N.Y. Satellite Industries (NYSI) told the FCC that a number of unforseen circumstances, including the bankruptcy of Final Analysis, Inc. (FAI), were reasons to grant a milestone extension to it subsidiary, Final Analysis Communications Services (FACS). The company has been meeting with the Commission recently to discuss the grant of a milestone extension request from FACS, saying denial of the request wasn’t an option for the company (CD Dec 18 p13). NYSI said FAI was the prime contractor for FACS and prevented the company from meeting its milestones. The loss of globally allocated mobile satellite service (MSS) spectrum and the “interest of both the private sector and U.S. [govt.] agencies in obtaining services provided by commercial Little LEO systems… present unique and overriding circumstances that justify an extension of the milestone dates,” NYSI said. The company discussed FACS’s progress in building out its system, citing discussions with Polyot of Russia for launch vehicles and launch services: “FACS has also met with several U.S. [govt.] agencies on requests for proposals, which, if successfully bid, would provide FACS with an additional revenue source. All of these steps demonstrate FACS’s unwavering intent and commitment to proceed with the system.”
Russia export controls and sanctions
The use of export controls and sanctions on Russia has surged since the country's invasion of Crimea in 2014, and especially its invasion of Ukraine in in February 2022. Similar export controls and sanctions have been imposed by U.S. allies, including the EU, U.K. and Japan. The following is a listing of recent articles in Export Compliance Daily on export controls and sanctions imposed on Russia:
Nokia won a $70 million contract to supply an Enhanced Data for Global Exchange (EDGE)-capable GSM wireless network to Russia’s VimpelCom. The companies said the expansion would increase GSM coverage and the company’s reach in key cities in the central and northwest regions of the country. Nokia said that under an existing framework agreement, it would provide a GSM system with EDGE-capable base stations, General Packet Radio Service gear and GSM core network equipment. The companies said VimpelCom, with 11 million subscribers, was the 2nd largest operator in Russia. The system is expected to debut in different cities later this month.
A new congressional caucus opposed to international piracy of intellectual property will “look like a laser beam” at the subject, one of its co-chmn. said at a news conference Tues. House Internet Caucus Co-Chmn. Goodlatte (R-Va.) was joined by Senate Foreign Relations Committee ranking Democrat Biden (Del.), Sen. Smith (R-Ore.) and Rep. Schiff (D-Cal.) in introducing the 59-member caucus. After the conference, Schiff, whose district includes many TV and movie studios and recording labels, told us he was preparing legislation targeting unauthorized file sharing. Piracy “is a big deal,” Biden said, and “the question remains, ‘What are we going to be able to do about what is in essence a theft of American assets?'”
GENEVA -- ITU Telecom World 2003 last week lacked the bustle of 4 years ago, but one factor that was unchanged at what has been called the Superbowl of telecom exhibits was a focus on 3G wireless technology, with Wi-Fi systems and voice-over-IP systems added to the mix. While heavyweights such as Ericsson, Motorola and Nokia stayed away, Asian players such as LG Technologies, Panasonic and Samsung filled the gap, as did lesser known companies such as Azerbaijan telecom venture AzEuroTel.
Gilat Satellite said it signed an agreement with the Russian Satellite Communications Co. (RSCC) and the JSC CTS- Center and VSAT Tel to work together on VSAT production. Under the agreement, Gilat said it would provide VSAT documentation, components and production and RSCC would promote “socially significant projects in remote sites such as distance education for schools in Kaliningrad and Karelia” in Russia. The JSC companies also will provide local infrastructure, marketing and deployment of the VSAT stations, in addition to production capabilities, the company said.
The Organization for Economic Cooperation & Development (OECD) hopes to help the global space industry by publishing the results of a study on the role of public and private actors in The Commercialization of Space & the Development of Space Infrastructure. The study, being done through the OECD’s International Futures Program (IFP), won’t be complete until late 2004. Pierre-Alain Schieb, an IFP counselor, discussed the project and its goals in a presentation at the Washington hq of the OECD.
Eastern Europe will have 125 million mobile users by 2007, with half living in Russia and Poland, generating $29 billion in annual service revenue, including $4.6 billion in mobile data, the Yankee Group said in a new report. The report found that in 2002, Russia was the largest and fastest-growing mobile market in Eastern Europe, raising regional penetration to 22%. It said that while attention in Eastern Europe had grown in the mobile market, growth in Western Europe would slow over the next 5 years. Low disposable income, uncertain economic prospects and undeveloped infrastructure will keep the Eastern European mobile data market development from reaching Western European heights, it said. While the study reported room for further growth, with some regional pockets having highly advanced mobile data infrastructure and services, the average revenue per user continued to decline with use and development varying tremendously by country and region.
The World Radio Conference (WRC) in Geneva reached a hard-fought compromise proposal Wed. on how to coordinate nongeosynchronous earth orbit (GEO) radionavigation systems, an issue that emerged as one of the thorniest of the conference. The agreement appeared to bridge what otherwise would have been an impasse between European administrations, which sought a regulatory-heavy coordination process, and the U.S., which backed coordinating radionavigation satellite systems (RNSS) through an informal consultation process. At our deadline Wed., the proposal, which has implications for Europe’s planned Galileo system and U.S. GPS operations, still awaited final approval in plenary before the WRC ends Fri. Despite the 11th-hour agreement, several sources said the outcome still was far from certain.
Hughes Network Systems (HNS) said it signed a $25 million agreement with Russian telecom service provider TM Sat for a Thuraya gateway earth station. The earth station will be installed in Dubna, Russia, and operated by the Russian Satellite Communications Co. This is the first contract to result from the letter of intent HNS signed in May (CD May 15 p10).
GENEVA -- The World Radio Conference (WRC) here Tues. moved Boeing a step closer to a global secondary allocation for its in-flight broadband service Connexion. A working group of the committee that oversees allocation policy approved an extension of the mobile satellite service (MSS) on a secondary basis at 14-14.5 GHz for aeronautical MSS. While the proposal is expected to pass the full committee, with yet another subgroup poised to take up regulatory issues, the decision was seen as significant because it came after last-minute bickering over finer procedural points. U.S. officials have termed the proposal a top priority for this WRC, which runs through July 4.