NEW SKIES RECEIVES AUTHORITY TO ACCESS U.S. MARKET
FCC gave Intelsat spinoff New Skies Satellite unconditional access and blanket authority to operate in U.S. as privatized company. Commission order Thurs. said New Skies had fulfilled requirements of ORBIT Act and wouldn’t harm competition in U.S. market. New Skies received extended waiver of 2-degree orbital spacing requirements and International Bureau placed New Skies on Permitted Space Station List. Company currently has 4 satellites that will be able to communicate with routine earth stations. FCC said action would give U.S. more choices and “facilitate technological innovation.” However, ordering clause prohibits New Skies from providing direct-to-home (DTH), direct broadcast satellite service (DBS) or digital audio radio services (DARS) to, from or within U.S. PanAmSat, GE Americom and Loral filed partial opposition to request, but companies still have option to file petitions for reconsideration within 30 days.
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Meanwhile, New Skies celebrated entry into U.S. market by announcing it planned to launch first satellite capable of broadcasting to entire Western Hemisphere in Oct. 2003, company said Thurs. at Satellite 2001 Conference in Washington. New Skies has placed order for Boeing 702 satellite that will cost estimated $500 million and become operational in 2004, industry sources said. NSS-8 satellite will be stationed at 105 degrees W for broadcast TV, Internet, multimedia and corporate data transmission for New Skies customers in Western Hemisphere as well as point-to- point multipoint distribution of video and cable headends throughout Americas.
Boeing 702 will offer “unprecedented range and capacity of U.S.-to-Latin America connectivity options,” spokesman said. Spot beams will allow networks to deliver customized content to regional audiences in U.S. as well as Central and Latin America, New Skies said. CEO Robert Ross said entire Americas could be reached with broadcast TV, Internet and other multimedia services through broader beams. It was unclear how that would fit into FCC order that prohibited company from offering DTH or DBS service in U.S. Ross said company already had started marketing service to Asian networks that might want to target “diaspora” markets where there may be large pockets of people with Japanese or Chinese heritage in U.S. Contract has option for up to 2 follow-on spacecraft. Sea Launch was selected as launch provider. Financial terms weren’t disclosed.