at $11.99 for monthly service) is designed to provide satellite communications and emergency notifications to adventurers and remote workers from a device equipped with a QWERTY keyboard, said the company. Users see satellite messages via a phone app. It includes 14 preprogrammed messages and directly connects to the GEOS International Emergency Coordination Center.
SpaceX received an experimental license in the 14-14.5 GHz band for demo of transmitting and receiving information among five ground sites and among four ground sites and an airborne aircraft, in an FCC Office of Engineering and Technology approval Monday. It said the experimentation is for using an earth station to transmit signals to its satellites from the ground and from moving aircraft.
SiriusXM expanded Kevin Hart’s Laugh Out Loud Radio comedy show to twice a week with new two-hour broadcasts, it said Thursday. Hart will premiere a recurring interview special, Hart to Heart, with celebrities Trevor Noah, Anthony Anderson and Howie Mandel in a new format debuting in front of a live audience at the Just For Laughs Festival in Montreal. The interviews will air in place of regularly scheduled broadcasts of Hart's show on Aug. 8 and Aug. 22, it said. Hart’s Straight from the Hart is the top podcast on SiriusXM’s Pandora streaming service, it said.
The Resilient Navigation and Timing Foundation is supporting SAE efforts on standards for resilient global navigation satellite system and precision navigation and timing receivers. RNTF blogged Monday that there long have been calls for "tougher" receivers resistant to jamming, spoofing and adjacent band interference.
Chips message robust authentication (Chimera) technology would protect and augment GPS signals, but the biggest hurdle to more resilient positioning, navigation and timing capabilities is the dearth of U.S. leadership and concern, blogged Resilient Navigation and Timing Foundation President Dana Goward Wednesday. Concerns about potential GPS spoofing date back decades, and Chimera was proposed in 2003, but only now is the federal government looking at it, said Goward. Even if Chimera is implemented, the lack of standards for GPS receivers used in critical applications means it could be decades before legacy GPS receivers are finally all phased out, he said.
After a bearish 2018 for the in-flight connectivity market -- with such metrics as contracts signed, installation rates and aircraft outfitted falling short of expectations -- 2019 could be more bullish, blogged Northern Sky Research's Claude Rousseau Sunday. Some challenges remain, such as that an in-flight system can cost as much as $1 million per aircraft and the lack of flat panel electronically steered antennas, he said. But the backlog of aircraft to outfit with high-throughput satellite capacity "is staggering," with around 3,000 expected in the next two years, the analyst said.