Vol 6 No. 5Vol 6 No 5Vol. 7 No. 8 2018

By Marcel Dischinger

September

Understanding quest for new space

Vol 6 No. 5Vol 6 No 5Vol. 7 No. 8 2018September

AFRICA

Can Satellite-Based Telemedicine Become a Reality Nigeria?

The future of Ultra High Definition Television viewing

C O N T E N T SVol. 7 No. 8

Editor in-chief Aliyu BelloExecutive Manager Tonia GerraldSA to the editor in-Chief Ngozi OkeyHead, Application Services M. YakubuEditorial/ICT Services John Daniel

Usman BelloAlozie NwankwoJuliet Nnamdi

Client Relations Sunday TacheLookman BelloSafiya Thani

Marketing Offy PatTunde NathanielWasiu Olatunde

Media Relations Favour MaduKhadijat YakubuZacheous Felicia

Finance Folarin Tunde

Space Watch Magazine is a publication ofCommunication Science, Inc. All correspondence should

be addressed to editor, space Watch Magazine.Abuja office: Plot 2009, Awka Street, UTC Building,

GF 11, Area 10, Garki, Abuja,Tel: 234 80336471114, 07084706167,

email:

LEGAL CONSULTANTSIdowu Oriola & Co. Garki, Abuja

DISTRIBUTION CONTACTSAde Adejo

ABIJAN INTERNATIONALSuleija, Abuja

AYO DISTRIBUTION AGENCYEmir Road, Ilorin Olumayowa Ojo

NEWSROUND INTERNATIONALArea 10, Garki, Abuja

Magazine Circulation Nigeria Limited90, Obafemi Awolowo Way, Ikeja

Magazine Subscription Nigeria LimitedIkeja, Lagos.

DELALI OTCHIRidge Church, Tudu Branch, Accra, Ghana.

AL AHRAM NEWPAPERS LIMITEDAl Galaa Street -11511 Cairo-Egypt

Ayo Olu

MAGAZINE DISTRIBUTION AGENCY

Jos, Plateau State.

info@spacewatchafrica.com

1

Wipro InfotechCover source

Nigeria

The future of Ultra High Definition Television viewing

NASRDA’s twenty five years roadmap

Is Africa ready to facilitate large-scale satellite deployments?

Operators deploy Ka band solutions to rejig Brazilian market

Government projects still key growth driver for Chams Plc in Nigeria

Gilat Telecom launches global Land Mobile Satellite connectivity via Iridium

Yahsat completes Thuraya acquisition

NIPOST Address Verification System

Avanti signs master distributor contract for Hylas 4 with iWayAfrica

Despite OTT, pay TV still on the rise in Africa

Eutelsat Disposes interest in EUTELSAT 25B satellite

Can Satellite-Based Telemedicine Become a Reality in Nigeria?

Singtel launches FutureNow Innovation Center

Yahsat introduces YahClick Wi-fi enterprise solution

IoT boom will change how data is analysed

SpaceX orbits Indonesian comsat with 'used' boosterFacebook to stream free La Liga football in Indian subcontinent

5

Editorial

It will be impossible to discuss the impact of space research on Nigeria's economy without stating what NASRDA was mandated to do by the founding fathers and the structural evolution of the agency in it bid to actualize its mandate. National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA) was charged, at establishment, with the mandate to consolidate all Space Science and Technology related activities in order to make a greater impact on developmental efforts in Nigeria. The Agency's mandate stated that "it shall pursue the development and application of space science application and technology for the socio-economic benefits of the nation".

NASRDA has made a tremendous progress in the area of satellite development. The agency has built NigeriaSat-X, a disaster monitoring satellite which was initially designed to be a training model. It is a 22m spatial resolution multispectral satellite. The sate l l i te was des igned, tested, manufactured and commissioned by Nigerian Engineers. This was supposed to be an experimental satellite which was found to be space worthy. The satellite has been performing tremendously well in orbit since it was launched. Images from the satellite are currently used locally and internationally for the development of land use/land cover map of Nigeria, Early warning system for national food security, essential national security map etc. This stride by the agency has in no mean measure contributed to national economic development.

In order to achieve her objectives, the agency was structured, at inception, into six distinct research Centres. These Centres are coordinated from the headquarters in Abuja. The Centres were mandated to carry out var ious researches, simultaneously, without inhibition in the area of their core competence and these researches were targeted to produce a result that will ultimately enhance our national life. The agency presently has seven research Centres and six research laboratories which is an evidence of research evolution and progress. These Centres and laboratories have specific research focus for economic development of Nigeria.So far, many cutting edge research questions have been answered and many solution for overall benefit of Nigeria developed through these arrangements and other research efforts of the agency.

Numerous researches have been carried out for overall socio-economic benefit of the nation.

For instance, the dearth of data on the atmospheric effect on radio wave propagation over sub-Saharan Africa, Nigeria inclusive, has been identified as a major cause of poor service quality and high cost of radio communication over this region. The desire to meet this data gap was behind the launching of radio propagation campaign over sub-Saharan Africa by International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in 1986. This campaign however failed due to lack of support from various government within the region. The National Space Research and Development Agency took the responsibility for this campaign in 2007 and has since be providing fund and training for staff in this field. The research group recently attracted a national research grant. The preliminary result of the research has been presented and the stage is set for the presentation of the national technical report. This research is not only providing data for effective network planning but will enhance the quality of service, reduce cost and assist in providing ubiquitous communication to remotest rural area. This will reduce rural - urban migration.

The National Space Research and Development Agency, NASRDA is also involve in researches in live sciences as represented by the microgravity experiment. Microgravity environment have almost zero gravity as obtained in outer space or in a simulated e n v i r o n m e n t . R e s e a r c h e s i n microgravi ty environment have applications that are of tremendous bene?t in the area of agriculture, for food security, microbiology, biotechnology etc. Microgravity environment as obtained in spaceflight and space laboratories are rare and expensive platforms, this therefore restrict the number of research scientists in this area.

In addition, climate change with its attendant effects such as sea level rise is a globally recognized existential problem. Research has shown that sub-Saharan Africa will be one of the most affected by the impact of climate change. The Niger Delta region of Nigeria is regarded to have the highest sensitivity to climate change in Nigeria, and its adaptive capacity is the second

lowest in terms of socio-economic development of the country. The region is a home to about thirteen million people, with population growth rate of about 3.1%, whose life largely depend on fishing and thereby live close to the coast. This region also harbors most the oil and gas resources and facilities which is the heartbeat of Nigeria's economy. The region is characterized by low lying coast and gentle slope. This physical characteristics makes the Niger Delta vulnerable to the estimated 0.5 to 1m rise in seal level along Nigerian coast by 2100. The physical consequences of sea level rise for coastal areas will include, coastal f l ood ing , e ros ion , i nunda t ion , displacement of coastal wetlands, and inland intrusion of sea water etc and these will seriously affect the Niger Delta. Although the Niger Delta is classified as one of the vulnerable deltas in the world to the effects of climate change, it is however not well protected from the consequences of sea level rise. For example, out of the 320 settlements along the 450km coastline of the Niger delta, very few canals and standard dykes exist except around oil and gas facilities.

Research efforts of the agency have also yield the development of the Advance Computation Laboratory. This laboratory is capable of delivering High Performance Computing (HPC) Capability for solving complex and time consuming problems that would have hitherto require travelling oversea. This ability will in no doubt reduce the foreign exchange expended to solve such problem. The agency has developed competency in the area of instrumentation. The magnetometer built through research work in the area of instrumentation can rival any available one in the market in terms of sensitivity an accuracy. Automatic weather stations, air quality m e t e r a n d o t h e r s c i e n t i f i c instrumentations have been built. The agency now provides support to various universities in building scientific instruments. This effort has help in improving the quality of education provided by these institutions and also save foreign exchange that would have been expended in importing such instruments.So far, the agency have been pursuing it mandate of using space science and technology for economic emancipation of our nation.

NASRDA’s twenty five years roadmap

With the advent of High Throughput Satellite (HTS) services within Africa's connected business environment, the question of what happens with the remainder of the satellite supply value chain is relevant. The development of HTS services is slowly but surely entering the African landscape and means that satellite access servicing to the end-user is nearing the 10Mbps, 15GB at $50/month service points.

At these price and performance points we would expect an upsurge in subscriber growth and Africa to mirror North American levels of +1,000,000 subscriber terminals. Surely the fast geographical landscapes of Africa, linked to the lack of extensive ADSL networks and the limitations of 3G services, create the perfect opportunity for large-scale satellite deployments? Satellite services as a technology can certainly meet the future user demands and contribute significantly to close the digital divide.

But what is less certain, and not often debated, is whether the remainder of the value channel will be able to rise to the occasion. Challenges within the greater value chain and the requirements to ensure large-scale deployments of satellite services warrants further discussion.

The challengesThe first, and probably most significant challenge is that satellite service is, and always will be a niche service. As elegantly demonstrated by the 2014 Comsys Report, satellite revenue is less than 10% of telco revenues with little to no impact on the bottom line.

Often considered more of a necessary evil than a strategic differentiator, satellite services do not form part of the mainstream focus of leading telcos. This represents both an opportunity and a challenge. The opportunity is for niche and focussed Service Providers to drive the delivery of satellite services and to do so in a way that compliments the services from the major telcos.

However, being niche Service Providers, the capital and investment required to drive large-scale satellite deployments is often not available. What will be needed is the development of medium tier service

providers who can drive the next phase of HTS deployments, these will be niche provider who can indeed amass the resources required for HTS service while being small enough to appreciate the returns offered.

In the South Africa and Africa context Service Providers such as Q-KON, iBurst and Godwana could be ideally placed to leverage the moment.

Multimedia Service BundlesWith IP access being the core delivery of HTS services it is logical to expect that subscribers will want an elegant service offering which combines TV, broadband and telephony in simple service bundles. From a technical product definition point of view this is certainly not a challenge at all. However, from an industry, regulatory and content rights position this leads to far more questions than answers.

With the Africa regulatory landscape still v e r y m u c h s p l i t b e t w e e n telecommunication and broadcast services - will this means that ISP's will now be l icensed to be national broadcasters or will broadcasters be licensed to be ISP's?

This doesn't even start to address the matter of regional licenses for Netflix and other over-the-top providers. Since we want to focus on solutions and not problems, maintain that it will be the new medium tier Operators that will be flexible and dynamic enough to address this issue. It will be these innovative, and by definition niche technology operators, that can create the structures needed to deliver HTS in Africa.

Logistics, Distribution and Field Services The exceptional successes of the GSM network rollouts and the large scale growth in subscriber terminals might lead many to expect that mobile operators are well positioned to drive deployment of subscriber HTS satellite services.

However, in our experience, exactly the opposite is true. Large-scale satellite service deployments require very different capabilities, which are closer to the DTH industry than the mobile cellular industry. Given that the subscriber terminal cost is getting lower and nearing the $300 per set

mark, the cost of warehousing, logistics, field trucks and field engineering costs are becoming the dominant element in the cost equation.

As such it is no longer enough to get affordable equipment costs if you can't also distribute, deliver and install the service at affordable rates. It is the DTH industry players who have the capabil i t ies and infrastructure required to meet this challenge and who could potentially partner with niche Service Providers to execute the HTS service promise.

Time to reconsiderWe b e l i e v e t h e a r c h i t e c t s , manufacturers and developers of the HTS macro environment should do more than evangelise the brilliance of HTS technology and the exceptional performance and functionality of what it offers.

We believe these industry players should also stimulate debate and initiate discussions within the wider landscape and value chain in order to lay the foundation of what will be needed to really pull through on the HTS promise.

They might need to rethink contract models and engagement structures to enable medium tier Service Providers to execute the implementation of large-scale HTS deployments.

The HTS successes we have witnessed in the Americas by Wildblue, DISHtv and others are sound of what can be done albeit done by single organisations which taken up the responsibil it ies of the completed end-to-end value chain and has delivered on each element. Africa might not be fortunate to have such giants with the appetite to accept the end-to-end responsibility in a niche technology domain such as high-throughput satellites. For Africa we will need creative industry models which will collectively develop the value chain.

Is Africa ready to facilitate large-scale satellite deployments?

By Dr Dawie de Wet, CEO, Q-KON

OPINIION

Brazil is the fifth largest country in the world with a population of about 173.8 million, a Growth Domestic Product (GDP) of approximately USD 508.5 billion and a GDP per capita of USD 2,959. Until the end of 2001, Brazil was the largest Latin American economy and eighth largest economy in the world. In 2002, Brazil became Latin America's second-largest economy after Mexico, and its ranking in the world economy fell to eleventh place. Nonetheless, having the largest population of Latin America and the second-largest population in the western hemisphere, Brazil is one of the most important emerging markets in the world. Given the increasing demand for Internet, data, voice, video and other essential services and increasing need for competition, Brazilian administrations have adopted policies that permit open and direct access to all wireless resources assuming that they have been properly coordinated at international levels through the ITU.

Brazil has employed satellites in its national telecommunications network since 1970, when the first earth station devised for domestic traffic was opened, in Cuiaba city, using the INTELSAT system. However, in the 1980s, the Brazilian government transitioned the telecom landscape from the leased capacity for domestic telecommunications services to a domestic satellite to cover all of Brazil and also provide some additional coverage for the rest of South America. This project was known as BrazilSat and the network now consists of BrazilSat A-2, B-1, B-2, and B-3. All of these spacecraft were built by Hughes, based on the HS-376 bus 316.

Domestic Brazilan domestic operator, Star One was born in 2000 from a partnership between EMBRATEL, holding 80% of the shares and SES GLOBAL (holding 20% of the shares) and it is at the moment the only satellite operator in Brazil.

The fleet of 6 satellites with the launch of Star One C1 is focused on meeting local demand and the needs of neighbouring countries including Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, Bolivia and Chile..

The satellites are integrated in the SES

satellite market

Global satellite network which intends to extend its presence in all continents according to Romain Bausch – president and CEO of SES Global

While looking forward to the growth opportunities presented to satellite applications in the Latin American market in the use of satellite technology to complement the region's land-based infrastructure, the company started the construction of Star One C1 satellite, a hybrid satellite with C and Ku bands to assure the continuity of the services at the 70° W position.

EMBRATEL and its partner, SES Global launched the Star One C2 satellite, another hybrid to replace Brasilsat B2 at the 65° W position at the expirationof its lifespan..

International Players In Brazilian Market

Despite the massive use of satellites by the Brazilian telecommunications networks, it has been estimated that the present space segment capacity will probably double in the next five years. Today, aggressive pricing and business expansionplans by international entrants is cutting into the Brazilian Direct to Home and broadband market once dominated by local providers. Especially, the new interest in high throughput satellites is prompting a range of start-ups and established players in providing better accessibility to space targeting governments, educat ional ins t i tu t ions, smal l businesses, and small businesses.

Leading international players including Hughes, Intelsat, SES Gloabl, Gilat, Al Yahsat, and Hispasat respectively are battling for the control of the satellite market.

Following the successful launch of its newest Ka Band satellite, Al Yah Satellite Communications partnered Hughes Network Systems for custom built very small aperture terminal in an effort to expand Yahsat's broadband services and other offerings through its Ka-band Y1B satellite.Masood M. Sharif Mahmood, Chief Executive Officer at Yahsat, said: “Access to the Internet is a key facilitator

of social and economic progress. Today, broadband connectivity is playing an impor tant ro le in creat ing new opportunities and in accelerating innovation. We are excited by the opportunity Al Yah 3 brings in our ability to deliver reliable and affordable satellite broadband services to parts of the world that need it the most, building upon our previous achievements as pioneers of such services across Africa, the Middle East and south-west Asia.”

Hughes Network Systems is the global leader in broadband and satellite technology and services for home and office. The launch of Yahsat's satellite will see the roll out of YahClick, the company's cost-effective satellite broadband service, to the Brazilian market. YahClick, delivered through a modem and small satellite dish, is currently the number one satellite broadband service in Africa, providing subscribers access to uninterrupted, high-speed internet anywhere in the coverage area with in-country technical, operational, and customer care services.

The JUPITER™ System is the world's most widely deployed High-Throughput Satellite (HTS) platform, operating on more than 20 satellites by leading service providers, and delivering a wide range of broadband enterprise, mobility and cellular backhaul applications.

While offering to suport Al Yahsat, Hughes Network Systems, redently announced the successful launch of its Hughes 63W Ka band hosted payload on the Telstar 19 VANTAGE satellite.

With this new High-Throughput Satellite (HTS) capacity over South America, Hughes plans to offer HughesNet broadband services to businesses and

Being new to the Latin American market, Al Yahsat has made an early plan in building the satellite gateway and the supporting infrastructure to fly it, placing adequate emphasis on preparing to manage the business that was the reason for launching the satellite in the first place. Tasks such as marketing of the capacity, building of operational systems for satellite capacity management, and hiring and training support staff were accomplished early before putting the satellite into service.

Operators deploy Ka band solutions to rejigBrazilian market

REPORT

residences, as well as managed network services to enterprises, cellular backhaul to mobile network operators and community Wi-Fi solutions to enable governments to bridge the digital divide.

Hughes will deploy its next-generation JUPITER™ System technology for the ground system and customer premises equipment to deliver broadband services on Hughes 63W. The JUPITER System supports a wide range of applications including consumer and small- and medium-sized business broadband internet service, community Wi-Fi, cellular backhaul, managed network services and mobi l i ty, including aeronautical services. Services on Hughes 63W will comenced nest month, two three months after the start of service offering by Al Yahsat. Hughes has signed a 15-year agreement with Telesat for the Ka-band capacity.

Hispasat and Gilat Satellite Networks Ltd. have recently entered into a partnership to commercialize Hispasat's Ka band satellite capacity over Brazil, with an estimated potential revenue of tens of millions of dollars over a period of several years.

Gilat is a global company operating ein ninety countries to provide satellite based broadband communications since e1987. G i la t de l i ve rs g round segment equipment, comprehensive solutions and end to end services for both mobility and fixed applications, with a special focus and achievement for inflight connectivity, consumer broadband and cellular backhaul. The contract enables Hispamar, a Hispasat subsidiary, to deliver consumer broadband and enterprise services to local Internet Service Providers (ISPs). In this way quality access to the Internet will be offered to every city, town, and community in the country, even in remote areas, thus reducing the digital divide and promoting regional development.

Hispamar will utilize the recently launched Amazonas-5 multi-spot-beam Ka satellite capacity, as well as Amazonas-3 Ka capacity, while leveraging Gilat's SkyEdge II-c multi-service platform, versatile VSAT equipment, Network Operation Center (NOC), and field support services HISPASAT is a world leader in the distribution and broadcasting of Spanish and Portuguese content, and its satellite fleet is used by important direct-to-home television and high-definition television (digital platforms. HISPASAT also provides satellite broadband services and other added value solut ions to governments , corpora t ions and telecommunication operators in America,

Europe and North Africa.

"We are pleased to expand the scope of our longstanding relationship with Gilat, to now enter into this partnership for the delivery of broadband services over satellite to the people of Brazil," said Ignacio Sanchis, Chief Commercial Officer at Hispasat.

"Gilat has proven the superiority of its HTS platform and we are confident that Gilat's leading technology and services will provide Hispamar with competitive edge for successful service expansion throughout Brazil, thereby bringing high quality connectivity to any point in the country and open the doors to digital world to the people living there.”

According to Gilat, High throughput satellites (HTS) have helped to dramatically reduce the cost of bandwidth. This is accomplished bysignificantly increasing the available capacity through frequency re-use and multi-spot beam technology. SkyEdge II-c was designed to operate with high throughput multi-spot beam satellites and enables the ultra-high performance necessary for 3G/LTE backhaul applications. The Capricorn VSAT, which suppor ts TDM/TDMA at 200Mbps, was designed explicitly to meet the 3G/LTE performance requirements.

"We are pleased to partner with Hispasat to deploy our globally proven multi-service SkyEdge II-c platform for the benefit of the people in this region," said Ron Levin, VP Mobility and Global

"Hispasat's widespread Ka HTS capacity across Latin America is the perfect fit for materialization of our vision and commitment to deliver quality, plentiful and affordable broadband to unserved and underserved areas in Brazil and in the region,” he said.

After major space and ground infrastructure investments and the expansion of its Latin America video neighbourhood, SES has recently announced the launch of its Ultra HD platform into the region to accelerate commercial 4K rollouts among leading cable, IPTV, and DTH providers across Latin America.

Today, many of Latin America's leading Pay TV providers are testing SES's new Ultra HD solution, an all-in-one package of pre-configured Ultra HD content, reception equipment, and satellite distribution that will enable quick and easy Ultra HD deployments over the region. The new SES Latin America Ultra HD solution will open with four Ultra HD channels, including NASA TV

UHD, produced by Harmonic, as well as the SES Ultra HD demo channel, an incubator for emerging 4K content producers. SES plans to add new channels and content produced in Brazil, Mexico, and other Latin American countries in the future.

Already, part of Al Yah 3's capacity, about 10 gigabits per second of throughput will support Konnect Africa, Paris-based Eutelsat's revamped strategy for delivering commercial broadband service to 20 sub-Saharan nations by 2019. Eutelsat said in November that its multi-year Al Yah 3 lease will replace the capacity lost with the Sept. 1 destruction of Spacecom's Amos-6, the Israeli commercial satellite destroyed when SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket exploded while being fueled for a pre-launch test.Yahsat is collaborating with Eutelsat to drive connectivity across Africa, even as the company currently provides cost-effective satellite broadband services via its YahClick satellite broadband internet service.

The future aheadAccording to experts, satellite operators that build their operational capacity management infrastructure at the onset, position their upcoming satellites early in the commercial market; undertake a robust effort to build partnerships with major service providers; and target large end-users, enjoy increased revenue not only in the early phase, but also higher quality contracts in the long-term.

Again, inorder to effectively use high-throughput satellite systems, operators need to build substantial dedicated ground infrastructure.

According to report, providing services on multi-beam Ka-band satellites with the kinds of availability traditionally expected in sate l l i te systems (99.5%/year or higher requires use of large gateway antennas with site diversity, automatic uplink power control, and specialized remote terminal equipment.In the traditional SATCOM business, satellite operators lease the satellite resources (bandwidth and power) to satellite service providers, and it has been these value-added satellite service providers (VARs) who build the ground infrastructure, and manage the provisioning and deployment of services provided to end customers. However, with the new HTS systems, the required ground infrastructure is a substantial expenditure which cannot be cost-effectively borne by any one service provider alone.

REPORT

Chams Plc, Nigeria's leading provider of innovative and beneficial technology solutions has released the company's earnings for period ended 31st march 2018.While the year 2017 was mixed in economic terms from recession to recovery, the review of Chams' Group Accounts for period ended March 2018 by i t s management shows a g rea t improvement in financial performance when compared to the corresponding period in 2017.

According to its Chief executive, Olufemi Williams, the company has weathered the storms during the past year, launching innovative solutions especially enabling seamless facilitation of online tests and examinations through its numerous CBT Centers, partnered with Microfinance Banks and Institutions to deliver specialized e-commerce solution, creation and commencement of School Register Portal, Time and Attendance Solution, CEEDS Solution project and delivery of Card Management Citizen Engagement portal for the informal sector. Amidst the global and local shocks the company sas been resilient and was able to initiate and close major projects with its clients.

During these times, Chams remains on the cutting edge of delivering innovative solutions and technologies to its numerous clients aimed at solving their peculiar needs. In view of the loss after tax and negative retained earnings position of N1.9billion and N3.7billion respectively recorded in 2016, the company mapped out new strategies to improve its top line numbers in 2017. This was achieved by it continued top roles in certain key sectors of the Nigerian economy where ample opportunities exist and are equally the key economic th rus t o f t he cu r ren t administration.

The company had a revenue of N739m as at March 2018 as against N335m for the same period in 2017 which reprsent 121% increase in revenue in Q1 2018. The gross profit increased by 78% to N324m in Q1 2018 as against N182m in the same period of 2017. Likewise, an improvement of 233% in the net profit of N199m in Q1 2018 as against a loss of N89m in the same period in 2017.

With the company's track record of successful projects in the educational space, it deployed educational solutions which enables identification, forecasting &

planning through real time statistics and demographics, aimed at resolving institution's issues as it relates to class and examination attendance, and headcounts. Last year, Chams Plc officially received the ISO- 9001:2015 certification geared t o w a r d s e n a b l i n g c o n t i n u o u s improvement of its quality management systems and processes as well as enhancing the efficiency of her operations to meet customer requirements and expectations .In support of its operations enhancement, the company has adopted ERP and CRM, an infrastructure system to automate all processes and reports. Chams also partnered Nigeria's state government to embark on Internally Generated Revenue projects which has been expanding across several states of the Federation. The purpose of the IGR Project is to improve on the internally generated revenue of the states whilst promoting probity, transparency and accountability In addition, instant Issuance Solutions and Biometric devices, from Chams Access Limited have been trusted and adopted by major banks across the country and recently on international scale. The Company now has solutions that powers critical operations of companies in the Telecommunication Sectors of the economy. Chams Plc also partnered British Council, Joint Administration and Administration Board and SASCON through its Business Process Outsourcing solut ions to assist in deploying technologies to be used for e-testing, examination and interviews. It also partnered the Lagos State Government and assisted the state government in the development of a Lagos digital village used for Uber driving test and a host of other uses.

For ChamsSwitch Limited, the Company has significant market share in the switching industry especially, the Microfinance Banks. Their traditional transaction processing is still stable and increasing in numbers and volumes. The Company planned to launch their online marketplace platform in the second quarter of 2018. Meanwhile, CardCentre Limited has produced over 1 million Mastercard and Verve Card for major banks and government parastatals. They have strategic partnership with major foreign operators in the Industry. Their Residency and general ID Card market is expected to grow by 20% in 2018.

The company has been particularly visible in the Agriculture space in the course of the year. Chams Plc was engaged by the Central Bank of Nigeria and Bank of Agriculture to deploy Bank Verification Number enrolment machines na t i onw ide unde r t he Fede ra l government Anchor Borrowers project. All farmers, both rural and urban that will benefit from the program are expected to be identified through their BVNs. In view of its successful projects with the States and Schools, the company was also approached by the management of Afe Babalola University Ado-Ekiti, South West Nigeria.

The project involved the development of the School's management portal as well as the production of Smart ID cards. Chams Plc developed a biometric device aimed at resolving the ident i ty management issues of the institution particularly as it relates to attendance, and headcount. Chams Plc has continue to reinvent productivity and business processes by ensuring that it develop cost and time saving technologies for the delight of its clients, improving on its existing array of technologies and solutions aimed at helping its numerous clients achieve increasingly complex and challenging outcomes more quickly than ever. Its currently deploying more of its cutting edge solutions in the Agriculture space, Financial Industry with focus on small and micro finance sectors. The efforts in the small and micro finance sectors are geared towards improving the level of financial inclusion in Nigeria.

BUSINESS

6

Nigeria offers a huge potential for ICTs with e–governance applications leading from the front with Chams Plc as the leading technology partner.

Femi WilliamsCEO, Chams Plc

Government projects still key growth driver for Chams Plc in Nigeria

Gilat Telecom has been chosen as a service provider for Iridium Certus f o r l a n d - m o b i l e applications and can now offer customers a wider variety of fixed and “on-the-move” connectivity solutions.G i l a t Te l e c o m ' s subsidiary in Zambia recently received a license to provide cloud and fixed broadband s e r v i c e s a c r o s s Z a m b i a . W i t h opera t ions across Africa, Gilat Telecom has cemented i t s position as one of the most reliable and cost-effective connectivity providers in Africa. The Iridium Certus service provides the fastest reliable L-band satellite broadband connectivity on the market with high-quality voice calling and low latency IP data with speeds debuting a t 3 5 2 K b p s , a n d upgradable to 704 Kbps download speeds in the future..The Ir idium satel l i te constel lat ion has 66

crosslinked, low-earth-orbit (LEO) satellites and is des igned to p rov ide consistent data speeds everywhere on the planet. U n l i k e t r a d i t i o n a l geostationary networks that experience degraded

performance at higher latitudes or may be blocked entirely by mountains or o t h e r o b s t r u c t i o n s .

Gilat Telecom will use the Iridium Certus service to provide connectivity to both remote work sites and moving vehicles that have a T h a l e s M i s s i o n L I N K

terminal. The hardware is small and able to withstand harsh condit ions.Gilat Telecom's data protection Service provides another level of security by storing all of an organization's critical data, including

o p e r a t i n g s y s t e m s , applications and databases, in the cloud. The d a t a i s automat ica l ly b a c k e d - u p regardless of w h e r e i t i s stored - physical servers, virtual m a c h i n e s , t a b l e t s a n d laptops – and is easy to restore.

Ami Schneider, V P M o b i l e S a t e l l i t e Services at Gilat Telecom, said “Our partnership with Iridium and the new Iridium Certus service means we can offer always-on high quality broadband along with our value added services any place on earth.”

Singtel has announced the launch of its FutureNow I n n o v a t i o n C e n t e r , showcasing the potential of technologies such as 5G and the IoT to support the government's Industry Transformation Maps for S i n g a p o r e ' s s i x k e y industry clusters.

Signtel, the Singapore-based company that offers services such as mobile, fixed line, internet, TV, digital solutions, and ICT o p e r a t e s t h r o u g h segments such as group c o n s u m e r , g r o u p enterprise and group digital life and widely caters to the M2M and connec ted

devices sector. The new facility also displays use cases for technologies such as cloud, software defined networks, data analytics, AI, security, and robotics. In add i t i on , t he fac i l i t y showcases smart home technologies such as voice-controlled home systems and IoT solutions for consumers , managed through a single platform.

“ To g e t h e r w i t h t h e advanced technologies t h r o u g h o u r v a r i o u s research and development labs, product development and extensive partnership e c o s y s t e m s , w e a r e bringing innovative and impactful services and

s o l u t i o n s t o h e l p accelerate enterprises in t h e i r d i g i t a l i z a t i o n journeys.”T h e S i n g a p o r e government launched the $3.29 billion Industry Trans fo rmat ion Map initiative in 2016 in a bid to help 23 industries across the six clusters foster i n n o v a t i o n , b o o s t productivity, develop skills a n d e x p a n d internationally.

The six clusters are trade a n d c o n n e c t i v i t y , manufacturing, essential d o m e s t i c s e r v i c e s , modern services, built environment, and lifestyle.

IN THE NEWS

Yahsat completes Thuraya acquisition

Yahsat, a leading global satellite operator based in the UAE and a wholly-owned unit of Mubadala Investment Company, has completed the acquisition of a majority and controlling stake in the mobile satellite services operator Thuraya. Established in 1997 by the UAE, Thuraya is a leading mobile satellite communications company that empowers people with tools to bring the organizations and communities they serve closer together by facilitating reliable communications where and when it matters most.Thuraya 's network enables c lear communications and uninterrupted coverage across two thirds of the world via satellite and across the globe through its unique GSM roaming capabilities.Ali Al Hashemi, who has led Yahsat Gove rnmen t So lu t i ons , Yahsa t ' s specialised unit in charge of defence and governmental client requirements, for the past few years, has also been appointed as the new CEO of Thuraya, while former CEO Ahmed Al Shamsi will remain as an advisor to the CEO. According to Masood M Sharif Mahmood, CEO of Yahsat, "The Thuraya acquisition provides us with an ideal opportunity to grow and diversify our business, bolstering our satellite solutions capabilities on both government and commercial fronts.“By integrating the portfolios of the two companies under the leadership of Ali Al Hashemi, we will together be able to offer a comprehensive mobile and fixed satellite services portfolio, further strengthening our value proposition to our customers. We are excited about growing together and understanding how we can work in unison, share new ideas, and ultimately serve our customers better.”The global MSS market was valued at USD 3.32 billion in 2015 and will reach USD 4.84 billion by 2020, growing at a CAGR of 7.83%. The global MSS market will experience steady growth during the forecast period because of the growing adoption of satellite communication devices and services in emerging nations. In addition, the rapid adoption and use of satellite communication for disaster management in developed nations will enhance the market growth over the next few years. Satellite broadband services are in high demand as emergency applications require high-quality data services with a global coverage for enhanced safety features.Thuraya's two satellites, serving over 160 countries, will join the Yahsat fleet, expanding the group's satellite fleet to five. The combination of geostationary satellites operating in the C, Ka, Ku and L-bands will jointly cover Europe, Africa, the Middle East, South America, and Asia, providing a broad range of Fixed and Mobile Satellite Services spanning voice and data communications to both commercial and government sectors.

7

Singtel launches FutureNow Innovation Center

Gilat Telecom launches global Land Mobile Satellite connectivity via Iridium

For many years, Nigeria's NIPOST has held sway as the principal institution with massive infrastructure, for mail delivery with about 955 post offices and 3,000 postal agencies across the country.. NIPOST pride itself as one of the biggest distribution channels in Nigeria with thousands post offices, especially in the rural communities with immense potential for the distribution of all kinds of products, including financial and money remittances.

Today, it is still the oldest and prime source of money transfer for the city dwellers wanting to transfer pocket money to families back home serving as a source of financial stability to numerous homes. Unlike traditional banks, whose high operational costs excludes non-profitable customers from the lower strata of society,NIPOST agents had a pre-existing relationship with local communities, allowing them to reach out to the rural population. Posts could be especially attractive partners for banks, as they offered a trustworthy and extensive network that was directly accessible to scattered rural communities. Technology has, for better or worse, undeniably brought about a change, hitherto unimagined, in our life styles. The t ransformat ion brought about by technology in the area of delivery of financial services has, thankfully, only been for the better.

WSIS Prizes One of NIPOST's successful partnership in digital solutions was the Address Verification System which was awarded a WSIS Prize during this year's WSIS Forum. Each year, on the occasion of the WSIS Forum, 18 WSIS stakeholders were awarded WSIS Prizes, as a unique mark of global recognition for excellence in the implementation of WSIS outcomes. To this end, 18 projects are selected as the most successful stories worldwide, under each category, to serve as best-practice models to be replicated by other stakeholders i n t e r e s t e d i n i n f o r m a t i o n a n d commun ica t i on techno log ies fo r development. These projects, according to WSIS, brilliantly demonstrate how established Sustainable Development Goals can be realized in concrete actions and inspire other stakeholders all over the world to follow their success. NIPOST, through the “Posting the Post into Prosperity Initiative”,

is making a large investment in the e l e c t r o n i c a n d t e c h n o l o g i c a l infrastructure of postal operations and National Addressing System to raise the quality and speed of services and contribute to increasing the capacities of distribution and mail delivery to customer locations, and offering outstanding services to individuals, enterprises and government institutions in Nigeria.

NIPOST Address Verification System

The NIPOST Address Verification System, simply AVS, is a technology platform developed on artificial intel-l igence to empower individuals, businesses and government institutions to verify physical addresses and the identity of the individuals and businesses that reside at the address in a sustainable and commercially viable manner. According to NIPOST, businesses need a reliable and effective verification system to verify customer data. Therefore, using AVS, the system improves the integrity of customer data collected and does away with mistakes in addresses.

AVS turns the address verification challenge on its head, to create a centralized system for verified physical addresses. Through smartphones with Internet access and the NIPOST AVS App, on-field agents located in any part of the country can accept verification requests and carry out the address verification in less than 24 hours. With this application, customers including financial institutions, government

“We want to empower youth and

rural populations through our

innovative postal strategies and

products, Adebisis Adegbuyi, PMG and

CEO, NIPOST”.

agencies, private security guards and others – can request address verification via plugin the Application Programme Interface API/SDK, which works with the existing web form to provide the address to be verified and receive a response back after verification is carried out. As a single trusted platform, AVS helps financial institutions to address know-your-customer and anti-money laundering and counterterrorism financing challenges and enables financial institutions to be regulatory-compliant. With its database,

AVS empowers 67 per cent of Nigeria's population that is unbanked with a verified identity useful for accessing financial services. The platform will potentially create 150 000 direct jobs through on-field agents crowdsourcing, and improve governance through social intervention and address the national data security challenges.

NIPOST as its fondly called began using IT with stand alone PCs and has recently migrated to Wide Area Network (WAN) connectivity. Today, out of a 1000 post offices, several postal offices have been computerized and less than half of this figure have been networked through leased line and satellite technology based on the national broadband plan to enable Postal agencies offer services like electronic Money Order, e-payment and instant Money Order and it has plans to computerize and network all its post offices in the coming years. While the N a t i o n a l I d e n t i t y M a n a g e m e n t Commission has also adopted NIPOST AVS as the official system to confirm citizens' addresses driving overall national adoption. Today, the Nigeria's Corporate Affairs Corporation has also adopted AVS as official system to verity business addresses before registration and when filling annual returns to increase income tax generation for the country.

8

In Nigeria, a strong IT base has made it possible for Nigeria Postal Sevices, NIPOST to offer a range of e-enabled services to customers across Nigeria

NIPOST Address Verification System

NIGERIA

Avanti Communications Group recently signed a Master Distributor contract with iWayAfrica to provide satellite broadband services across Sub-Saharan Africa. Th is ag reement w i l l . enables iWayAfrica to use the latest Ka-band satellite technology via Avanti's Hylas 4 satellite, which offers 100 percent coverage of sub-Saharan Africa.

iWayAfrica has a presence in 44 African countries, and already deploys Avanti's Ka-band services in Eastern and Southern Africa via the Hylas 2 satellite. Hylas 4, which launched in A p r i l , w i l l e x t e n d iWayAf r ica 's Ka-band offering into new countries across West and Central Africa with commercial service scheduled from August. iWayAfrica has regional offices for all its wholesale services in Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius

and South Africa.R e c e n t l y , A v a n t i Communications Group plc selected Newtec D i a l o g ® p l a t f o r m , including a Wi-Fi hotspot solution as the High Throughput Sate l l i te (HTS) ground segment technology platform for its ECO project.

The ECO project, which is a p u b l i c - p r i v a t e partnership between the European Space Agency (ESA) and Avanti – will provide affordable and r e l i a b l e s a t e l l i t e broadband connectivity in its first phase to 1,400 schools and community sites across Sub-Saharan Africa within the next two years.

Newtec's optimized ECO terminals will deliver the ECO satellite broadband services to all identified sites through Avanti and

its service providers. These Wideband DVB-S 2 X 5 0 0 M b a u d terminals combine the satellite connectivity with a Wi-Fi hotspot, including optional solar panels, and are part of the Newtec Dialog multiservice platform. The ECO service will initially be deployed in 32 Ka-band spot beams out of multiple gateways in Europe and Africa.

“We are pleased to be able to use Newtec's technology on this vital project,” said David W i l l i a m s , C h i e f Executive Officer (CEO) of Avanti.

“The partnership is a significant step towards creating a solution for the endemic lack of affordable broadband connectivity across Sub-Saharan Africa.

IN THE NEWS

Yahsat introduces YahClick Wi-fi enterprise solution

The solution provides a cost-effective, high-speed, and reliable Wi-Fi solution developed to address the connectivity requirements of enterprises, NGOs, governments, and communities across Africa, the Middle East and Central and South West Asia. Featuring a simple multi-user management platform and seamless access for the end user, the solution a lso promises to dr ive susta inab le socioeconomic development by providing reliable high-speed connectivity to remote schools, clinics, and government offices as well as facilitating humanitarian aid and relief operations.“In our fast paced, always-on world, it is crucial that organizations of all kinds perform at peak p roduc t i v i t y and t he re fo re r ece i ve u n i n t e r r u p t e d , h i g h - s p e e d i n t e r n e t connectivity”, commented Farhad Khan, Yahsat's Chief Commercial Officer. “Many of the public and private-sector organizations we serve operate in the remotest parts of the Middle East, Africa, and Central and South West Asia, where high-performance internet connectivity is not readily available. With the launch of YahClick Wi-Fi Enterprise Solution, we look forward to supporting even more users with an internet service they can depend on.”“We're excited to see Yahsat using our software to deploy cost-effective high-speed WiFi hotspots” declares Sebastiano Bertani, Tanaza CEO. “And we love the idea of contributing to a better world by serving public and private organizations in remote areas with our WiFi cloud management platform. This distribution agreement will create a wide range of new opportunities for socioeconomic development across multiple continents.”Yahsat recently launched its third satellite Al Yah 3, located at 20 °W, and is ready to support the launch of commercial services. The satellite will expand Yahsat's Ka-band coverage to 19 additional markets across Africa covering 60% of the population and marks Yahsat's first entry into Brazil where 95% of the population will have access to its satellite broadband services.

Al Yah 3, an all Ka-band satellite, and the first hybrid electric propulsion GEOStar-3™ satellite completed by Orbital ATK, was launched on an Ariane 5 rocket by Arianespace, on January 26th 2018. “Access to the Internet is a key facilitator of social and economic progress, says Masood M. Sharif Mahmood, Chief Executive Officer at Yahsat. Today, broadband connectivity is playing an important role in creating new opportunities and in accelerating innovation. We are excited by the opportunity Al Yah 3 brings in our ability to deliver reliable and affordable satellite broadband services to parts of the world that need it the most, building upon our previous achievements as pioneers of such services across Africa, the Middle East and south-west Asia.”

Measat-3b

u

11

Avanti signs master distributor contract for Hylas 4 with iWayAfrica

Iridium Communications Inc . announced the signing of a Letter of Intent wi th smar t sh ipp ing p ioneer Rol ls -Royce Marine, in support of their a u t o n o m o u s v e s s e l development program. T h r o u g h t h i s arrangement, RRM and Iridium will work together to explore incorporating Iridium's next-generation L - b a n d s a t e l l i t e b r o a d b a n d s e r v i c e , Iridium CertusSM, into the RRM su i t e o f Sh ip Intelligence solutions.

By doing so, RRM will have a resilient and r e l i a b l e b r o a d b a n d capability that can serve as a standalone option or high throughput backup, while expanding the reach of autonomous vessels to all the world's waterways.As a leader in the

a u t o n o m o u s v e s s e l movement, Rolls-Royce Marine 's solutions deliver m u l t i f a c e t e d enhancements to ships, e n a b l i n g r e m o t e diagnostics, operations a n d p e r f o r m a n c e monitoring capabilities. Among many offerings, these solutions provide remote access to onshore operators and control centers, delivering real-time connectivity and automation. By automating processes such as navigation, crew are able to focus on more valuable areas of vessel operations helping to s t r e a m l i n e o v e r a l l functionality, ushering in a n e w d i g i t a l e r a o f shipping.

A strategic part of the maritime industry's future, autonomous ships are

being examined by the International Maritime Organization (IMO), where they are defining t h e r e g u l a t o r y e n v i r o n m e n t a n d degrees of autonomy for Maritime Autonomous Surface Shipsi.

The capabilities offered by Iridium Certus will h e l p s t r e a m l i n e management of vessel operations, whether for command and control, engine diagnost ics, tracking information and o t h e r o n b o a r d processes for a simple, secure and reliable experience.

" W h e n e v a l u a t i n g partners for our remote and autonomous vessel development program and Ship Intelligence solutions,

Iridium expand the reach and capabilities of autonomous vessels

billion, and would continue to climb to 20.4 billion by 2020, predicted Gartner.For one, Goh noted, it would not be feasible to push all the data generated by every connected device back to the data centre to be analysed.

"The network can't keep up," he said. "Therefore, you'll need the IoT device to be smarter so it can make smart decisions at the edge, for instance, only sending back information that's needed back to the network."\

The IoT dev ice cou ld ascertain if the data was of high quality and should be pushed back to the network to facilitate deep learning, or to process the learning at the edge and send back only the knowledge--rather than pure data.

The edge or IoT device would need to acquire more intelligence in order to carry out such decisions and tasks, Goh said.

HPE has been touting the i m p o r t a n c e o f e d g e computing, peddling its range of HPE Edgeline systems, which it said would be necessary to support more compute and better manage data at the edge of the network.

Putting IoT compute at the edge also addressed latency as well as data sovereignty issues, said Mark Verbloot, HPE Aruba's Asia-Pacific Japan director of systems eng ineer ing, who was speaking at the summit.It would enable data insights t o be p rocessed and accessed more quickly, Verbloot said.

In a 2016 ZDNet report, researchers at A*Star's Inst i tu te for Infocomm Research in Singapore said they had begun exploring technologies--specifically, distributed data analytics--that would enable data to be analysed more efficiently within the limited size and computational power of IoT

devices.

Asked what remained blackholes in AI today, Goh noted that deep neural networks remained opaque. He explained that when these systems had made a prediction or decision that proved wrong, they were unable to determine what went wrong. Humans, too, were unable to provide further directions as it would be humanly impossible to trawl through all the data the neu ra l ne two rks had analysed to figure out what had gone wrong.

H e a l s o w e l c o m e d Singapore's move to set up an advisory council to assess the ethical and legal use of AI and data.

Noting that the same path was necessa ry when genome initiatives began, he said technology often moved ahead of policies and the latter needed to catch up. And robots already were advancing significantly, he added, pointing to the progress achieved by S o f t B a n k ' s B o s t o n Dynamics.

Goh further noted that machines depended on historical data to arrive at an answer, but what might be historically correct might not be socially accepted or defined to be "right".

This underscored the need for humans to intervene and determine what was right or wrong. "Humans grow up seeing the world [develop] and [learning] to assess what's right and wrong, We s t i l l need to be the supervisors of robots' decisions for, at least, many more years," he said, adding that this was why studies in humanit ies and social sciences were still essential.

IN THE NEWS

As more devices come online, each generating data, the way information is analysed and used to facilitate machine learning will have to change. Data is key to improving the accuracy and predictions of machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) systems--the more images of apple and oranges it is fed, the better it will be at distinguishing the two.

The "smartness" of a machine was data-driven, said Goh Eng Lim, vice president and CTO of high performance computing and AI, Hewlett-Packard Enterprise (HPE), who was speaking to media at the v e n d o r ' s R e i m a g i n e Summit in Singapore.

However, he stressed, companies should not be focusing only on data retention as establishing volume alone was not adequate . Da ta a lso needed to be curated, labelled, and federated.

Goh noted that, too often, organisations operated data in silos, with the HR department generating data that did not integrate with data sitting with the sales team. In order to make better predictions, machine learning systems needed to be able to seamlessly pull data across the company.

They also needed to work on data that was properly labelled and curated to ensure decisions were made on accurate, quality data, he said.

Asked if the anticipated boom of IoT then would i n t r o d u c e f u r t h e r c o m p l i c a t i o n s , h e a c k n o w l e d g e d t h e likelihood, adding that it could indeed worsen the situation.

The number of connected devices was estimated to have outpaced the global population last year at 8.4

Alaska firm brings high-speed, reliable broadband to district school

Alaska Communications has announce it that it will now supports the Kuspuk School District in rural Alaska. The company provides satellite-based internet service to the school district's nine schools and main office, located on the Kuskokwim River in western Alaska.“We shared many examples of live video feeds, file transfers and let district officials see first-hand how our solution could work for them. We are committed to meeting the needs of the faculty, especially the educators, to provide students with necessary tools that are only available online,” said Bill Bishop, Senior Vice President, Business Markets. Kuspuk School District officials say the customer service provided by Alaska Communications was an important factor for them. “As a district, we have an obligation to provide our students with every possible educational tool to prepare them for an ever-changing workforce. High-quality instruction with access to high-quality internet service is essential to helping students be better prepared to meet future workforce demands,” said Superintendent Bernie Grieve. “The Kuspuk School District looks forward to developing a strong working r e l a t i o n s h i p w i t h A l a s k a Communications to better serve our students.” In addition to making regular visits to the school district offices to understand its needs, company staff also devoted time to the rural community. For example, an Alaska Communications team was on hand for a job fair to show students what it's like to work in the telecommunications field. The partnership with Kuspuk School District further demonstrates Alaska Communications' commitment to supporting education throughout Alaska. The company also serves several other school districts, including Anchorage, Fairbanks North Star Borough, Kenai Peninsula Borough, and Juneau. Alaska Communications' purpose is to deliver reliable broadband and managed IT services with exceptional customer service. President and CEO Anand Vadapalli said he is excited employees are working to grow the company in a way that helps Alaskans thrive. Alaska Communications is bringing high-speed, reliable broadband to the Kuspuk School District through its new satellite system in partnership with Eutelsat Americas.

Farhad Khan, Chief Commercial Officer, Yahsat

12

IoT boom will change how data is analysed

German media group P r o S i e b e n S a t . 1 h a s realigned the HbbTV portals of its free-to-air TV channels Sat.1.

HbbTV or simply, Hybrid Broadcast Broadband TV is a global initiative which was, and cont inues to be developed with the aim of harmonising the broadcast and broadband delivery of content through connected TVs, set-top boxes and multiscreen devices. It is a dynamic industry standard which has been adopted in 28 countries to date due to it being an open and b u s i n e s s - n e u t r a l

programme remains visible w h e n u s i n g H b b T V services. Access is via the Red Button on the remote control of smart TV sets compatible with the HbbTV standard and connected to the internet.

A c c o r d i n g t o ProSiebenSat.1, its HbbTV portals are accessed by 2.7 to 3 million viewers every month. Around 12 million viewers are technically able to use the offers.The HbbTV Association c o n s i s t s o f i n d u s t r y stakeholders from a wide range of organisations around the world.

technology platform that is flexible and has growing commercial capabilities.

The current focus is now on the catch-up TV service w h e r e c o m p l e t e T V p r o g r a m m e s a n d accompanying content can be accessed, the interactive news stream and theme channels that bundle catch-up TV content into playlists focusing on various topics such as food and fashion, cars and adventure, comedy and documentaries. TV viewers can also take part in interactive activities like quiz shows or voting.The currently running TV

IN THE NEWS

Eutelsat has sold its interest in the EUTELSAT 25B satellite operated at 25.5 degrees East to the co-owner of the satellite, E s ' h a i l S a t , f o r a considerat ion of €135 million.

Es 'ha i lSat , the Qatar Satellite Company, is the first satellite company of Qatar. I t wi l l provide independent, high quality, critical capacity that Qatar will need for 2022 and beyond. It will also supply i m p o r t a n t a d d i t i o n a l connectivity, services, and r e d u n d a n c y , w i t h Es'hailSat's satellites a cornerstone of Qatar's advanced communications i n d u s t r y — i n c l u d i n g providing an independentaccess to satellite capacity for Qatar's TV broadcasters, an alternative route for essential data connections outside Qatar.

Eutelsat's share of the satellite generated FY2018 revenues of c.€16 million in the video appl icat ion. Eutelsat cont inued to provides its customers with broadcasting capacity and associated services to enable them to transmit TV programmes mainly to

households that are either equipped to receive them direct via satellite, or – to a much lesser extent – connected to cable or IP networks. The Group occupies a key place in the audiovisual chain which extends from the reporting site to the TV viewer's screen.

The divestment of this non-core asset is in line with Eutelsat's strategy of optimising its portfolio of businesses in the context of its policy of maximizing cash generation.

It has no impact on E u t e l s a t ' s r e v e n u e objectives which are at constant perimeter, and will be absorbed within the Group's EBITDA margin target. The discretionary free cash flow objective excludes the impact of the disposal.

With 6,630 TV channels (including 1,142 in High Definition) broadcast via t h e G ro u p ' s i n -o rb i t resources as at 30 June 2017, Eutelsat is a market leader not only in Europe, but also in markets such as Russia, the Middle- East, North Africa and Sub-

Saharan Africa where, thanks to its premium b r o a d c a s t i n g o r b i t a l positions it benefits from the launch of new televisionchannels and the surge in p o p u l a r i t y o f n e w broadcasting formats (High Definition, 3D, Ultra High Definition.

Eutelsat is a pioneer in the development of Ultra High Definition broadcasting: for e x a m p l e , t h e G r o u p launched the HOTBIRD 4 K 1 d e m o c h a n n e l , encoded in HEVC and broadcast at 50 frames per second with 10-bit colour depth. It was then Europe's first Ultra-HD channel in this new standard. At 30 June 2017, Eutelsat carried 13 UHD channels on its fleet at t he f o l l ow ing o rb i t a l p o s i t i o n s : H O T B I R D (Europe), 36° East Russia) and 7° East (MENA.

Eutelsat's business model is based on long-term relationships with its its broadcasting customers, the opening of new in-orbit resources, the increase in programme offerings and in the numbers of antennae pointed at the Group's satellites.

.CETel Expands Service Portfolio with SatADSL

SatADSL, a provider of professional VSAT services via satellite has joined forces with CETel – a leading provider of g l o b a l s a t e l l i t e , f i b e r a n d wireless-enabled communications solutions – to deliver an expanded range of services in Ku- and C-band across Africa and the Middle East.

Under the agreement, SatADSL will provide CETel with its innovative Cloud-based Service Delivery Platform (C -SDP), a complete OSS/BSS carrier-grade, fully redundant platform. This will enable CETel to deliver cost effective Virtual Network Operator (VNO) flex services to serve customers in Corporate & Enterprise, Energy, Mining, Construction, Telco & ISP, Marine and Government & NGO sectors.

Recently, CETel has signed a five-year contract with SES Networks to connect new exploration and production sites in Africa via SES Networks' medium earth orbit (MEO) O3b satellite constellation, according to CETel.

CETel plans to leverage the O3b fleet's low latency and high throughput capabilities for big data applications required by the exploration and production industry. With round trip latencies below 150 milliseconds, MEO-enabled networks are on par with standard fibre connections, and are more reliable and faster to deploy than other infrastructure. The inking of this MEO deal with SES Networks empowers CETel to serve new applications where lower-latency connectivity matters, and to complement the comprehensive and versatile business applications it currently serves.In 2015, CETel and leading satellite operator ARABSAT stepped into the extended C-band with their jointly built earth station, offering unprecedented business expansion possibilities with the launch of CETel services this February 2015 over ARABSAT extended C-band.

The collaboration will include CETels teleport facilities, network and broadband services as well as solution design across the whole African continent, Middle East, Europe and Central Asia on board ARABSATs state-of-the-art satellite Arabsat-5C on 20 degrees East. The strategic plan of Arabsat and CETel to expand into the extended C-band is driven by the need of cost effective communications solutions in rural areas which offers not only trunking and backhauling applications but also corporate network connectivity between the regions and continents.

18

Eutelsat Disposes interest in EUTELSAT 25Bsatellite

German's ProSiebenSat.1 expands HbbTV services

In Africa, broadcast TV still enjoys widespread appeal and has remained a central part of our daily lives and serving as the key medium that enables governments and advertisers to reach out to several million homes and families. Television ownership is likewise one of the fastest in the world, with millions of Digital colour TV sets sold each year.

The average household now own a set box and TV set, such that the number of households with a second set translates to demand for more niche channels. as digitalization have brought with it a new way of enjoying quality content. Content is not scarce as Nollywood is driving channel growth in the country.

It has also been widely reported that new TV channels are scheduled for launch over the next 12 months, with the total number of channels on air exceeding earlier projections.

Accordingly, the average African consumer watches more than 35 hours of Live TV and over two hours of time shifted TV. Digital TV Research forecasts 95 million additional pay-TV subscribers between 2017 and 2023 to take the global total to 1.10 billion. Based on forecasts for 138 countries, including Africa, the number of pay-TV subscribers passed 1 billion in

2017. According to the report, satellite TV will grow by 31 million subscribers and pay DTT by 10 million. Murray added: “Sub-Saharan Africa will climb by 74% between 2017 and 2023 to 41 million pay-TV subscribers. In the Middle East and North Africa, the number of pay-TV homes will increase by 4.5 million between 2017 and 2023 to 21 million”.

Satellite delivery continues to gain market share worldwide, and is predicted to grow by 50 million homes to 430 million homes by 2021.. In terms of TV channels, Euroconsult's atellite Communications and Broadcasting Market Survey foresees the launch of an additional 4,200 satellite TV channels over the next ten years, with close to 45,700 channels by 2026.

Over the last few years, as both technological advancements and new consumer trends of the late 20th and early 21th century have rapidly evolved, the television industry has gone through a vast amount of changes.

Meanwhile, today’s television services were completely different from what was available decades ago. Broadcasting based on a pre-set schedule has become a thing of the past. In the past, shows, movies and TV-series were scheduled to

specific time-slots and if a viewer missed an episode of a favorite TV-show, it was quite rare that TV channels repeated their program, at least not soon after they played it. This has all changed with the advanced set top boxes now in use by satellite TV subscribers.

With catch up TV, when a customer wishes to access a content piece, the server streams the content directly to their decoder.

Smartphones and tablets play an ever-more central role in our daily lives, as audio-visual consumption trends evolve. Portable devices are increasingly used to watch video content on the move, with users demanding high quality on smaller screens.

Traditionally, the satellite user experience

In 2010, for instance, DStv introduced PVR decoder and later the HD Explora service, offering new dimension to its customers.

The service enables customers to pause live broadcasts, play them later and to automatically record programmes. Higher quality programmes and enhanced customer service along with the next generation satellite technologies will determine the success of DStv in the nearest future.

The rise of TV everywhere

Picture source ADB

Courtesy- SpaceX

SPECIAL REPORT

19

Recent multiscreen services are enabling thousands of hours of live coverage of events, and many operators such as Eutelsat and SES have successfully extended live channels to IP devices in the home, ranging from computer, laptops, game consoles to tablets, and also fully enabling live video and TV out of the home.

Despite OTT, pay TV still on the rise in Africa

was limited by the absence of a return link, according to a report. However, recent solutions using terrestrial technologies as an alternate return path help maximise reach and monetisation, offer multiscreen capabilities, and are paving the way for analytics and targeted advertising.

With unveiling of the TV Everywhere via Eutelsat's SmartBEAM, the multiscreen video services by satellite formally began. Today's video viewer seeks more and more options to consume entertainment content anywhere, anytime and on different devices. IP-based delivery of video content has made these options possible and, as a result, is dramatically influencing consumer viewing patterns.

Eutelsat's SmartBEAM is a multi-screen delivery solution which addresses the growing number of IP-native screens, while leveraging all the advantages of satellite broadcast to offer rich video content and a high-quality user experience.

According to Eutelsat, TV operators now broadcast video content in IP format via satellite, creating a network dedicated to all IP-native devices such as tablets and smartphones. The solution can be deployed at home as well as in public venues, such as bars, restaurants, hotels, shopping centres, and train stations. Eutelsat's SmartBEAM is the first end-to-end platform for IP-multicast over satellite, integrating multiple partner technologies. Based on standard internet technologies and protocols,

Based on report, SmartBEAM is compatible with all common mobile devices as well as Smart TVs. Live channels and on-demand content are encoded in H264 and packaged with any internet streaming protocol. They are transmitted via Eutelsat satellites in IP-multicast over a standard DVB-S2 transmission.

On the receive side, a compact low-cost satellite box with embedded IP multicast capabilities, connected to a regular satellite dish, acts as a local content delivery network. It receives the satellite signal, extracts the relevant IP streams and serves them locally to the mobile devices, over a Wi-Fi network.

Live content is served on-the-fly, while on-demand content is stored locally and can be accessed at any time by the end-user The end-user's device connects to the Wi-Fi network and a mobile application is used to play the selected content, similar to an OTT application.

Africa's leading TV operator, multichoice is using SmartBeam, Eutelsat's new multi-screen video delivery solution to deliver video content to mobile devices enabling consumers to receive TV anywhere and everywhere with a user-friendly app on

mobile devices Similarly, SAT>IP, a

technology developed through SES leadership, converts satellite signals into IP and broadcasts the converted content wirelessly throughout the home. This allows the entire choice of the satellite offer to be received, in uncompromised quality, on any screen in any room on any device, with several channels transmitting in parallel to multiple devices.

Live channels and on-demand content are encoded, packaged with an internet streaming protocol, and transmitted via satellite in IP-multicast over a standard transmission. The satellite signal is received by a regular satellite dish connected to a low-cost, set-top box with embedded IP multicast capabilities, acting as a local CDN. Live content is served directly, while on-demand content is stored locally for end-users to access at any time. The end-user connects to the Wi-Fi network with their device and watches the content on an app, similar to an OTT app.

OTT vs Satellite TV Leading players are breaking the industry's traditional boundaries to deliver their programming to a vast array of other video displays, such as personal computers, laptops, notebooks, video game consoles, iPads, mobile phones, and other portable devices. However, satellite coverage reaches all TV households in Africa, including those not eligible for OTT due to absent or insufficient internet bit rates, based on a latest SES report..

For instance, in 2017 less than 50% of the broadband access in France could receive UHD channels, even though France is well-equipped with 86% broadband penetration, based on recent Eutelsat report. Using a combination of satellite and Wi-Fi, Eutelsat's SmartBEAM solution delivers IP-native video content to end-users, giving viewers access to TV programmes on their portable devices. SmartBEAM provides a Content Delivery Network, replacing OTT distribution with all the benefits of satellite distribution. Platform operators broadcast live video channels in IP format via satellite. \The channels are accessed via a local Wi-Fi network connected to a set-top box, which receives the content via satellite.

Again, OTT, as a main avenue for VOD delivery, does not substitute linear

broadcasting, and instead replaces physical video sales and rentals, according to SES.

According to a global Ericsson study, people now estimate that they watch 6 hours a week of streamed video.

In addition, the complementary effect of OTT and traditional broadcasting is further demonstrated by considering smart phone usage. Viewing is now done in parallel, with 50% of global smartphone users reporting that they watch linear TV while consuming other video on their phones simultaneously.

Also, linear TV is retaining 90% of the video revenue globally, with linear DTH Pay TV actually catching up to cable revenues. OTT still lags significantly behind, because the average revenue per user is clearly lower than in a linear pay TV distribution model.

Furthermore, revenues cannot be cons idered w i thout look ing a t advertising. There is not much data yet on how OTT platforms will monetise their services more fully, but for linear TV advertising is still a main revenue stream. The cost for 30 second slots in Primetime in the US continues to command huge value.

This is because linear TV is still able to gather large audiences and therefore remains an attractive choice for advertisers. Linear TV, especially as the ideal platform for the transmission of large live events, is a main vehicle for advertisers who can rely on high quality distribution, without interruption, to large audiences.

Lastly, focusing in on content, both linear and Over-the-Top distribution have value to add when considering two new factors at play: the expansive choice of content and the amazing rise in technical picture quality. The content selection is get t ing more d iverse because productions continue to rise in quality and cost, while audiences also embrace user generated content. Finding the perfect content in this endless sea is up to data analytics, the main strength of OTT.

However, the technical picture quality of video will also continue to be a key success factor. HD is now the de-facto standard, and continues to explode across the world, as does Ultra HD and HDR, making the need to satisfy this demand a key concern in the industry, and a challenge for terrestrial networks alone, as explained earlier.

Courtesy- SpaceX

SPECIAL REPORT

20

SPECIAL REPORT

I

21

Globally, the focus of DTH viewing is shifting much more towards 4k simply, Ultra High-Definition. Before now, the only video format available to view programs or movies on television screen, was at a resolution of 720 x 576 pixels, known as Standard Definition. This was followed by High-Definition (HD) video resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels, which had a better picture quality and bigger size than SD, but consumed more bandwidth. However, in the last couple of years, the industry has witnessed the launch of many 4k channels driven initially by Sports and Movies as was the case with HD, with 4k TV sets already on sale across the world. In order to view a video even bigger and better than HD, a new r e s o l u t i o n h a s r e c e n t l y b e e n standardized as Ultra-High-Definition (UHD) at a resolution of 3840 x 2160 pixels. “The Ultra High Definition colours are breathtaking. The clarity is flawless. The definition is so sharp that viewers feel truly immersed in the action.” Hence, watching a Ultra High Definition video will be similar to watching a 3D video without the glasses, according to Eutelsat report,.

Over the next two years, the demand will be boosted by a further move to 8k. With h igher resolut ion, the required transmission bandwidth will rise. According to Credit Suisse estimate, by transmitting 4k in HEVC compression, it will be possible to host only two channels per transponder (36MHz) compared with the current 5-7 HDTV channels per transponder using MPEG-4 encoding or 10-20 SD channels per transponder

Today, the global shipments of UHDTV, to Africa will likely exceed 100 million units for the first time. However, the installed base of ultra high definition TV is likely to be close to half a billion devices by year 2020. By region, its household penetration will reach 33% in North America, 22% in Western Europe and 18% in Asia Pacific and 5 per cent in Africa by 2020. Already, many of Latin America's leading Pay TV providers are testing SES's new Ultra HD solution, an all-in-one package of pre-configured

Ultra HD content, reception equipment, and satellite distribution that will enable quick and easy Ultra HD deployments over the region. Resently, the new SES Latin America Ultra HD solution was opened with four Ultra HD channels, including NASA TV UHD, produced by Harmonic, as well as the SES Ultra HD demo channel, an incubator for emerging 4K content producers. SES plans to add new channels and content produced in Brazil, Mexico, and other Latin American countries in the future.

“Ultra High Definition channels TV package

will be costlier than what the consumers are paying presently

for HD channels”

In order to enjoy high quality viewing, HD can best be viewed at a resolution of

1920 x1080 pixels, and ideally on a TV

Ten years ago, the television industry was in the same situation as it is now, when HD was the new technology and high compression capability of MPEG-4 made its debute. History is repeating again and the television industry is all geared up for Ultra High Definition, UHD broadcasting with the help of HEVC this time. Today, the entire broadcast architecture is being modified for Ultra High Definition video broadcasting.

screen above 42 Inches, not many consumers can afford expensive television of 42 inches, not every broadcaster will have enough bandwidth, to air every channel in full resolution, thereby, resulting in non-ideal standard adoption. Furthermore, the size of an HDTV that most consumers have is still below 40 inch, however, If the ideal standard of Ultra High Definition is followed, consumers will have to buy new expensive UHDTV to view an ideal Ultra High Definition channel. But due to cost and resource constraints, original Ultra High Defini t ion content wi l l be downscaled or HD content will be upscaled which according to a study is a non-ideal combinations.

However, in order to support Ultra High Definition video and audio, the industry needs a much higher multimedia interface. This upgrade can either be a firmware update or a hardware update

depending on different TV and STB

The future of Ultra High Definition Televisionviewing

SPECIAL REPORT

Courtesy- SpaceX

22

manufacturers.

In addition, the colour accuracy of a Liquid Crystal Display, LCD TV screen for Ultra High Definition Television will be different and depends on the backlight technology used to produce the white light.

However, the old backlight technology that produces strong light in greens and not exactly white are not suitable for Ultra High Definition Televisions. Industry analysts believed that Light Emitting Diodes backlight with LCD display is the perfect choice for Ultra High Definition TV as they produce whiter whites than other specifics since they use a non-coloured light source to illuminate the screen.

More so, a news channel, where the anchor is mostly sitting in one place, talking to others, requires a low bandwidth broadcasting. While a sports channel where video graphics change every second, requires a higher frame rate and higher bandwidth The absolute number of consumers exploiting the full breadth of a ultra high definition TV's capability is likely to increase, but the proportion and absolute number of those using only HDTV is also likely to rise.

The power of UHDThe human vision is one of the most complex parts of the human body. The eye perceives movement, senses depth, and sees a range of colours greater than any current existing video technology is able to display. However, Ultra High Definition Television UHDTV has a resolution of 3840 x 2160 pixels, which is four times the resolution of HDTV, which implies that there is four times more information displayed on screen, which is one of the

factors to enhance the video quality.

Beside movies and TV programs, Ultra High Definition video broadcast will be useful in other applications where minute pixel data plays an important role in applications such as medical imaging, weather forecasting, disaster Recovery, education and security. .

ChallengesThe challenge still come down to maximizing available resources. However, due to the lack of resources and technology in the end-to-end broadcast chain, it is sometimes difficult for broadcasters to transmit complete

UHD content at the moment. Broadcasters are faced with the tough option of upgrading the entire value chain, which industry experts said would very costly, otherwise, the original Ultra High definition content will have to be downscaled to a lower resolution and the

Ultra High Definition

original HD content upscaled to a higher resolution in order to play and win the Ultra High definition market.

In order to overcome many new hardware

design challenges, Broadcasters will be forced to transmit Moving Picture Experts Group-4, MPEG-4 compressed videos until a majority of the customers own a High Efficiency Video Coding, HEVC compatible Set-Top-Box (STB) and UHDTV, currently unavailable, which require upscaling and downscaling capabilities to comply with the user demands. Despite this, the subsisting HD content will look less dynamic by default, even after upscaling because its pixel density will always be lower than a video shot using an exclusive 4K camera which enhances image sensors and other features.

Similarly, some broadcasters transmit UHD content using

MPEG-4 video compression, instead of HEVC format recommended for UHD, and at 1080p resolution, instead of 2160p. Some might just upscale the HD video to view them on UHDTV due to the lack of content or downscale UHD videos to view them on HDTV due to the lack of in f ras t ruc ture . Th is d i lemma o f broadcasters and consumers has prevented the complete roll-out of the real HDTV till now, and the same reason might prevent the complete roll-out of the real UHDTV.

Video Compression: MPEG-4 vs. HEVC .At present, the industry relied on MPEG-4 video compression format to watch HD channels on High Definition Televisions.

Ultra High Definition

However, HEVC is the new video compression method, developed especially to compress the huge data of UHD and has been adopted for its

transmission HEVC offers 50% higher video compression and quality as compared to MPEG-4 and therefore make the transmission of Ultra High Definition content more efficient by saving the bandwidth significantly. However, HEVC encoder and decoder is at its early stage of development and to use HEVC, broadcasters will have to invest in upgraded infrastructure, which will take time and cost a lot of money. Once broadcasters start using HEVC to transmit Ultra High Definition, consumers will be forced to dump their existing HDTVs and buy expensive HEVC compatible UHDTVs.

Ten years ago, the television industry was in the same situation as it is now, when HD was the new technology and high compression capability of MPEG-4 made its broadcasting feasible. History is repeating again and the television industry is all geared up for UHD broadcasting with the help of HEVC this time. Today, the entire broadcast architecture is being modified for Ultra High Definition video broadcasting.

To this end, cinema producers, editors, manufacturer and distributers, with the help of DVB-S2X standards are working towards making the UHDTV broadcasting practically possible.

24

Q. Briefly discuss the evolution of Telemedicine in the Nigeria

Telemedicine has been around as long as means of communications were invented by science. People have actually been using the telephone calling their physicians to find out what they need to do about their health – as a form of low level kind of telemedicine, then with the videophones.

These days, people could actually take very good pictures and send it to their clinicians. With the emergence of internet, the internet gateways have been around and also the personal computers have been around for 30 years. Computers became a tool for archiving information especially health care information and send it back and forth from the health care giver to the health care receiver. Now, for us in the hospital here, the very first attempt at telemedicine was by Intel Corporation which was based in the US. Intel came in 2006 and they approached our hospital, did a proof of concept and two hospitals were selected for the proof of concept for the Intel telemedicine.

The telemedicine of Intel is satellite based and the transmission of data is based on WiMAX technology which the Intel invented and they were trying to market. For the purpose of the proof of concept, National Hospital here was linked with another tertiary health care centre located in a remote area of Bida called the Federal Medical Centre.

So, National Hospital is supposed to be the referral hospital and the federal medical center, Bida is supposed to be satellite hospital requesting specialist assistance. For the actualization of this, the Intel brought in a couple of telemedicine equipment, the WiMAX radio, antenna, the telemedicine receiver, the monitor, the URF camera and the X-point which is where most of the integration is done.

They also brought in some diagnostic equipment, the dermal camera, digital sphyngoscope, digital ontoscope; these

are normal equipment for diagnosis, but they are coupled with some gadgets and plug in so that information goes through data transmitting process.

Q: What has been the influence of Tech giant Intel in Nigeria's telemedicine project?

Intel's telemedicine proof of concept was structured to coincide with the visit to the country of the then Intel Chairman, Ted Barret, after it was launched, we are able to connect with the Federal Medical Center, Bida, live and conducted diagnosis, everybody was enthusiastic and people were beginning to feel the impact.

During the demonstration, everybody was talking to the next person just like one-on-one. And eventually the reality dawn on us immediately after the launch that, we need to sustain it, Intel volunteer to sustain it for the first few months and for the sustenance, the Federal Medical Center has a c o o r d i n a t o r , a t e l e m e d i c i n e coordinator, who is supposed to call me anytime they have a case, and they didn't have a specialist on that area. So when they call me, I will go to the te lemedic ine room where the equipment were kept to switch on, he too will switch on, and we call the suburban guys who connect the radio link, and they connect us, we are seeing each other and they say case is settle, seated and talking to the specialists and it was very nice.

The only snag was the cost of the data, Intel was able to foot the bill for the first few weeks of operations and they started drumming in on us that they need to move it from concept to a programme, from the project to a programme. So they are talking about working out the cost implication. Now, the telemedicine is okay.If it is part of Federal Government programme. The people we are actually assisting with this project, most of them are very poor people, who otherwise could not afford to jump on the road and start coming down to the

National Hospital almost 300 – 400 kilometers. So they are rather attended to in their communities, have the access to the specialists and go back home. Federal Medical Center Bida cannot pay anything and National hospital specialists are just like volunteer workers, doing their normal work they are employed to do, in addition they were contributing to the telemedicine project. There wasn't any stipend for them. These are the challenging issues that makes telemedicine elsewhere in Africa a problem because there has been a little bit of effort here.

Q: Has the Government of Nigeria through the Federal Ministry Of Science and Technology been part of the Telemedicine project?

Shortly after the Intel telemedicine launch at the National Hospital, while the proof of concept was still going on, there was a concomitant programme initiated by the federal ministry of science and technology. Well, we don't know how the initiation came, they just started brainstorming on this idea and the next thing they started constructing bus, those long buses, they called it telemedicine buses, the concept of that is a little different.

While on our system where you have a healthcare site linked by satellite, they actually take the healthcare bus down to the remote areas, all the telemedicine gadgets are installed inside a bus, so they go to the remote areas and the people inside the buses are Nurses and Midwives and junior workers. And when

Dr Abiodun Olusesi

Can Satellite-Based Telemedicine Become a Reality in Nigeria?

In this interview, Dr Abiodun Olusesi, a senior Consultant Otolaryngologist at the Abuja, National Hospital, Nigeria, who doubles as the coordinator of Telemedicine and e-health speaks on how Nigeria can deliver on the promise of providing quality care to those who live in the remote corners of the earth.

INTERVIEW

SPECIAL REPORT

25

they need to consult, they now called the base station, which are teaching hospitals, and two teaching hospitals were involved in the programme and about 8 Federal Medical centers across the six geo-graphical zones. Now, the thing about that programme, accessibility is an issue, because when the programme was being appraised, so many areas are not accessible as the bus is taking down to the rural areas, and so many other issues that a r e a s s o c i a t e d w i t h t e r r e s t r i a l communications, and eventually the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology that initiated the programme saw the feasibility of continuing the project without the Federal Ministry of Health, so they now hand over the programmme to the Federal Ministry of Health, on a platter of gold. It wasn't something they had to brainstorm or somebody putting up the programme together.

The bottom line is that the proof of concept was also done in the six geo-political zones of the country, data were collected and presented at the UCH February last year and it was there we learnt that the Federal Ministry of Health acted in concert with N a t i o n a l S p a c e R e s e a r c h a n d Development Agency, NASRDA.

They provided the connectivity through the defunct Nigerian Communications Satellite, NigComSat, before it went missing and was subsequently de-orbited. That effort rolled over to National Space Research and Development Agency, NASRDA now taking more effort to whip Federal Ministry of Health into the line

Q. What are the challenges facing the development of National H e a l t h M a n a g e m e n t a n d Information System in Nigeria?

In our hospital here, we have software that are designed by a software company, that is the one we are using all along. It encompasses health records, accounts and personnel management. Mainly of course, for the hospital we need what is called the Health Information System. Now, the Health Information System is a bit much more robust than account management software, records, clinical record management software.

Clinical note information and everything, endoscopy information and they all come together in what is called Health Information Management System. Unfortunately in the past four years, we had over 20 software demos that I witnessed.

Different software vendors coming in to demonstrate their softwares and I can tell you at this end of it all, we have a system that satisfy the clinician, but does not satisfy the

laboratory guys and a system that satisfy the laboratory but does not satisfy the pathologist, and so on and so forth. We had issues here. Some people just go to India, pick a system and they want to come and sell it as software. Writing software is so cool. For me I wrote the software that I use for my own personal use, you understand! I have written software that my friends that have clinics use in their clinics.

But when you are writing software for a big multi system there are so many other issues that crop in and that is where most of the software vendors that approach the hospital get sucked because they come with a system that is designed for a three room or 4 room hospital and you want to sell them to a big hospital like this, it is not going to work, by the time they do the demo and they dissected it, we say okay we will go and fine tune it, but usually there are flaws. So this is issue. With respect to database, yes, we have expensive database.

For instance, we do coding in this hospital ICD 10 is the standard coding. Health record has standard database for the health record. For diagnosis, for everyday data entry, we still use the paper, difficult for you to get database on that.

Well, I just told you that in radiology we have a digital X-ray and in between them there is what is called X-ray digitizer which again is like an old technology; there is move from analogue X-ray to digital X-ray and in between them there is what is called X-ray digitizer which is like a scanner. Here you take old X-ray place it on it, scan it and use it. The idea is that as you are taking the film, it goes right in and is already in a database and is not supposed to be scanned again.

So we have X-ray digitizer, we don't have a Radiology Information System. Of course the memory capacity of most of the gadgets we use around like the MRI is limited, so after sometimes you have to delete the image for you to continue to use the system.

So these are some of the challenges that we have. We don't have an archival system. We have the gadget now that can if you go to the laboratory to do endoscopy, the image you can store it but I being in my office cannot access the image stored by the consultant in my depar tment for the purpose of examination. And if the patient for whom the image was taken is my patient, I cannot access the image and discuss with him or her.

Other places of the world, no body carry X-ray film around, you finish doing your

X-ray, you go away but when you go to the doctor's office where the X-ray is requested, you put on the computer, call your hospital number and your X-ray is displayed and then you review it before decision is taken. In the theatre, it is the same thing. Before we start any case in the morning, when I was on a visit to the University of Hamburg in Germany, you go to the computer in the operating room, and that is where you reveal the MRI, scan of the patient that is about to be operated; nobody is carrying the film around and folding it and get blotted. So we need a picture archival system; we also need a Laboratory Information System, especially part of the big, thea te r in fo rmat ion , rad io logy information

Q: Do you agreed that private entities can run Telemedicine successfully in Nigeria?

NO, NO. The reason why it is this, number one, private sector is profit driven; private sector is not a charity. Nobody is in business for the purpose of just providing things free of charge. So a situation where you spend most of your hard earned money or you go to a bank, get a loan and in order for you to get sophisticated gadgets and you maintain personnel and at the end of it you are running at a loss, it doesn't make sense.

The bottom-line is that as much as possible there is a need for government to provide the backbone. Without government providing the backbone or providing the leverage, this country's large numbers of people are still depending on government patronage. Talk of large number of people that run large business, the most successful ones, the Dangotes, they are on government patronage, cut the government out of it, I mean the life line out, they are just cold. So this is the reality. So if the government is not buying into Telemedicine, there is no way private people are going in and I have told you of couple of private initiatives.

I have told you of Suburban Telecoms, they are so determined, as far as they can achieve, all of us agreed that until the Federal Ministry of Health decided to take the lead, these systems remain flat because nobody is going to buy into it;

26

IN THE NEWS

After separating from the satellite, the Falcon 9 rocket successfully landed on a droneship in the Atlantic Ocean. Due to SpaceX's success in this area, it is becoming one of the most valuable venture-backed startups in the US.

SSL equipped Merah Putih with a composite strut tower, 24 C-band and 12 extended transponders covering South East Asia and an additional 24 transponders for South Asia.1 The satellite is built upon the SSL 1300 platform equipped with a solar electric propulsion technology and other modern technologies such as Q/V band, photonics and a payload orbital delivery system.It was only the fourth flight of an upgraded block 5 booster since the rocket's debut in May and the first launch and recovery of a previously flown block 5 - the same stage that helped launch a Bangladeshi satellite during its maiden flight three months ago.

"This satellite will play an important role in enhancing telephone and internet service for Indonesian's 17,000 islands", said Lauren Lyons, systems certification engineer for SpaceX.

According to officials from Telkom Indonesia, the Telkom 1 satellite, which was launched in 1999, will remain operational until Merah Putih's launch. The new spacecraft will be positioned in geostationary orbit more than 22,000 miles (nearly 36,000 kilometers) over the equator at 108 degrees east longitude.\

ChinaVision launches new Chinese broadcast TV programming in the US

ChinaVision, a part of MAGLA Entertainment Group, announced that C h i n e s e n e t w o r k t e l e v i s i o n programming from Shanghai Media Group is now available for the first time in the United States. The inaugural launch of ChinaVision TV represents the first instance of Chinese-produced broadcast television on major streaming platforms that have been localized for non-Chinese viewers.We are thrilled to partner with ChinaVision and believe Americans will be surprised and delighted by this first, compelling package of television from China that we have localized for English-speaking audiences. These top-rated TV programs show a side of Chinese life rarely seen outside of China, said Xiaolan He, vice president of Shanghai Oriental Pearl Group and general manager of Shanghai WingsMedia Co.,

Ltd.Commencing with hundreds of hours of premium content initially available via Roku® and a new series premiering on Amazon® Prime Video, ChinaVision TV is for those who want to uniquely explore Chinese culture, economics, lifestyle, nature, and cuisine

Facebook to stream free La Liga football in Indian subcontinent

Facebook has acquired the media rights of Spain's top-division football championship, La Liga, for the Indian subcontinent. La Liga will be the first European football league to be broadcast exclusively live on Facebook in the Indian subcontinent, and be available on Facebook in India, Bhutan, Nepal, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Maldives, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.The period of the deal is for three seasons and it begins with the 2018-19 campaign starting on August 17, Peter Hutton, Facebook Head of Global Live Sports Programming, said.“La Liga has a very wide global audience and the league has two of the most supported clubs on our platform – Real Madrid and Barcelona. Fans can either go to La Liga page on Facebook and can view any of the matches or they can go on to the Facebook page of their favourite c lubs to watch the match. No subscriptions are needed,” he said.“We are delighted to have the opportunity to expand La Liga's fan base in India with free live streaming of football games. Apart from the live games, the fans will also have access to see other programmes like studio discussion, preview shows and highlights.”Until now, the La Liga media rights for the Indian subcontinent were with Sony Pictures Networks India.Alfredo Bermejo, Head, Digital Strategy, La Liga, said: “For us, India is one of our most important markets and Facebook is one of our most important and traditional partners in the digital world. We want to reach out to the biggest audience with the biggest platform possible.“We wanted to improve our broadcasting strategy with technology – like production, new camera, new angles, new way of viewing football. Facebook shared our strategy. Facebook is the biggest platform with 270 million users, out of which 60 million are interested in football. So Facebook has the perfect features to help us what we want to.”Facebook will also provide analysis of the matches by a pool of experts including former Real Madrid defender and four-time La Liga champion Michel Salgado, as well as former Barcelona and Atletico Madrid midfielder Luis Garcia.Last week, Eleven Sports announced its

SpaceX orbits Indonesian comsat with 'used' booster

SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket powered by a recycled first stage booster climbed into orbit early last August from Cape Canaveral with the Indonesian Merah Putih communications satellite. "This satellite will play an important role in enhancing telephone and internet service for Indonesian's 17,000 islands", said Lauren Lyons, systems certification engineer for SpaceX.After separating from the satellite, the Falcon 9 rocket successfully landed on a droneship in the Atlantic Ocean. Due to SpaceX's success in this area, it is becoming one of the most valuable venture-backed startups in the US.It was only the fourth flight of an upgraded block 5 booster since the rocket's debut in May and the first launch and recovery of a previously flown block 5 - the same stage that helped launch a Bangladeshi satellite during its maiden flight three months ago.

While a jumbo jet costs about the same as one of our Falcon 9 rockets, but airlines don't junk a plane after a one-way trip from LA to New York. Yet when it comes to space travel, rockets fly only once—even though the rocket itself represents the majority of launch cost.

The present launch was the third SpaceX mission in 16 days, and the company's 15th launch of the year overall. Its upgraded rocket allows the company to reuse a first-stage booster 10 times or more.

Indonesian telecom satellite begins post launch maneuvers

A communications satellite SSL built for telecommunications firm PT Telkom Indonesia has started conducting post-launch maneuvers a day after its liftoff aboard a Falcon 9 rocket.1 Merah Putih released the satellite's solar arrays and would fire its primary thruster to reach final orbit, SSL parent company Maxar Technologies said Tuesday. The system is designed to provide internet and telephone services throughout Indonesia and other parts of south and southeast Asia, as well as reduce backhaul for cellular service.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket powered by a recycled first stage booster climbed into orbited the Indonesian Merah Putih communications satellite. Merah Putih translates into "red and white" and is a reference to the colors on Indonesia's national flag.

ASIA

28

IN THE NEWS

plans to screen one match per week from La Liga and Serie A on its Facebook page in the UK and Ireland.

Sri Lanka confident Bangabandhu satellite will spur development

The Prime minister Sheikh Hasina expressed her firm conviction that Bangabandhu Satellite would play a pivotal role in overall development of the country, opening up new opportunities for the learners of new generation.“Through the satellite we would be able to know the whole world and our children would be able to learn about space and nuclear technology, marine science and other areas of science, culture and nature which would be useful for them as well as country's development,” she said.The prime minister was addressing a function at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre (BICC) organised for celebrating successful launching of B a n g a b a n d h u S a t e l l i t e - 1 a n d inauguration of its ground stations at Gazipur and Betbunia.Sheikh Hasina said father of the nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman had laid the foundation stone of the country's first satellite station at Betbunia in Rangamati. But after his brutal death the space technology didn't get due importance to flourish.Bangladesh has emerged as the 57th country having Satellite in the space and 34th nation of constructing nuclear power plant, the prime minister said, adding that “we have to hold up the dignity and take the country forward.”The premier said her government has attached importance to development of the entire country. The government is striving to create a democratic atmosphere and ensure the rights of the people to food and franchise, she added.Finance minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith, information minister Hasanul Haq Inu, the prime minister's advisor on ICT affairs Sajeeb Ahmed Wazed, state minister for ICT Zunaid Ahmed Palak attended the function as special guests with post, telecommunications and ICT minister Mustafa Jabbar in the chair.S e c r e t a r y o f t h e p o s t , telecommunication ministry Shyam Sundar Sikder and chairman of Bangladesh Communication Satellite Company Ltd. Shajahan Mahmud also spoke on the occasion.Cabinet members, the prime minister's advisors, chiefs of naval and air forces, parliament members, diplomats of different countries and civil and military officials attended the function.The prime minister inaugurated the two ground stations for Bangabandhu Satellite-1 through video conferencing with the officials of the Gazipur and Rangamati districts and engineers of the

s t a t i o n s . S h e a l s o r e l e a s e d commemorative stamps issued by the postal department on the occasion.The ground stations were named after PM's ICT advisor Sajeeb Wazed in recognition of his contribution to successful launching of Bangabandhu Satellite-1 and development of space and digital technology in Bangladesh.Sheikh Hasina said her government after assuming office in 1996 had taken steps to provide modern education on computer technology to the people. Now about nine crore people use internet while 13 crore mobile SIMs are being used in the country.She said information technology is being used for 'learning and earning' and many unemployed rural youths have found their employment opportunities in the IT sector. Government services were made available for people from 5,275 digital centres across the country.She urged everybody to help continue the ongoing development of the country and execution of the more plans of the government in the socioeconomic areas for further advancement of the nation.The prime minister said taking office after 21 years of brutal killing of Bangabandhu, her government had taken initiatives to attain food autarky as the prime and foremost task. The Awami League government had also attached utmost importance to education on science and technology, she added.Awami league government after coming to office in 1996, has upgraded the analogue system of telecommunication to digital, she said, adding that television, radio and other modes of communication system were opened to private sector aimed at developing of the sectors as well as creating job opportunities.Sheikh Hasina said a peace treaty was signed to bring normalcy in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) while mobile network was expanded to ensure its socioeconomic development.The prime minister congratulated the concerned engineers and officials who worked for successful launching of the Bangabandhu Satellite-1 in the space and inaugurating satellite ground stations at Gazipur and Betubunya.Sheikh Hasina said she has no personal ambition or choice except buildingBangladesh as a peaceful and prosperous country as dreamt by father o f t h e n a t i o n . L a u n c h i n g o f Bangabandhu Satellite-1 is one step forward to achieve the goal, she added.

SSTL announces New launches on ISRO's PSLV

Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd has signed an agreement with Antrix

Corporation Limited, the commercial arm of the Indian Space Research Organisation, for the launch into a 580km sun-synchronous orbit of NovaSAR-1, a small Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) satellite, and SSTL S1-4, a high-resolution Earth observation satellite. The two satellites will launch on PSLV-C42, due to lift-off in September 2018. NovaSAR-1 is a technology demonstration satellite mission designed to test the capabilities of a new low cost S-Band SAR platform. The spacecraft was designed and manufactured by SSTL, with an S-Band SAR payload developed by Airbus Defence and Space in Portsmouth, and an Automatic Identification Receiver (AIS) supplied by ComDev to track ships at sea. NovaSAR-1 will be operated from SSTL's Spacecraft Operations Centre in Guildford, UK. The UK Space Agency has invested £21M in the development of NovaSAR-1 and will benefit from access to data from the spacecraft, significantly boosting the UK's sovereign Earth observation capabilities and leveraging addi t ional inward investment to the UK by creating highly skilled jobs in the UK space industry, and stimulating the growth of data analysis services. Also on the PSLV-C42 launch will be the SSTL S1-4, a sub-one metre resolution Earth observation satellite with a mass of 440kg that will further enhance SSTL's existing in-orbit observation capabilities.

Iran and Russia to expand IT cooperation

Iranian Ambassador to Moscow Mehdi Sanaei and Russia's Deputy Minister of Telecom and Mass Communications Alexey Volin met to discuss ways to enhance bilateral cooperation in the Information Technology domain.The meeting held in Russia for the two officials to inked various issues including the results of former Minister of Telecom and Mass Communications' travel to Tehran in October 2015.Reviewing the programs and aims of future Caspian Media Forum which is going to be held in Russia's Astrakhan in September 2018 was also among other important topics of this meeting, IRNA reported.This meeting is the continuation of the two country's joint media sessions, the first of which was held in Tehran in last month where production of joint TV series, especial ly for chi ldren, supplying equipment and organizing training courses for journalists was discussed.

ASIA

29

KT Unveils 5G Emergency Rescue Platform 'SKYSHIP'

KT Corp. has unveiled a next-generation platform for disaster and safety management, in its latest effort to pioneer new businesses with its fifth-generation (5G) and information and communications technologies (ICT). KT introduced the new platform, named SKYSHIP, at a press briefing last week. The SKYSHIP platform operates a special aircraft and a mobile communication center to remotely control drones and robots that carry out search and rescue operations for disaster survivors. Rescuers on the ground are also assisted with augmented reality (AR) glasses that have a direct line of communication todoctors at nearby hospitals for assistance delivering emergency treatment. The Korean telecom leader is gearing up to diversify its business as it prepares for the launch of the world's first nationwide 5G wireless network in March next year. KT's SKYSHIP platform also comes in time for South Korea's 1.7 trillion won (US$ 1.5 billion) nationwide public safety Long Term Evolution (PS-LTE) network, a project beginninglater this year and finishing in 2020. "KT SAT is leading Korea's space industry in the global market for satellite business, writing a new chapter of the country's satellite history," Chief Executive Officer Hahn Won-Sic said in a press briefing on June 7, at the Kumsan Satellite Service Center, Korea's first satellite earth station. "If things go well, KT SAT can provide telecommunications and broadcasting infrastructure in North Korea by using its satellites."KT SAT was established as a KT subsidiary specializing in satellite services when Korea's top telecom provider spun off its satellite business in 2012. With the launch of KOREASAT-7 and 5A last year, the company is strengthening its position as a leading global service provider.KT's first satellite operator currently owns five satellites. The latest, KOREASAT-7 and KOREASAT-5A, were launched in May and October in 2017, respectively. KOREASAT-5A extended KT SAT's coverage from the Korean peninsula to the Philippines, Indochina, the Middle East and parts of South Asia. KOREASAT-7 covers the Philippines, Indonesia, Indochina and India.KT SAT's main business was satellite transponder leasing in the domestic market until it started a global advance in 2015. The company's customer list now has 22 in seven countries, up from 13 in three countries, and its satellite

coverage has expanded, boosting sales.As an ICT pioneer, KT SAT is striving to bring high-speed Internet service to places where it remains mostly unavailable, such as in-flight WiFi service, also known as in-flight connectivity. The market is expected to grow at an annual average rate of 20 percent or more over the next 10 years.The company is currently consulting with air carriers at home and abroad as it prepares to build global commercial networks via KOREASAT-5A communications satellite.KT SAT provides unhindered round-the-clock satellite service management around the year, using its own system, the Global Network Operation Support System (GNOSS), in 24/7 operation. With its two-decade experience of providing stable service to customers and managing its global network, the company now pursues a greater competitive edge in the market through localized, custom-tailored and exceptional services. KT SAT is also Korea's largest provider of maritime telecommunications service thanks to a two-way satellite ground station, known as a "maritime very small aperture terminal", or MVSAT. Ships at sea are provided unlimited access to data at a fixed rate in contrast to previous charges based on the amount of data used. Currently serving some 500 ships that operate in international waters, KT SAT expects the number of its clients to increase sharply, particularly because a growing number of young people manning Korea's deep-sea fishing vessels demand stable telecommunications and access to information.

ISRO Successfully Tests Crew Escape System

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) carried out a major technology demonstration, the first in a series of tests to qualify a Crew Escape System, which is a critical technology relevant for human spaceflight. The Crew Escape System is an emergency escape measure designed to quickly pull the crew module along with the astronauts to a safe distance from the launch vehicle in the event of a launch abort. The first test (Pad Abort Test) demonstrated the safe recovery of the crew module in case of any exigency at the launch pad. After a smooth countdown of 5 hours, the Crew Escape System along with the simulated crew module with a mass of 12.6 tonnes, lifted off from its pad at Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota. The test was over in 259 seconds, during which the Crew Escape System along with crew module soared skyward, then arced out over the Bay of Bengal and floated back to Earth under its parachutes about 2.9 km from Sriharikota .

IN THE NEWS ASIA

China launched two satellite for its GPSsystem (Source: China Daily

30

Chinese private space company to launch first carrier rocket

China will launch its first solid-propellant carrier rocket developed by a Chinese private company later this year. The ZQ-1 rocket was developed by Landspace, a Beijing-based rocket-maker. Its technicians are former state-owned aerospace industry workers.Carrying a small satellite, the rocket will be launched at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China, the company has said. "If the launch mission can go well, the ZQ-1 will become China's first private carrier rocket that can send satellites into space," said Zhang Changwu, CEO of Landspace. The 19-meter-long rocket has a 1.35-meter diameter, a takeoff weight of 27 tonnes and thrust of 45 tonnes. It is flexible, cost-efficient and has been designed with mature technology and fast response ab i l i t y. "A f t e r n i ne mon ths o f development, the rocket completed the final assembly Monday and entered the launching phase, showing that the company is capable of making rockets," Zhang said. The satellite, Future, carried by the rocket is for space science and remote sensing for a TV show on China Central Television. It will orbit for two years. ZQ is short for Zhuque (Vermilion bird). It is one of the four spirits of ancient Chinese mythology, representing fire and controlling the southerly direction. The company also plans to launch ZQ-2, a liquid-fueled rocket, in 2020. China has more than 60 private companies entering the commercial space industry. They are growing fast and competing in market for launches of small satellites and rockets.

NZ's Eagle Technology joins HawkEye satellite partner program

New Zealand's Eagle Technology has become one of the first firms to sign up for HawkEye 360's new strategic partner program. Auckland-based Eagle, which provides geographic information systems and geospatial services for New Zealand and the South Pacific Islands, will be able to leverage HawkEye 360's future constellation of low earth orbit smallsats to support its solutions as a strategic partner. “HawkEye 360 is building an international network of partners that will help us commercialise and distribute our unique analytics,” said HawkEye 360 chief revenue officer Beau Jarvis. “We consider Eagle Technology a key ally, with expertise to apply our data to better serve the people of New Zealand.” According to HawkEye, Eagle will

University and head of its Josaphat Microwave Remote Sensing Laboratory, that enables weather and timeof-day independent high resolution Earth data gathering. iQPS is planning a constellation of 36 such satellites that will deliver Earth observation in 10-minute intervals. The company expects to launch its first 1-metre resolution SAR satellite over the next 12 months. The report also mentioned a project being developed by Professor Seiko Shirasaka at Keio University, who is working with a team on an “on-demand” smallsat solution for disaster response. In a presentation to the International Systems & Concurrent Engineering for Space Appl ica t ions Conference, Shirasaka's team outlined a proposed smallsat – also using SAR – that would have the capability to initiate a launch within 3 hours of the start of a mission, with satellite deployment and initiation 40 minutes after liftoff and transmission of data from the satellite back to Earth within four hours. The solution is designed to give emergency response efforts detailed data on affected areas after a disaster such as an earthquake or volcanic eruption. Tony Chan, CommsdayComtech Receives $1.9 Million Order from Major Mobile Network Operator in China August 16, 2018Comtech EF Data Corp., won a tender by a major Mobile Network Operator (MNO) in China to replace the older generation of lower efficiency modems to provide more reliable services at a much lower OPEX. This latest order for $1.9 million, specified Comtech EF Data's CDM-625A Advanced Satellite Modems, Up & Down Frequency Converters and the CX-U Series RAN Optimization by its subsidiary, Memotec. The purchase highlights the customer's long-standing confidence in the Comtech mobile backhaul solution. For over 10 years, the MNO has utilized Comtech's infrastructure equipment to support 1000+ sites that are serving China's rural communities and disaster recovery efforts. By leveraging Comtech EF Data's award-winning and bandwidth efficient satellite modems and Memotec's 2G traffic optimization solutions, the MNO has been extremely successful in lowering the total cost of ownership (TCO) of backhauling its traffic over satellite. Some of the leveraged features include industry best VersaFEC-2® Forward Error Correction, the revolutionary DoubleTalk® Carrier-in-Carrier® bandwidth compression, lower rolloffs, and 2G TDM optimization. “We are pleased that our customer has once again selected our mobile backhaul solution, demonstrating its strong faith in our products and our China-based sales and support staff,” said Fred Kornberg, President and Chief Executive Officer of Comtech Telecommunications Corp. “We are proud to continue to lead the industry in

highest delivered IP throughput, providing lowest cost per delivered bit, and to provide the performance that enables MNOs to operate at their highest level of performance and allows them to truly monetize investments, to drive down OPEX and to increase profitability.

AsiaSat distributes live coverage of 2018 Asian Games Asia Satel l i te Telecommunications Company Limited supports live coverage of the 2018 Asian Games with AsiaSat 5. The 18th Asian Games, co-hosted by the cities of Jakarta and Palembang of Indonesia, includes 40 sports, to be contested by over 11,000 athletes from 45 participating countries and regions. Live HD coverage of the Games from the opening ceremony on to the closing on 2 September will be telecast across AsiaSat 5's C-band footprint for viewers to enjoy real-time on TVs, online and mobile devices.

Ina Lui, Senior Vice President, Commercial, Business Development and Strategy of AsiaSat said, “Following a sports packed summer delivering the World Cup, LPGA tour, BWF World Championship and more, we are thrilled to continue the action with coverage of the upcoming 2018 Asian Games for our Asia-Pacific viewers. An historic event for AsiaSat, from first broadcasting the 1990 Asian Games in Beijing on AsiaSat 1, we are pleased to again deliver the pinnacle event for Asian a t h l e t e s . ”

New events will feature for the first time this year, as 'e-sports' and 'canoe polo' are introduced as demonstration sports to the Games. The increasingly popular e-sports is scheduled to be a medal event at the next Asian Games in 2022. ”

Ahead of new launch, Kacific appoints Brandon Seir to head broadband marketing

Kacific Broadband Satellites has appointed Brandon Seir as Vice President, Sales and Marketing, Asia & International Carriers. He is a marketing, sales and strategic planning specialist with over a decade of experience working in leading international telecommunications, internet service prov iders and d ig i ta l technology companies. He spent 11 years over two periods with Roshan Telecom Development Company, a subsidiary of AT&T, Talia Sonora & Monaco Telecom a GSM cellular provider with over 7.9M customers, initially as Director Sales, and then Chief Commercial Officer. Prior to

IN THE NEWS

distribute and build on its analytics for a variety of applications, such as maritime domain awareness and spectral mapping. “HawkEye 360 can identify and track ships based on radio signals, which will enable Eagle Technology to monitor the oceans around New Zealand and near Antarctica for environmental, economic and security concerns,” the company said. “HawkEye 360 can also precisely map active radio emissions, equipping Eagle Technology to locate interfering signals and advise on how to efficiently deploy spectrum.” The launch of the strategic partners program followed a successful Series A-3 funding round by HawkEye 360, which raised an additional US$9.6 million for the development of its satellite systems. HawkEye 360 said it expects to launch its first cluster of three experimental satellites later this year. The new funds will go towards its first commercial satellite cluster.

Japan eyeing smallsats to monitor South China Sea

Japan is reportedly exploring a small satellite solution to enhance its m o n i t o r i n g a n d s u r v e i l l a n c e capabilities over the increasingly contested South China Sea. According to the Sankei Shimbun dai ly newspaper, the local government of the Senkaku Islands is looking at smallsats equipped with synthetic aperture radar sensing capabilities as a potential platform to supplement existing satellite surveillance to counter increased Chinese presence in the area. The smallsats will be significantly cheaper than traditional satellites – several hundred million yen (several million USD) verses tens of billions of yen – and can boost the frequency of data gathering from daily to every few hours, the report said without attributing sources. The enhanced capabilities of a smallsat solution would allow the tracking of Chinese ships in the area, the paper added. While the report gave few details about the possible smallsat deployment around the Senkaku Islands, it highlighted several smallsat projects in Japan that are already underway. One company, iQPS in Fukuoka, is developing a SAR microsatellite weighing in at between 100-150kg, compared to traditional SAR satellites that weigh over 1,0002,000kg. iQPS' solution employs a sensor called Circularly Polarised SAR developed by Professor Josaphat Tetuko Sri Sumantyo, a professor at the Chiba

ASIA

31

IN THE NEWS ASIA

32

He is also responsible for sales of dynamic solutions to international carriers, ISPs and other service providers in Myanmar, Malaysia, Philippines, Guam, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Timor Leste, Nepal, Brunei and Fiji. Brandon holds an MBA from the University of Liverpool and a BBA from Tashkent State University.

RigNet, Inc. has signed an agreement with Singtel to provide customers globally with R igNe t ' s Cyph reL ink , t he mos t sophisticated satellite and terrestrial encrypted network service on the market.CyphreLink is an innovative cybersecurity service that provides fully encrypted location to location communications protection efficiently without impacting network latency or performance. The hardware-based encryption allows military-grade data security, with little to no overhead on the payload. CyphreLink prevents eavesdropping and will reduce the chance of a data breach.“We are honored to partner with Singtel to bring CyphreLink to the region to enhance cybersecurity for their customers' satellite links and terrestrial networks,” said Steven Pickett, CEO and President of RigNet. “We are committed to providing the industry's finest end-to-end protection, whether at rest or in motion, and we look forward to helping our customers to achieve that objective.

AST expands opened new offices in 3 continents

Global satellite solutions and projects company, AST Group, has recently opened new offices in Sydney, Rotterdam, Ecuador and Norwich, UK. These new locations provide strategic bases for expansion in the maritime and land sectors and increase geographic reach.Australia continues to be a success story, with growth gravitating to the East of the continent with Sydney becoming AST's third Australian office. AST Marine Networks, a maritime solutions division of AST, has moved into larger premises based in Norwich, Norfolk to accommodate expansion in the maritime VSAT and L-Band sectors as well as opening an office in Rotterdam. The expansion in Ecuador results from some significant key customer wins and illustrates AST's acknowledgement of the many solutions and services opportunities represented within the Americas. Gregory Darling, Managing Director of AST Group commented; “With our new and innovative solutions such as INTEGRA for

RigNet to secure satellite and terrestrial networks

assist customers in these growth areas”. AST also confirmed that presence in Africa will change to match the market's changing footprint and needs. Gregory continued: “Adapting to business needs and our own growth strategy is key to success, as a result AST's South African office will close, with channel partners and customers being supported from the UK. Business will continue to be driven from our Kenya office.”

New distributors appointed to expand ViaLite's Asia Pacific reseller network

Two new distributors in the Asia Pacific region have been appointed by ViaLite Communications in the latest expansion to the company's reseller network. Both distributors have their head offices in Hong Kong, with Datacom System International being system integrators for satcom and broadcast applications while Starcom Electronics focus on timing and synchronization applications.

With presence throughout the whole Asia Pacific region, including Pakistan and Malaysia and a subsidiary, Wancom Communication & Network Technology Ltd - in China, Datacom are a major supplier of satellite communications equipment and one of the main system integrators for satcom applications in the region. ViaLite's RF over fiber products make a good fit with their other product lines.

Starcom were chosen for their expertize in Precision Network Timing (PNT) technology. They are a distributor for Microsemi, whose high accuracy time servers interface with ViaLi te 's GNSS/GPS RF over fiber products. They supply into the region on a regular basis, and already know many ViaLite customers.

“We are delighted to have signed up these new distributors. They each have considerable expertise in understanding customers' requirements and I am sure will be able to deliver outstanding support to our customers in the region,” said ViaLite Director of Sales Richard Jacklin. ViaL i te a lso added a new US representative: Aventas covering Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas.

Speecast announces acquisition of Globecomm

Speedcast has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Globecomm Systems Inc. from affiliates of HPS Investment Partners, LLC and Tennenbaum Capital Partners, LLC for a n e s t i m a t e d n e t p u r c h a s e consideration of US$135 million(see Note below), on a cash & debt free basis.

The acquisition, which is expected to close in Q4 2018, will strengthens Speedcast's global position in Government, Maritime and Enterprise and it strongly complements last year's acquisition of UltiSat. This will double Speedcast's revenue in Government, and add more scale, visibility and capabilities in this strategic growth market

Speedcast estimates it will generate over US$15 million in annual cost synergies within 18 months after the acquisition

The acquisition will be funded by a fully underwritten US$175 million add-on to Speedcast's existing 7-year senior secured credit facility (due 2025) from the US institutional term loan market. This will also be used to repay a portion of Speedcast's Revolving Credit Facility and enhance Speedcast's l i q u i d i t y a n d c a s h r e s e r v e s

"The acquisition of Globecomm is fully in line with our strategy to consolidate our market and thus build competitive advantages based on scale and capabilities. Globecomm is particularly complementary to UltiSat as it strengthens Speedcast's position serving Government customers at a time when government spending globally is expected to rise. I am excited to have the Globecomm team jo in ing Speedcast . They wi l l strengthen our innovation capabilities with new solutions and strong engineering experience, as well as enhancing our system integration propositions." said Pierre-Jean Beylier, Chief Executive Officer of Speedcast

Marlink to optimise logistics operations for maritime customers

Marlink has signed an agreement with Transmetrics to establish a strategic

IN THE NEWS ASIA

33

business partnership aimed at predictive logistics optimisation for maritime customers. The agreement will enable Transmetrics, a Forbes-awarded start-up, to leverage Marlink's broadband satellite communications network, digital solutions and contacts to further develop maritime logistics innovations. As part of its Smart Connectivity strategy, Marlink seeks to support new partners and applications to work together to enable its customers' digitalisation and business efficiency.

Transmetrics unlocks the power of big data to optimise empty container logistics. With extensive experience in demand forecasting and predictive optimisation for cargo transport industry, the company has developed an innovative predictive asset management tool called AssetMetrics. Based on applying AI algorithms for data cleansing and demand forecasting, the AssetMetrics software suggests the optimal storage, repositioning and maintenance strategy for empty containers as well as the optimal levels of 'safety stock' at each location. It is estimated that with the AssetMetrics software, shipping companies can expect about 10-15% cost reduction of empty assets logistics.

“Transmetrics will help us to address our cargo & container ship customers' top priority; which is to digitalise end-to-end the logistics chain and fix the inefficiency of cargo transport and logistics. Partnering with the best start-ups, we are positioning Marlink as a leading digital company in the industry, creating tangible economic value for customers from their digi tal enablement strategies through our smart c o n n e c t i v i t y s o l u t i o n s , ” s a i d GennaroFaella, Head of Strategic Business Development, Marlink. In a partnership with Transmetrics, Marlink con t r ibu tes i t s exper ience and interconnected technologies, which support customers to navigate digital transformation in shipping and logistics. This pilot is strategically important for Marlink as it al lows jointly with Transmetrics to support global maritime shipping companies and help them predict shipping volumes, optimise empty container moves and achieve savings, while making transport more efficient and environmentally friendly.

P a n a s o n i c d e p l o y s connectivity services for new-build cruise ships

Panasonic Av ion ics Corporat ion (Panasonic) announced today that in partnership with its subsidiary, ITC Global, it has been awarded a four-year contract by TUI Cruises for connectivity services to

two new-build cruise ships, Mein Schiff 1 and new Mein Schiff 2. The agreement establishes communication capabilities onboard the vessels serving guests and crew, enhancing the user experience during the cruise line's travels across international waters. Germany-based TUI Cruises is a joint venture between TUI AG and Royal Caribbean Cruises, Ltd. Headquartered in Hamburg, TUI Cruises voyages sail across the globe from the Baltic and Mediterranean Seas in Europe; to the Canary Islands; to the Caribbean in the Americas; to the Orient and greater Asia, with various channels in between.

As a Panasonic subsidiary, ITC Global leverages Panasonic's global broadband network to deliver connectivity to energy, maritime and enterprise customers. Panasonic offers a new approach to connectivity at sea, serving passengers and crew, as well as communications for sh ip opera t ions and corpora te networking. With the world's largest, most comprehensive broadband connectivity s e r v i c e , P a n a s o n i c d e l i v e r s communications to a wide range of mobility markets, leveraging a high-availability Ku-band satellite network that covers more than 98 percent of maritime traffic routes.

The award by TUI Cruises marks the first comprehensive cruise connectivity contract for Panasonic and ITC Global. Installation and commissioning for the first of the sister ships, Mein Schiff 1, was finalized in March and the vessel successfully completed its maiden voyage in May. Mein Schiff 2 is currently under construction at Meyer Turku shipyard in Finland and set to join the TUI Cruises fleet in March 2019. Equipment for both vessels includes 2.4-meter multi-band antenna systems delivering high levels of bandwidth to accommodate connectivity demands for both ships' capacity of more than 3,000 total guests and crew onboard.

The high-bandwidth solution calls for flexible technical and commercial service with dynamic bandwidth allocation and space segment management. Both vessels are being serviced via traditional geo-synchronous satellites, with future cons idera t ion o f po in t - to -po in t , microwave and other technologies as the demand for additional capabilities expands. Leveraging Panasonic's third-generation communications network, service is backed by high-throughput satellite (HTS) coverage paired with the latest modem technology, and includes 24x7 service monitoring and support from ITC Global's Network Operations Center.

"TUI Cruises is recognized as one of the most successful cruise brands known for

its premium, all-inclusive concept," said Ian Dawkins, CEO at ITC Global and Senior Vice President, Global Network Operations at Panasonic Avionics Corporation. "With this contract award, Panasonic and ITC Global have a unique opportunity to further elevate the brand in consumer markets through maximizing the user connectivity experience, most notably for TUI Cruises' guests – whether that's through making it possible for p ro fess iona ls to manage work responsibilities while spending time away with family, or by enabling social media enthusiasts to share vacation highlights in real-time with friends and family back home," continued Dawkins.

"Our job is to manage all aspects of the communications solution so that TUI Cruises is focused on what they do best – creating a memorable guest experience onboard. We take this responsibility seriously and look forward to continuing to work closely with the customer in delivering the advanced technologies required to make this possible," concluded Dawkins.

"Panasonic's extensive background in enhancing the passenger experience via its in-flight technology and entertainment solutions, combined with ITC Global's similar depth supporting crew welfare and connectivity services simplified our service partner selection, as the synergies presented were a natural fit to best meet our requirements," said Matthias Fahrner, Director IT Strategy & Competence Center at TUI Cruises.

CETel and Türkmen Hemrasy Sign Cooperation

CETel has signed a cooperation agreement with Türkmen Hemrasy CJSC, a closed joint stock company and the national satellite operator in Turkmenistan. This cooperation was to mutually create a business environment that helps customers to precede with their communications requirements on fixed satellite services in the region. T ü r k m e n H e m r a s y s a t e l l i t e TurkmenAlem 52.0°E covers not only the territory of Turkmenistan but Central Asia, Iran, Turkey, North Africa and most part of Europe. It carries 38 Ku-Band transponders and is specifically designed for satellite communications and TV broadcasting. The east and west beam provide major opportuni t ies for companies operating in this region.With the cooperation signed, the two companies bundle their competences and customers can easily proceed with their projects, allowing effortless

IN THE NEWS ASIA

34

management of end-to-end connections, i nc lud ing backhau l , regu la to ry requirements, and local field support. Customers will mutually benefit from having a strong satellite operator in the region with ideal coverage, paired with a WTA full-certified Teleport located in the heart of Germany.

“We are very happy to sign this cooperation and our team will put full efforts in bringing life into this agreement. The region of Turkmenistan is of particular interest as it carries vast amounts of mineral resources. Also, Turkmenistan with the desert of Karakum, which covers 80% of the c o u n t r y , n e c e s s i t a t e s r u r a l communications based on satellite,” explained Guido Neumann, Managing Director of CETel.\

Batyr Orazdurdyyev, Acting Director of Türkmen Hemrasy added “This cooperation will further strengthen our powerful coverage in the region by offering CETel's customer base attractive payload for their projects, especially in the mineral resource sector. Further to that, in CETel we have found an industry-known Teleport awarded for excellence multiple times, and are looking forward to realize many large scale projects for mult i -nat ional customers in our coverage.”

Marlink launched new dedicated solution for maritime file transfer and data sharing

Marlink has unveiled XChange Cloud, the latest digital business optimisation tool providing a secure and scalable platform for the optimised transfer and synchronisation of files between ship and shore, and vice versa. The new and secure file transfer and storage system runs on XChange, Marlink's centralised IT and communications management platform, which is already in use on thousands of ships, and requires no additional hardware to activate.

Xchange Cloud helps ship owners and operators to streamline and automate their business, logistical and vessel operations by providing a secured, reliable and easy to manage platform to share files of any size or type across a fleet of vessels of any size. It has been designed to specifically support the business needs of maritime users who wish to effectively implement a more digital approach, including automation, to their fleet operations management.

Application scenarios include storing and sharing status reports from on board

engine monitoring systems. Once transferred, the customer's on shore ERP system can access the reports and take the necessary actions, such as, ordering spare parts for the next port call or automatically warning the fleet manager about any technical issues without manual intervention. Should a 'pushed' status report (or any other file) become lost or damaged, it can easily be recalled due to the file redundancy feature, which stores a copy of each file on both sides as default.

XChange Cloud is designed to enable optimal file transfer and synchronisation over a satellite link, ensuring data integrity at all times and best use of available bandwidth through advanced file compression. Shipping companies can be confident in the security of any data shared within the closed-ecosystem, which is segregated from the public Internet and accessible only with approved credentials.

As a core feature of Marlink's flexible centralised IT and communications management system, XChange Cloud is easy to set-up. Unlike third-party cloud solutions, there is no requirement to configure i.e., firewalls and M2M groups, meaning XChange users can adopt secure digital file sharing into their operations with ease. Users can also be confident in reliability, through Marlink's own File Transfer Protocols, developed in house and already used for sharing data in the established SkyFile AFT and XChange Content tools.

“In combination with Sealink VSAT services and our extensive portfolio of business critical solutions, XChange is a cost-effective, easy to manage gateway to maritime digitalisation,” said Tore Morten Olsen, President Maritime, Marlink. “Its latest solution, XChange Cloud is a secure, straightforward platform that allows our customers to facilitate the increasing need for sharing electronic files as part of daily vessel and fleet management operations. As our latest digital solution, it will help to introduce more efficient business practices across the board.”

Gazprom Space Systems, Gilat to provide broadband connectivity across RussiaGazprom Space Systems (GSS), and Gilat Satellite Networks Ltd. signed the contract with an estimated value of

, t o p r o v i d e b r o a d b a n d connectivity across . Gilat will deliver its' multiservice platform and user terminals to operate over the new Yamal

$ 1 8 MRussia

601 Ka satellite. The companies has also signed a cooperation agreement for joint development of communication projects such as IFC, and railway transport.The Yamal 601 Ka satellite is expected to be launched in 2019 and will provide broadband coverage for both the European and Asian regions of . The satellite's 32 beams will be lighted up by Gilat's two SkyEdge II-c gateways to be installed in the Central and Siberian Federal Districts.

This first phase of the project consists of gateways for utilizing one-third of the satellite's capacity and includes the delivery of tens of thousands of Gilat's terminals with the advanced efficiency-dr iven DVB-S2X technology. An expansion of the project is expected when additional capacity will be required for further service.

Gilat's highly efficient platform, supporting a broad portfolio of VSAT solutions, will enable GSS to provide high quality affordable broadband to various market segments. Gilat's Scorpio VSATs will deliver consumer broadband to the most remote locations, while Gilat's Capricorn VSATs will enable the rural regions to benefit from corporate connectivity and shared access.

Additionally, GSS and Gilat agreed to engage in further business cooperation including joint development to expand both regional and global coverage for fixed and mobile platforms, as reflected in the signed Cooperation Agreement. The Agreement calls for IFC coverage over

and abroad supported by multiple Ka and Ku satellites from GSS and other satellite operators, taking advantage of Gilat's dual-band Ku/Ka antenna. The plans also include provis ion of communication services to passengers of railway transport with Gilat's on-the-move terminals and GSS satellite capacity.

"GSS is pleased to collaborate with Gilat for Ka broadband coverage across

and to further extend our partnership to future projects," said Dmitry Sevastiyanov, Director General of Gazprom Space Systems. "We chose Gilat's platform due to its high efficiency and its flexibility to support multiple applications today and tomorrow.”

"Gilat is honored to be selected by GSS as the ground segment provider for its Yamal 601 Ka satellite and is excited about the potential of additional cooperation for future joint development projects," said

, VP Commercial at Gilat. "This partnership is a significant step for Gilat in as an enabler of high-quality affordable broadband to the people of in a variety of markets."

Russia

Russia

Russia

Michal Aharonov

Russia

Russia

Liberty and ITV to invest in mobile entertainment platform

An alliance of Hollywood studios have committed to a mobile entertainment platform devised by Meg Whitman and Jeffrey Katzenberg. Between them Disney, Entertainment One, Fox, ITV, Lionsgate, MGM, NBCUniversal, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Viacom, Warner Media are among the initial investors in New TV. They're joined by 'strategic investors' including The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc, JPMorgan Chase & Co., Liberty Global, and Madrone Capital. It's described as the first entertainment platform built for easy, on-the-go mobile viewing.

“More so than ever, people want easy a c c e s s t o t h e h i g h e s t q u a l i t y entertainment that fits perfectly into their busy, on-the-go lifestyles,” said Meg Whitman, CEO of NewTV. “With NewTV, we'll give consumers a user-friendly platform, built for mobile, that delivers the best stories, created by the world's top talent, allowing users to make the most of every moment of their day.”

While bringing together a collection of Hollywood studios, the partners also include the UK's ITV Studios. Julian Bellamy, Managing Director, ITV Studios, said: “Global demand for high quality entertainment continues to grow. Being part of the start of this exciting new mobile platform offers ITV's hugely talented and creative people around the world the opportunity to produce content in a way never seen before. This investment is consistent with our 'More than TV' strategy and the focus on growing UK and Global production. We look forward to working with Jeffrey, Meg and the team.” The project has been devised by Katzenberg's technology incubator WndrCo, which made its debut in January 2017.

Space programs will boost development in Africa

The fascinating space adventures of Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos are essential viewing for anyone seeking to understand the future of business and industry here on Earth.Rockets and space are increasingly important to Africa, where more countries have been partnering to launch or are launching their own satellites. Still, discussions here remain more prosaic than determining how soon we'll be colonizing Mars or sending industrial operations to the moon.

The satellites launched by the likes of SpaceX are smaller than ever before. Powerful nano-satellites, the size of soccer balls, are able to deliver detailed imagery and information about a chosen territory from space. These advances in technology and cheaper launch vehicles mean more developing countries can use satellites to collect troves of valuable data.

While there has been some focus on security and communications, the more pressing needs are in agriculture, food security and countering climate change. Scientists have repeatedly pointed out Africa is “extremely vulnerable” to the impact of climate change compared with other continents. Even though it produces the smallest global share of g r e e n h o u s e g a s e s , A f r i c a i s experiencing droughts, heatwaves, floods, and rising sea levels more frequently. It's worth pointing out that, especially in rural communities, security and communications challenges are linked to environmental problems.

More Afr ican governments and institutions are supporting initiatives to retrieve satellite data. The African Union's science and technology department is partnering with the European Commission's Copernicus program so African scientists and institutions can receive satellite data for free. Copernicus, which generates a mind-boggling 12 terabytes of Earth-observation data daily, is considered the world's third largest satellite data provider and offers photographs of sea topography, land temperature , vegetation changes, and weather patterns.

“Satellite data can be used to guide sustainable development in Africa to tackle some of the challenges that continue to affect the continent, including declining soil health, climate change and invasive insect pests such as the fall armyworm”, says Esther Ngumbi, an entomologist and senior fellow at the World Policy Institute.

Arguably, many African governments have been late to the satellite data game. Former Wall Street commodities trader, Sara Menker founded Gro Intelligence, which collects and analyzes data to provide governments and businesses with insights into the global agriculture industry. As the 2015 Quartz Africa Innovator honoree said in her TED talk last year on growing concerns about global food security: “The most critical tools for success in the industry—data and knowledge—are becoming cheaper by the day. We have the solution. We just need to act on it.”

Last month, an initiative called

SAT4Farm launched in Ghana to use digital technology and satellite imagery to create individual farm development plans that farmers can access from their mobile phones. The idea is to use the data to offer guidance on climate adaptation. “Big data will continue to revolutionize agriculture now and into the future,” says Ngumbi.

Newtec Powers Milano Teleport's Maritime OfferingsNewtec announced its Newtec Dialog® multiservice platform is being used by global telecommunications provider Milano Teleport to enrich its services for the maritime market.

Targeting namely yachts (via the “Orbis Yacht” brand) and cruise liners (with “iSeaglobal”) which both require very high-bandwidth connectivity, especially now during the height of the maritime season for yachts in the Middle East. Milano Teleport is mainly using two types of Newtec modems depending on the throughput required – Newtec's MDM33xx and the MDM5000 Satellite Modem series. A number of vessels are already in service, with Milano Teleport seeing significantly reduced Operational Expenditure (OpEx) as a result of the Newtec Dialog hub located at its teleport in Italy.

“ A s a g l o b a l l y r e c o g n i z e d telecommunications and Internet provider, remaining customer-centric and meeting the specific needs of each market we operate in is at the top of our agenda,” said Luca Massaro, Chief Technology Officer at Milano Teleport. “We chose Newtec Dialog due to the capabilities it brings to our maritime portfolio such as very high data rates and increased efficiency which enables us to serve our most demanding customers very cost-effectively. Thanks to Newtec's modems and its Mx-DMA® bandwidth allocation technology, we can deliver improved bandwidth utilization with the highest level of efficiency to ensure our customers continuously enjoy on-board connectivity at all times.”

Newtec Dialog features the award-winning return link technology , which delivers the efficiency of SCPC with the dynamic bandwidth allocation of MF-TDMA. This enables the operator to expand customers' capacity as and when required, ensuring best-cost performance, bandwidth efficiency and reliability of services. The platform combines this with sophisticated mobility functionality including unique flexibility to manage beam switching in a global network.Milano Teleport is also taking advantage

Mx-DMA

36

IN THE NEWS A ER CASM I

of the multiservice capability Newtec Dialog brings. In addition to offering maritime services over the infrastructure, it is using the same Newtec Dialog hub to deliver broadband connectivity services in Africa. Newtec's certified business partner Diem Technologies was also involved in the project, especially in the project planning phase and to support the distribution.

“Operating mobility and fixed services on a single Newtec Dialog platform reduces both OpEx and Capital Expenditure (CapEx) without compromises for Milano Teleport,” said Jo De Loor, VP Market Development at Newtec. “As users' needs evolve, Newtec's modems provide Milano Teleport with the efficiency, throughput and flexibility to optimally serve end-users with a touch of a button, positioning the provider to meet the demand for reliable, high-speed connectivity quickly and cost-effectively in maritime and fixed markets.”\

\The first global GNSS-Reflectometry ocean wind data service has been launched by Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL) together with partner the National Oceanography Centre, and with support from the European Space Agency. The data service is free where users can access measurements of wind taken by a specially designed Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) receiver hosted on SSTL's TechDemoSat-1 satellite, which collects GNSS signals, such as GPS, reflected off the surface of the ocean. TechDemoSat-1 is also collecting GNSS reflections off land and polar regions, opening the door for new applications of this technology, such as soil moisture and ice measurements.\\TechDemoSat-1 was launched in 2014 and carried 8 payloads from different UK organisations. On successful completion of the satellite's original mission, a life extension now allows the GNSS Reflectometry payload to be operated 24/7 continuously. On-board processed GNSS-R data is relayed to SSTL's ground station in the UK and inverted for geophysical parameters using NOC retrieval algorithms for the estimation of near-surface ocean wind speed. \Users have access to data from the past 3 years and new data is added daily with a latency of 30 days. Users can also register for a fast service allowing retrieval of data with a shorter delay - currently 48 hours, but with a target of less than 24 hours as the service matures\

STL partners to launch first global GNSS-reflecto-metry ocean wind data service

The cur rent serv ice is a p i lo t demonstration showing the potential for a new source of wind and wave measurements from in orbit using a small satellite. In future, a constellation of low cost small satellites carrying enhanced instruments could provide measurements in near-real time to support weather and wave forecastingl.

The TechDemoSat-1 satellite and payload were supported by UK Centre for Earth Observation Instrumentation and the UK Space Agency, and sponsorship from European Space Agency has allowed the release of data. Over 50 international journal papers have been published based on the use of the TechDemoSat-1 GNSS-R data. SSTL also provided the same GNSS Reflectometry instrument to the NASA CYGNSS mission, where 8 small satellites are using this technique to probe and analyse hurricanes

Arianespace to Launch Spire Small Satellites on Vega SSMS POC Flight

The multi-launch contract with Spire, a company providing weather, maritime, and aviation data to public and private customers, will cover a significant number of CubeSats to be launched on Vega as part of the Small Spacecraft Mission Service Proof Of Concept (POC) flight in 2019, as well as options on subsequent Vega flights. With more than 80 satellites placed in orbit during the past four years,

Spire has quickly become an important leader in the New Space community. Built in-house by Spire using its LEMUR2 CubeSat platform, the nanosatellites will weigh approximately 5 kg. at launch and are designed to have a nominal service life of two to three years once positioned in a Sun-synchronous orbit at 500 km. Each satellite carries multiple sensors, making them capable of performing data collection for all of Spire's data products. The Vega Proof of Concept (POC) flight is the first of the Small Spacecraft Mission Service (SSMS) – a program initiated by the European Space Agency in 2016, with the contribution of the European Commission. For all the European partners involved, its purpose is to perfect ly address the promising microsatellite market for both institutional and commercial needs with a new rideshare concept on the Vega light-lift launcher.

SES to enable end to end 5G platform

SES continues its leadership in satellite-enabled 5G networks by providing satellite fleet capacity, ground

infrastructure and end-to-end solutions to the 5G Verticals Innovation Infrastructure project, SES announced. These c o n t r i b u t i o n s w i l l e n a b l e 5 G demonstrations and validation of the target 5G Key Performance Indicators and use cases.

The project will explore solutions in areas such as public safety, eHealth, shipping, transportation, media and entertainment, and automotive. The 5G-VINNI project is supported by the EU's 5G Infrastructure Public Private Partnership (5G-PPP) Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation programme, and is aiming to accelerate the uptake of 5G in Europe. The project is led by Telenor Group and comprises 23 partners including leading mobile network operators (MNOs) and industry vendors. Among key 5G-VINNI objectives are to design 5G end-to-end facility and interworking sites, to provide user friendly orchestration, and to develop a viable business model to demonstrate the value of 5G solutions and enable their widespread adoption.

Airbus and United Nations Team up for Universal Access to Space

Airbus and the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) have signed a MoU during the UNISPACE+50 conference celebrating half a century of international cooperation in outer space. The five-year renewable MoU aims to jointly build capabilities in developed and developing countries in microgravity experiments and its related benefits. Furthermore it aims to build capability in terms of usage of Earth observation data and support the missions of the UN, its specialist agencies and Member States.

Both partners will work together to support the Member States in accessing and using space by enabling access to the International Space Station (ISS). Bartolomeo, the new external hosting platform developed by Airbus, self-funded and operated in cooperation with the European Space Agency, enables cost and time-efficient access to space. Airbus offers free payload space, giving UN Member States the opportunity to participate in an orbital space mission utilizing the Bartolomeo platform attached to the European Columbus Module of the ISS. Application areas include Earth observation, robotics, material science and astrophysics. Operated aboard the ISS in low Earth orbit, the Bartolomeo p la t f o rm o f f e r s t he ISS ' mos t unobstructed view of planet Earth and outer space.

IN THE NEWS A ER CASM I A ER CASM I

37

A ER CASM IIN THE NEWS

Telesat successfully launches Telstar 19 VANTAGE

Telesat announced the successful launch of its new Telstar 19 VANTAGE high throughput satellite (HTS) aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Liftoff occurred from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Built by SSL, Telstar 19 VANTAGE is the latest in a new generation of Telesat satellites with capacity optimized to serve the types of bandwidth intensive applications increasingly in demand by users worldwide. Operating from Telesat's prime orbital location of 63 degrees West, the same as Telesat's highly utilized Telstar 14R satellite, Telstar 19 VANTAGE will bring a new level of performance and value for satellite broadband requirements on land, at sea and in the air.

It will have distinct zones of coverage across the Americas and Atlantic, combining broad regional beams and high throughput spot beams in Ku-band with additional HTS spot beams in Ka-band. H u g h e s N e t w o r k S y s t e m s L L C (Hughes)has signed a 15-year agreement for Telstar 19 VANTAGE Ka-band capacity that Hughes will utilize to expand its broadband satellite services for consumers and businesses in five South American countries. Hughes will refer to this capacity as “Hughes 63 West.” Telesat also has long-term contracts for the entire Ka-band capacity of Telstar 19 VANTAGE over Northern Canada, including providing Bell Canada subsidiary Northwestel with the HTS spot beam capacity required to enhance broadband connectivity for all 25 communities in Nunavut, Canada's northernmost territory.

C-SPAN joins Intelsat's Galaxy 14 video distribution neighborhood

Intelsat S.A. announced that C-SPAN, the Washington D.C. based suite of public affairs networks, has signed a new, long-term contract for C-band satellite services on Intelsat's Galaxy 14 satellite. By choosing Intelsat's highly penetrated Galaxy 14 neighborhood located at 125° West, C-SPAN joins a select group of top tier programmers. Galaxy 14 distributes more than 200 channels in North America, with over 100 channels in high-definition (HD). Intelsat will transport the signals from C-SPAN's headquarters in Washington, D.C. via IntelsatOne fiber and provide an uplink to Galaxy 14 for distribution to cable head-ends via the Intelsat teleport in

Ellenwood, Georgia. Intelsat's Riverside teleport in California will provide an additional disaster recovery uplink. C-SPAN is expected to transition its programming to Galaxy 30, a next-generation Intelsat satellite, after Galaxy 30's planned launch in 2020.

“The breadth and depth of Intelsat's satellite solutions will enable C-SPAN to efficiently provide our affiliates with reliable, high-quality feeds of our standard and high definition television signals,” said Roxane Kerr, vice president of technology, C-SPAN. “We chose Intelsat's Galaxy 14 satellite because of the strong video neighborhood, robust protection program, cost-effectiveness, and long-term commitment to cable distribution, demonstrated by the Galaxy 30 replacement satellite program, ordered by Intelsat earlier this year.”

“The unprecedented reach of Galaxy 14 enables media customers to cost-effectively reach millions of viewers and, consequently, grow their business,” said Rob Cerbone, vice president and general manager of media, Intelsat. “Our hybrid satellite and fiber network coupled with our disaster recovery program will provide C-SPAN with the availability, resiliency and reliability needed to ensure their high-quality programming is distributed without interruption. C-SPAN's long-term commitment to Intelsat is an example of the value that our video ne ighborhoods de l iver and the advantage of the end-to-end solutions that we provide.”

Viasat's VISION software to support upgraded NATO satellite control stations

Viasat Inc. announced that i ts Commercial off - the-Shelf Visual Integrated Satellite Communications Information, Operation and Networking, VISION software has successfully passed the North Atlantic Treaty Organization First Article System Test. With Viasat VISION passing FAST, NATO can expedite the roll-out of its Ultra High F r e q u e n c y ( U H F ) s a t e l l i t e c o m m u n i c a t i o n s ( S A T C O M ) modernization efforts.

Under a contract awarded in January 2018, NATO will upgrade its legacy UHF communications network to Viasat's V IS ION p lann ing and ne two rk management p lat form, the f i rs t commerc ia l ly -avai lab le sof tware package to simultaneously support all 25-kHz legacy Demand-Assigned Multiple-Access (DAMA) and next-generation Integrated Waveform (IW) networks and

services.“The successful completion of FAST for Viasat's VISION software represents a significant milestone. It confirms that Viasat's VISION platform meets critical requirements for the NATO UHF SATCOM modernization project,” said the Ne twork Serv ices and IT Infrastructure - SATCOM Service Area r e p r e s e n t a t i v e f r o m N A T O Communications and Information Agency. “We look forward to full operational capability of the system in early 2019.”

“Our VISION software is key to providing warfighters with assured, reliable, real-time communications to enhance mission effectiveness at the tactical edge,” said Ken Peterman, president, Gove rnmen t Sys tems , V iasa t . “Successful completion of FAST requirements is a necessary step to expediting delivery of the software to provide NATO forces with greater communications interoperabi l i ty, scalability and flexibility across legacy and next-generation platforms, further enhancing situational awareness as the battlespace dynamically expands.

”The Viasat VISION platform provides a s i n g l e , u s e r - f r i e n d l y n e t w o r k management interface for legacy DAMA and IW services, inclusive of the ability to locally or remotely manage and control ground station networks, monitor status and system performance, track event/alarm management situations and add/remove services when missions change. By enabling interoperability between DAMA and IW platforms, NATO can double its channel efficiency without additional investment in the UHF space segment. This optimization doubles the number of users, g iv ing more warfighters access to reliable, high-quality, resilient voice and data communications.\

Advantech expands its LATAM operations

Baylin Technologies Inc. announced that i ts Dorval , Quebec subsidiary, Advantech Wireless Technologies Inc. has expanded its Latin American operations by opening a new office and service centre in Brazil. The new Brazil office and service center have been opened to meet the growing demand for Advantech's new line of Second Generation Gallium Nitride (GaN) technology based Solid State Power Amplifiers (SSPAs) and Block Up Converters (BUCs).The new office will provide customer service and support as well as sales, training and timely delivery of finished inventory stock. The new office is

38

IN THE NEWS A ER CASM I

39

h a v e c o n t r i b u t e d t o m a j o r technological achievements in the Satellite Broadcasting Industry there. It is vitally important to have direct contact with our customers and be able to offer turnkey solutions including installation and repair services,” said C r i s t i D a m i a n , V P B u s i n e s s Development at Advantech.

“In addition, we intend to collaborate with our local industry partners to promote advanced 5G Cellular, SATCOM and Terrestrial Microwave Solutions based on our more than 30 years of R&D expertise .

as its first LEO satellite became operational

For the quarter ended June 30, 2018, Telesat repor ted consol idated revenues of $212 million, compared to $226 million in the same period in 2017. During the quarter, the U.S. dollar was approximately 4% weaker against the Canadian dollar than it was during the second quarter of 2017 and, as a result, there was an unfavorable impact on the conversion of U.S. dollar denominated revenues. Excluding the impact of foreign exchange rate changes, revenue decreased by 4% ($8 million) compared to the same period in 2017. Operating expenses of $36 million for the quarter were 18% ($8 million) lower than the same period in 2017, or 16% ($7 million) lower excluding the impact of changes in foreign exchange rates.

1Adjusted EBITDA for the quarter was $179 million; a decrease of 3% ($5 million) compared to the same period in 2017 and unchanged when adjusted for foreign exchange rate changes. The

1Adjusted EBITDA margin for the second quarter of 2018 was 84.3%, compared to 81.3% in the same period in 2017. On January 1, 2018, Telesat adopted IFRS 9, Financial Instruments, and IFRS 15, Revenue from Contracts with Customers. For the three-month period ended June 30, 2018, the adoption of IFRS 15 had a net positive impact of approximately $3 million on revenues, an approximately $6 million reduction in operating expenses and a positive impact of approximately $9

1million on Adjusted EBITDA .The adoption of IFRS 9 had no impact on revenues, operating expenses and Adjusted EBITDA.

Telesat releases second quarter ended financial result,

Telesat's net loss for the quarter was $6 million compared to net income of $148 million for the quarter ended June 30, 2017. The $154 million difference was the result of a higher non-cash loss on foreign exchange arising principally from the translation of Telesat's U.S. dollar denominated debt into Canadian dollars in the second quarter of 2018. For the six-month period ended June 30, 2018, revenue was $444 million, a decrease of 4% ($16 million) compared to the same period in 2017. When adjusted for changes in foreign exchange rates, revenues declined 1% ($4 million) compared to the same period in 2017. Operating expenses were $74 million, a decrease of 25% ($25 million) from the first half of 2017.

The decrease in operating expenses was due to the impact of IFRS 15 implementation in 2018 and lower compensation expense associated with certain payments to option holders made in connection with the cash distribution to shareholders in the first quarter of 2017.

1 Adjusted EBITDA was $373 million, a decrease of 1% ($2 million). When adjusted for foreign exchange rate

1changes Adjusted EBITDA increased by 2% ($8 million) compared to 2017. The

1Adjusted EBITDA margin for the first half of 2018 was 84.1%, compared to 81.6 % in the same period in 2017. For the six-month period ended June 30, 2018, the adoption of IFRS 15 had a net positive impact of approximately $7 million on revenues, an approximate $11 million reduction in operating expenses and a positive impact of approximately $18 million on Adjusted EBITDA. For the six-month period ended June 30, 2018, the net loss was $21 million, compared to net income of $236 million for the same period in 2017. The decrease in net income for the first half of the year was principally the result of higher foreign exchange losses in the first half of 2018, arising from the translation of Telesat's U.S. dollar denominated debt into Canadian dollars. “I am pleased with our performance for the second quarter and first half of the year,” commented Dan Goldberg, Telesat's President and CEO.

“In addition to achieving solid financial results, we took a number of concrete steps to strengthen our business and position the company for future growth. In this regard, we completed the construction of our state-of-the-art Telstar 19 VANTAGE satellite and, last month, successfully launched it on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.

We also continued to make progress on our planned Telstar 18 VANTAGE satellite,

which we anticipate will launch later this month. Moreover, our as its first (LEO) satellite became operational in the quarter. It will be used to demonstrate some of the key advantages of our planned LEO constellation.

The Telesat LEO constellation will deliver transformative, low latency, fiber-like broadband to commercial and government users worldwide. Earlier this week we announced that Telesat entered into two important contracts — one with a consortium comprised of Thales Alenia Space and Maxar and the other with Airbus — to further develop and validate the system design for our LEO constellation. Also in the quarter we repriced our outstanding Term Loan, reducing our borrowing costs and strengthening our financial position. Looking ahead, we remain focused on increasing the utilization of our in-orbit satellites and executing on our key growth initiatives.”

ESA's Aeolus wind satellite launched

ESA's Earth Explorer Aeolus satellite has been launched into polar orbit on a Vega rocket. Using revolutionary laser technology, Aeolus will measure winds around the globe and play a key role in our quest to better understand the workings of our atmosphere. Importantly, this novel mission will also improve weather forecasting.

Carrying the 1360 kg Aeolus satellite, the Vega rocket lifted off from Europe's Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, at 21:20 GMT (23:20 CEST, 18:20 local time) on 22 August.

Some 55minutes later, Vega's upper stage delivered Aeolus into orbit and contact was established through theTroll ground station in Antarctica at 00:30 CEST on 23 August.

Named after Aeolus, who in Greek mythology was appointed 'keeper of the winds' by the Gods, this novel mission is the fifth in the family of ESA's Earth Explorers, which address the most urgent Earth-science questions of our time. “Aeolus epitomises the essence of an Earth Explorer. It will fill a gap in our knowledge of how the planet functions and demonstrate how cutting-edge technology can be used in space,” said Jan Wörner, ESA Director General.

ESA's Director of Earth Observation Programmes, Josef Aschbacher, added, “Aeolus carries the first instrument of its kind and uses a completely new approach to measuring the wind from space. Such pioneering technology has meant that it has been a demanding mission to develop, but thanks to all the teams involved we are thrilled that this extraordinary satellite is now in orbit.

Editorial Calendar 2017

Vol 6 No 9 January 2018Benefits of aviation weather services.Aviation operations are highly sensitive to weather conditions. Information on weather conditions helps meteorologists, pilots, navigators, airline companies and businesses to ensure safe flights and save money by reducing some of the stringent requirements related to carrying extra fuel loads. This edition will feature the benefits of weather information to the aviation sector as the industry is known to be both very weather-sensitive and weather-information-sensitive]

Vol 6 No 10 February 2018Satellite Broadcasting ServicesThe satellite broadcast services sector is undergoing and facing substantial change. The article suggests some key areas driving change. It focuses on vertical integration of services

k

Vol 7 No 1 March 2018Enterprise ConnectivityOne of the most significant trends in enterprise connectivity is the need for faster bandwidth. It's a development that's evident across virtually every market – corporate, maritime, oil and gas, cellular backhaul, utilities and many others. It's driven by end users who want to run a broader range of business applications over a satellite network and who need to expand their network to new sites and new users. The overall market for enterprise connectivity is surging. This edition will report the role of Satellite in driving enterprise connectivity

Vol 7 No 2 April 2018Maritime ConnectivityMaritime Satellite Communications play a vital role in the global economy. With up to 80,000 merchant, cruise, and government vessels at sea at any given time and more than 1400 offshore oil-rigs, there is a pressing need for the connectivity and benefits that satellite provides. With Maritime Communications, ship headquarters can communicate with their fleet enabling real-time ship monitoring, navigation, and surveillance. Oil-rigs can receive and transmit real-time operational data. Crew and passengers

The continuous addition of TV channels broadcast by satellite pay-TV platforms, boosted by the launch of new platforms in recent years, has resulted in a strong increase in capacity usage for satellite operators. Transponders used by satellite TV platforms worldwide are estimated to have almost doubled. This edition will feature special report on the performance of the satellite pay-TV mar et.

can stay connected to family and friends, and receive the latest entertainment. Once considered a luxury, broadband connectivity is now viewed as a must-have for maritime vessels . Corresponding ly, Mar i t ime Sate l l i te Communications are available across the globe. This diti6n will focus on Maritime Satellite Communications

Vol 7 No 3 May 2018Digital oilfieldOver the past five years, nearly 50 new deep offshore plays have been discovered off the coast of West Africa, cementing the region's reputation as a vast resource of untapped potential. In fact, about one-third of new discoveries worldwide since 2010 have occurred in West Africa, most of these offshore. This boom in activity has drawn dozens of E&P operators, including supermajors and large independents, and has created thousands of new jobs and a growing need for service providers and infrastructure. As offshore activity in West Africa continues to increase, so does the demand for reliable communications, and a critical element of operational performance is an unfailing real-time connection. This issue will focus on current trends and technologies in the Oil and Gas Industry.

Vol 7 No 4 June 2018

Vol 7 No 5 July 2018Strategies for Choosing the right satellite solutionICT professionals are often faced with the dilemma of choosing an efficient and reliable satellite service, consistent with their networking requirements and company objectives. The dilemma is reinforced by many providers offering limited, 'off the shelf' satellite connectivity packages. This edition will explore some benefits of these considerations as well as assist in choosing the optimal satellite service provider.

Satellite supply and demand in AfricaThis issue of spacewatchafrica will focuses on satellite supply and demand in Africa. So far, the demand for high speed connectivity is rising. Consumers, businesses, and governments want more bandwidth for a variety of purposes. In Africa, much of the population remain unconnected or underserved. In business, internet access is critical not optional. And in military, fast, secure internet is vital to safeguard valuable lives and equipment. Specific s e c t o r s s u c h a s D T H , v i d e o d i s t r i b u t i o n , telecommunications, maritime and O&G also require connectivity.

2018 schedule of publicationsPlease find below the schedule of publication, and themes, for the rest of

your 2018 media planningThe publication is sold monthly on a subscription basis, to readers in Africa, Europe, and North America as well as Middle East. But it is also distributed

widely, free, to participants at selected conferences.Below please find the schedule of releases.

Editorial Calendar 2018

With advert placement, you support the publication of this magazine in Africa. Advertising in Spacewatchafrica will offer your institution/organisation a cost-effective platform to reach your potential clients and business partners. We offer you exclusive contact with your business partners, government officials, academic and industry sectors.

SPACEWATCHAFRICA MAGAZINE MOST CURRENT ADVERTISEMENT RATES

4-color Advertising Rates Colour DimensionBack Cover Full Page $3,000 9.5” x 13”Inside Back Cover Full Page $2,000 9.5” x 13”Inside Front Cover Full Page $2,000 9.5” x 13”Inside Full Page $2,300 9.5” x 13”Inside Half Page $1.250 4.75”x 13” Double Spread $5,000Special page 2(inside front cover) and 3 $6,000Two adjoining centre page $5,000Front page earpiece $1,500(One third) $750 4.75” x 6.5”Special Report (including editorial) $3,000 Full cover page spotlight (special) $15,000

Advertisement placements on African Satellite Communications Yearbook attracts discounted rates, 20% off the above rates.

Hurry now and book your advert on Spacewatchafrica (onine and hard copy edition) as well as the African Satellite Communications Yearbook and benefit from the industry lowest rates while helping your organization reach the widest audience possible across Africa, middle east and beyond.

An additional 30% discount off the advertising rates above will be given to an advertiser who reserves for a minimum of six months (6 advertisements) or more.

All dimensions are listed as width by depth in millimeters (mm). Build pages to trim size and if bleed, extend dimensions beyond page edge by 10mm. Keep live matter 6mm from trim size. Preferred file formats are EPS, JPG or PDF.

For placement enquiries, please email us at info@spacewatchafrica.com, or call +2348036471114, 7084706167

AFRICA