{"id":57860,"date":"2021-03-19T22:54:19","date_gmt":"2021-03-19T14:54:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/satellite-operator-round-up-for-the-week-of-march-19\/"},"modified":"2021-03-19T22:54:19","modified_gmt":"2021-03-19T14:54:19","slug":"satellite-operator-round-up-for-the-week-of-march-19","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/satellite-operator-round-up-for-the-week-of-march-19\/","title":{"rendered":"Satellite Operator Round-Up for the Week of March 19"},"content":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n

In the world of satellite over the last two weeks, there have been relatively few announcements from the big satellite operators. But we will hear from most of the operators in a few weeks at our first major digital event this year, SATELLITE 2021: Digital LEO Forum. In the meantime, here are some of the major recent announcements from the big players. Viasat<\/strong> and Inmarsat<\/strong> led the way when it came to announcements.<\/p>\n

Viasat<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Viasat<\/strong> has been boosted by a deal renewal in the U.S. military arena. It signed a five year extension deal with the U.S. Navy<\/strong> Exchange Service Command\u2019s NEXCOM Telecommunications Program Office. Viasat will continue to deliver managed internet, Wi-Fi, voice and other services for personal use networks across Navy facilities worldwide. The contract also adds the roll-out of interactive satellite-based high-definition TV service at 32 Navy Lodge sites, to improve the lives of sailors, their families and guests during their stay.<\/p>\n

Inmarsat<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Inmarsat<\/strong> has had a busy few days with a key new maritime deal, as well as an interesting collaboration with the UK Space Agency<\/strong>. The company won a National Space Innovation Programme (NSIP) contract to develop an in-orbit telemetry relay service for rockets called InRange.  Inmarsat\u2019s InRange service aims to reduce the dependency of space launch providers on traditional, expensive ground-based monitoring systems infrastructure for their rockets and will provide a more cost-effective, flexible solution, available globally via Inmarsat\u2019s geostationary L-band network. Inmarsat is working with Japan\u2019s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries<\/strong> (MHI) to ensure the InRange service develops to meet the challenging environmental conditions experienced by launch vehicles.<\/p>\n

On the maritime side, it also signed a new deal for its Fleet Connect service. Evitalz Health Management<\/strong> will join a group of certified application providers to offer a dedicated application for Inmarsat\u2019s Fleet Connect service prioritizing healthcare for people on board ships.<\/p>\n

Evitalz will use Fleet Connect to provide its telehealth\/telemedicine solution; a combination of FDA approved and CE certified medical devices that use its VitaLink app to record and interpret the patient\u2019s vital signs in real-time. The diagnostic readings are gathered from the devices and compiled with patient symptoms and other data, and wirelessly sent to the app. Evitalz provides shipmasters or caregivers with a \u2018plug n play\u2019 medical diagnostic infrastructure to perform vital checks of a patient, wherever, whenever. The company is a digital health startup founded in 2018. It provides telehealth solutions for ships, aircrafts and remote locations.<\/p>\n

Inmarsat is also launching a new online learning program targeting people aged between 14 and 17.  Inmarsat is inviting the people in this age group to take part in a global, online learning programme to develop new skills to help them in the future. It has high hopes for its Global Passport Programme, as it looks to tap into this age group to provide great online learning experiences.<\/p>\n

Eutelsat<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Sarah Simon, a satellite equity analyst at Berenberg Bank<\/strong> put out a new report on Eutelsat<\/strong> where she praised the company\u2019s recent performance. She said in the research note that Eutelsat\u2019s first half revenues were \u201cahead of expectations.\u201d She added, \u201cEutelsat reported H1 operating vertical revenues down 2.1% on a like-for-like basis, almost 1% ahead of consensus expectations, and a robust performance given the negative COVID-19 backdrop. Better-than-expected momentum in the company\u2019s traditionally weak data and professional video segment was the key driver of outperformance with better volumes (rather than price) a nice positive surprise.\u201d<\/p>\n

She added that Eutelsat\u2019s profitability numbers were also \u201csolid.\u201d Simon noted that Eutelsat\u2019s EBITDA margin of 76.7% was also ahead of a consensus forecast of 76.2%. \u201cWhile granted these do sound like small beats, slightly slower-than-expected declines not only gives us more comfort that the company can eventually return to growth, but also signals the end to a long period of underperformance,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Berenberg currently has a \u2018Buy\u2019 rating on Eutelsat\u2019s stock, and believes it can return to growth in its full year 2023. \u201cWe believe recent deals struck with Thales<\/strong>, Orange<\/strong> and TIM<\/strong>, combined with the recently awarded further European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS) will alone add more than 35 million euros of annualised revenue during FY 2023. With the top line declining just 2% in H1, it is really starting to feel like Eutelsat\u2019s growth is becoming ever more visible,\u201d said Simon.<\/p>\n

In other Eutelsat news, the company announced it had appointed Juan Pablo Cofino as its new Regional Vice President \u2013 CEO of Eutelsat Americas. This is a significant appointment for the company in one of its key leadership positions. Cofino had been Regional Vice President, LATAM & Caribbean at Intelsat<\/strong>, and now joins to help Eutelsat boost its position in the Americas. Cofino has also previously occupied senior international executive positions at leading companies in the Americas region, including ATN International<\/strong>, Tigo <\/strong>(Millicom Group) and Agreca<\/strong> (Grupo Progreso). Cofino replaces Mike Antonovich who has decided to continue his professional career outside of Eutelsat.<\/p>\n

SES<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Berenberg also put out a new research report on SES. Unlike Eutelsat, Berenberg has a \u2018Hold\u2019 rating on SES\u2019s stock. Simon, who also wrote the Eutelsat report, said that while SES\u2019s Full Year 2020 results were in line, its guidance fell short of consensus forecasts, as Berenberg anticipated. \u201cGiven the rephasing and the likely receipt of the first tranche of C-band monies in early 2022, the balance sheet looks fine, and management targets a return to growth in 2023, much like peer Eutelsat. However, SES will generate much less cash flow than Eutelsat in 2021 and 2022, and, given uncertainty about the long-term future of video, we prefer to take our money now rather than later,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

When drilling down even further into SES\u2019s result, Simon says video trends remain \u201cweak\u201d for SES. \u201cThe outlook for video is a 6-9% organic decline in 2021, following an 8% fall in 2020. Management is focused on reducing the pace of decline over the medium to long term. However, in the near term, Nordic pay-TV consolidation will result in multiple transponders being returned in 2021 and we expect Echostar<\/strong>\/Dish<\/strong> to pay less for wholesale capacity following the expiry of contracts with SES at the end of 2021,\u201d says Simon. \u201cThereafter, the decline may be more modest, but, as noted on the results call, the weighted average duration of the backlog is only six or seven years.\u201d<\/p>\n

In other news, it was announced that SES and Amartus<\/strong>, a network automation software solutions company, have signed an agreement concerning the development of automation for SES\u2019s next-generation NGSO fleet. Amartus is supporting SES with its deep expertise in network automation standards and adapting commercial B-OSS software platforms to meet the needs of SES\u2019s next-generation non-geostationary satellite orbit (NGSO) constellation called O3b mPOWER. The two companies started working together in October last year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the world of satellite over the last two weeks, there have been relatively few announcements from the big satellite operators. But we will hear from most of the operators in a few weeks at our first major digital event this year, SATELLITE 2021: Digital LEO Forum. In the meantime, here are some of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":57145,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-57860","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57860"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=57860"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57860\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/57145"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=57860"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=57860"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=57860"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}