Author: Desmond Dallen

GSA celebrates 15 years The European GNSS Agency (GSA) is hosting a special event on September 10 to mark the 15th anniversary of its creation. The Agency was set up as the European GNSS Supervisory Authority in 2004 to oversee the development of the European space programmes EGNOS and Galileo. GSA Executive Director Carlo des Dorides welcomed special guests to the GSA’s Prague headquarters to celebrate the event, including European Commissioner Elżbieta Bieńkowska, Czech Transport Minister Vladimir Kremlik, French Space Agency (CNES) President and GSA Administrative Board Chair Jean-Yves Le Gall and European Space Agency Director General Jan Woerner, in addition to other EGNOS and Galileo stakeholders. “Over the last 15 years, the GSA has become one of the key players in building Europe’s independent capacity in satellite navigation,” said Commissioner Bieńkowska, responsible for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs. While participating in the celebrations, the Commissioner also presided over another historic milestone for both the Galileo programme and the GSA – the countdown to the 1 billionth Galileo-enabled smartphone sold. GSA Executive Director Carlo des Dorides said: “It is an honour and a great pleasure to celebrate this important milestone with representatives from all our stakeholders – the Commission, users, industry and other institutional bodies. Their presence here clearly shows that the GSA is delivering on its mission – linking space to user needs.” “15 years ago, no...

Red Bee Media to Showcase End-to-End Offering With Software Defined Production Workflows and Distribution of Live Football at IBC 2019   Red Bee Media returns to IBC in Amsterdam, showcasing the full power of their end-to-end offering in Hall 14 – Content Everywhere. Through real-time demonstrations of software defined remote production with distribution to playout, ultra-low latency OTT and social media syndication, Red Bee will deliver live Academy football games from Leyton Orient FC in London to IBC 2019. Press are welcome to join Red Bee’s first IBC demonstration on Friday the 13th, 11:00, on stand 14.D26 at the RAI in Amsterdam. This ambitious showcase will demonstrate Red Bee’s leadership in delivering live events and innovative managed media services through the breadth and range of its solutions under one of the most pressurized conditions in broadcasting and media – delivering live sports with commentary and captioning to multiple platforms, including software defined Playout, OTT with ultra-low latency and multiple social media channels. “It is no coincidence that we are exhibiting in Hall 14 – Content Everywhere this year”, says David Travis, Chief Product & Technology Officer at Red Bee Media “Our customers need to deliver high-quality content to wow audiences on whatever device or channel they prefer, and we need to provide whatever services needed to accomplish this. With this high-caliber next generation demonstration we aim to showcase the...

Colt to expand enterprise offering via direct, on-demand connectivity to Google Cloud Platform globally   Colt Technology Services has partnered with Google Cloud to power enterprises’ digital transformations, by allowing organisations to connect to Google Cloud Platform in real time. London, UK, 29 August 2019 – Colt Technology Services today announced that it will enable enterprises direct, on-demand connections to Google Cloud globally. Through the use of Colt’s Dedicated Cloud Access (DCA) offering powered by the Colt IQ Network, customers can connect from enterprise buildings or data centres to their Google Cloud instances with customer-dedicated bandwidth as well as low and deterministic latency. Coupled with Colt’s On Demand offering, which rolled out further in May, enterprises will now be able to take full control over their network, connecting to Google Cloud in real-time via partner interconnect. Managed via a rich self-service portal, On Demand networking allows organisations to flex bandwidth requirements up and down in near real-time as well as bypass legacy service delivery processes and lead times. The Colt IQ Network includes a 100Gbps optimised, owned network, distributed to more than 900 data centres and more than 27,500 buildings around the world. Colt’s Vice President Product Portfolio, Peter Coppens said: “Facilitating organisations migration and utilisation of the cloud has been a significant priority for Colt over the past few years. This extension of our proposition to allow organisations to connect not only directly to Google Cloud, but also have the...

  Intelsat and Africa Mobile Networks Reach Milestone, Continue Aggressive Path to Connect Rural Communities in sub-Saharan Africa London and Luxembourg, 29 August 2019 – Intelsat S.A. (NYSE: I) (“Intelsat”), operator of the world’s first Globalized Network and leader in integrated satellite communications, and Africa Mobile Networks (AMN), an integrator of mobile network infrastructure, today announced that a milestone in bringing mobile connectivity to unserved communities in sub-Saharan Africa has been reached. Building upon a partnership announced in the fall of 2018, in less than a year, approximately 525 remote cell sites have been connected, with the goal of expanding mobile coverage to other parts of the region by the end of 2019. “As both a global corporation and a global citizen, Intelsat is committed to investing in accelerating the adoption of mobile connectivity in sub-Saharan Africa — and throughout the world — and closing the digital divide,” said Jean-Philippe Gillet, Intelsat vice president and general manager, networks. “Through this partnership, we are now providing access to mobile coverage for the first time to approximately 1.7 million people living in remote communities across several countries that many thought were impossible to connect.” Until now, the cost of expansion and geographic complexities in remote rural areas of Africa have made establishing connectivity for the communities, individuals, and businesses in these regions extremely difficult. AMN has developed a low-cost solution, powered by...

GSA celebrates 1 billion Galileo smartphone users The estimated number of Galileo-enabled smartphones in use has reached one billion. This significant milestone has been achieved in the week when the European GNSS Agency (GSA), responsible for operation of the Galileo programme, celebrates its 15th anniversary, making this a memorable week for the Agency. This is a truly historic moment for the Galileo programme. BQ pioneered Galileo use in smartphones with its Aquaris X5 Plus back in July 2016. Since then, market uptake of Galileo-enabled smartphones has been rapid as other manufacturers were quick to embrace the opportunities that Galileo offers, and there are currently 156 Galileo-enabled smartphone models available on the market. The ‘1 billion users’ milestone is based on the number of smartphones using Galileo sold across the world. The actual number of Galileo users around the world is much larger. You can track which devices, including smartphones, are Galileo-enabled on the UseGalileo.eu site. Today 95% of companies that produce smartphone chips for satellite navigation make chips that enable Galileo. According to figures in the latest GSA GNSS Market Report, which is to be published soon, global annual GNSS receiver shipments are forecast to grow continuously across the next decade, from 1.8 bln units in 2019 to 2.7 bln units in 2029. Most of these shipments are for receivers costing less than €5, and 90% of receivers in...