It was in the cards. Keeping Blockbuster retail outlets open for video rentals is not a good business. The future, my boy, is “streaming.”

However, if you convert parts of the store into a Dish Network service center, you may have a really good proposition on your hands. Via Reuters…

“We are committed to keeping the profitable stores open that are generating positive cash flow, but there are ones that aren’t going to make it,” Clayton said in an interview. “We will close unprofitable stores. We will close additional stores.”

Clayton would not give a time frame on the closings or say how many stores were currently unprofitable. Spokesman Marc Lumpkin said the closings will be on a “case by case” basis.

Clayton, who became CEO of Dish last year when billionaire Charlie Ergen stepped down to focus on Dish’s wireless strategy as chairman, said the stores that stay open will sell Dish subscriptions and may one day provide customer support for its television customers.

“If a consumer has a problem, just bring your box in and we’ll give you a new one so you don’t have to stay at home and wait for an installation,” he said.

Subscribers to Dish’s Latino service may also be able to pay their TV bills in stores in metropolitan markets, he added.

Dish has tried to tap the Blockbuster brand by unveiling a new Internet streaming service and a program to rent DVDs by mail, in a bid to challenge Netflix Inc.

If they buy Hulu and add wireless spectrum to serve their streaming business, Dish Network can be very well positioned in remaining a good business model.

United Cargo begins accepting OnAsset SENTRY 400 FlightSafe asset tracking device for transport on its entire mainline jet fleet of more than 700 aircraft.
[SatNews – 01/06/2012]

France 24 selects Arqiva for five-year News Channel distribution deal.
[Satellite Today – 01/06/2012]

Remarkable rescue of U.S. military satellite – the Advanced Extremely High Frequency 1 satellite is successfully undergoing in orbit testing after 14 months and nearly 500 maneuvers boosted it into orbit after the Liquid Apogee Engine failure in August 2010.
[Space – 01/05/2012]

China sees its ambitious space program, with 5-year plan including moon landing, and a satellite observation and global positioning system rivaling that of the United States, as means to increase its role as a world power.
[AFP – 01/05/2012]

Nigeria sees Sat Comm as the way to go for broadband connectivity, coupling satellite capacity with new generation mobile technology for last-mile connectivity, and leveraging the recently launched NigComSat-1R technology.
[The Nation – 01/05/2012]

Arianespace preparing for busiest year of flight activity ever in 2012, benefitting from availability of three launch vehicles – Ariane 5, Soyuz, and Vega – side by side in French Guiana.
[SatNews – 01/05/2012]

ViaSat enters into new five-year deal with National Rural Telecommunications Cooperative that will bring 12 Mbps next-generation satellite broadband service (Viasat 1) to market within weeks.
[Sacramento Bee – 01/05/2012]

Hughes to launch fourth-generation Internet service in mid-2012.
[Satellite Today – 01/05/2012]

Dish Network to launch broadband satellite service and multiroom DVR in 2012.
[Multichannel News – 01/05/2012]

Comtech Telecommunications gets $1.1 million SATCOM equipment order from European integrator for ground equipment to upgrade European Ministry of Defense satellite earth stations.
[Market Watch – 01/05/2012]

Department of Defense wants to create new satellite and robotic system to repurpose and reuse retired satellites sitting in geostationary orbit over the earth. [Information Week – 01/04/2012]

Industry team led by Intelsat General conducts successful tests verifying interoperability of hosted UHF payload on Intelsat 22 (to be launched in a few months) with legacy UHF radios.
[SatNews – 01/04/2012]

Just as crippled Russian satellite, Phobos-Grunt, threatens to fall from the sky, a new film “Space Junk 3D” will open in IMAX and other giant screen theaters, exploring the exponentially expanding ring of manmade debris that threatens orbits around the earth.
[Sacramento Bee – 01/04/2012]

ITT Exelis gets $121 million contract to support Army wideband satellite communications centers.
[UPI – 01/04/2012]

GeoEye works with Russian partner, ScanEx Research and Development Center, to provide millions of square kilometers of high-resolution satellite imagery to the Russian Federal Service for State Registration, Cadastre, and Cartography.
[SatNews – 01/04/2012]

Hackers plan a satellite network to keep Internet going in case of disaster that affects its availability.
[Information Week – 01/04/2012]

DeLorne’s inReach is personal communication device offering consumer-affordable two-way satellite communication, message delivery confirmation, remote tracking, and SOS emergency capability anywhere in the world.
[Sacramento Bee – 01/04/2012]

Russian satellite Phobos-Grunt, which was stranded in Earth orbit on the way to Mars, is expected to fall back to Earth next week.
[SatNews – 01/03/2012]

Inmarsat reorganizes to focus on core markets.
[gCaptain – 01/03/2012]

Comtech Telecommunications gets $16.6 million of orders to support U.S> Army’s movement tracking system and Blue-Force Tracking-1 programs.
[Market Watch – 01/03/2012]

LightSquared gets additional 30 days from Sprint to get FCC clearance to operate its network.
[Wall Street Journal – 01/03/2012]

Globalstar Europe Satellite Services signs distribution agreement with TS2 Satellite Technologies, who will act as National Distributor for mobile satellite voice and duplex data products to defense, government, and private sectors in Poland.
[Sacramento Bee – 01/03/2012]

Gilat wins $16 million extension to contract with Colombia to provide rural communications satellite services.
[Globes – 01/03/2012]

Inmarsat in talks with Bharat Sanchar Nigam of India to form partnership to provide satellite broadband services in remote areas of India, and to the Indian Defence forces.
[The Hindo Business Line – 01/02/2012]

ATCi is selected by U.S. Defense Department to supply Ka-band networks designed for high throughput Ka-band satellite communication systems worldwide.
[SatNews – 01/02/2012]

YahLive signs partnership agreement with Etisalat to collaborate on satellite broadcasting services, allowing UAE based companies to broadcast in HD format for the first time.
[SatNews – 01/02/2012]

Orbcomm to purchase subsidiary of PAR Technology in order to expand its share of the market for tracking clients’ assets and cargo.
[northjersey.com – 01/01/2012]

Over The Top (OTT) (Video over the Internet) services are coming to DTH markets around the world – Super Bowl to be available in near HD in 2012 – will 2012 be the year of convergence?
[NSR Report – January 2012]

 WBMSAT satellite communications consulting services

 

Missing out on being in New York for the New Year’s Eve celebration in Times Square? Don’t go: downlink it!

LIVE coverage in North America…

Via Fiber in HD — Saturday, December 31, 2011; 5:55 p.m. to 12:15 a.m. EST — The New York Switch: PL-5C

Via Satellite in HD — Saturday, December 31, 2011; 10:00 p.m. to 12:15 a.m. EST

• C-band: AMC 1, Transponder C24 SLOT A; Orbital Location 103-deg. West; Downlink Frequency 4171 Vertical, Bandwidth 18 MEG, FEC 3 / 4, Symbol Rate 13.0
• Ku-band: AMC 1, Transponder K16 SLOT A, Orbital Location 103-deg. West, Downlink Frequency 12011 Vertical, Bandwidth 18 MEG, FEC 3 / 4, Symbol Rate 13.0
• Technical Contact: Lenny Laxer 917-299-0205

…and Internationally…

Via Satellite in SD 16:9 — Saturday, December 31, 2011 – 11:45 p.m. to 12:15 a.m. EST (Sunday, January 1, 2012 0445-0515 GMT)

• EUROPE: IS 905 61/61 slot A, Orbital Location 335.5-deg. East; Downlink Frequency 10958.5 Vertical, FEC 3 /4,Symbol Rate 6.1113; Bandwidth 9 MEG, Compression Tandberg 4:2:0, Video Standard PAL
• LATIN AMERICA: IS 9 24C, Slot A, Orbital Location 58-deg. West; Downlink Frequency 4146.5 Horizontal, FEC 3/4,
• ASIA: IS 5 23C, VIRTUAL CHANNEL 2, Orbital Location 169-deg. East; Downlink Frequency 4160 Horizontal, FEC 3/4,Symbol Rate 6.1113, Bandwidth 9 MEG, Video Standard PAL
• AFRICA: IS10 15C, Slot B, Orbital Location 68.5-deg. East; Downlink Frequency 3836.5 Vertical, FEC 3/4,Symbol Rate 6.1113, Bandwidth 9 MEG, Compression Tandberg 4:2:0, Video Standard PAL
• Technical Contact: Lenny Laxer 917-299-0205

Have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Russian space industry suffers another black eye as Meridian communications satellite fell to the ground soon after it was launched, although earlier Soyuz launch with three astronauts for the International Space Station was successful.
[Daily Mail – 12/23/2011]

USAF hosted payload on SES satellite, Commercially Hosted Infrared Payload (CHIRP), completes initial on orbit tests and begins demonstration period.
[Space Daily – 12/23/2011]

SES partners with Rustyice of the UK for distribution of SES’ satellite-based broadband service ASTRA2Connect throughout the UK.
[Space Daily – 12/23/2011]

China successfully launches Ziyuan I-02C remote sensing satellite.
[SatNews – 12/22/2011]

Globecomm Systems gets $3.1 million add-on to $32 million contract to provide state of the art satellite communication system for a Multinational organization.
[SatNews – 12/22/2011]

Arianespace readies the first Ariane 5 for launch in 2012 to receive the Automated Transfer Vehicle cargo resupply vessel as its payload.
[Satellite-Evolution – 12/22/2011]

GlobeCast signs deal with Fashion One TV to bring its TV channel to millions of new homes across sub-Sharan Africa via capacity on Astra 4A satellite.
[SatNews – 12/22/2011]

U.S. Air Force orders eighth Wideband Global SATCOM program communications satellite from Boeing.
[Spaceflight Now – 12/21/2011]

Launch of the SES-4 satellite, to be the largest in the SES fleet, is scheduled for December 27 aboard a Proton M/Breeze M launch vehicle from Baikonur.
[SatNews – 12/21/2011]

TCS agrees to second extension to its U.S. Army World-Wide Satellite Systems Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity contract, now to run through July 27, 2013.
[Market Watch – 12/21/2011]

Astrium to acquire 66.78 percent of Space Engineering.
[SatNews – 12/21/2011]

Intelsat General describes how they helped the Navy manage the coordination and control of its vast Commercial Broadband Satellite Program network.
[SatNews – 12/21/2011]

Astrium purchases Norwegian satellite communications company Vizada for $876 million.
[UPI – 12/21/2011]

LightSquared seeks to turn the tables on GPS device makers by filing petition with FCC seeking “declaratory ruling” confirming its right to use its licensed spectrum, claiming device makers purposefully designed equipment to look into LightSquared’s spectrum.
[Financial Times Technology – 12/21/2011]

Senator Grassley of Iowa holds up two nominees for FCC board on concerns of constituent Deere & Co. that LightSquared’s planned network may impact GPS network used by farmers – example of political mess LightSquared has landed in.
[Forbes – 12/21/2011]

China is prepared to launch 5 satellites for foreign customers next year.
[China Daily – 12/21/2011]

Gateway Communications is selected by Kawuleza of South Africa as partner to provide high speed bandwidth by satellite to major South African cities.
[Tech Zone – 12/21/2011]

Colombia contracts Gilat VSAT to connect more than 1,600 schools.
[Satellite Today – 12/21/2011]

China launches NigComSat-1R, replacement for satellite that failed in 2008, for Nigeria.
[AFP – 12/20/2011]

Arianespace Soyuz successfully orbits the Pleiades 1A, SSOT, and four ELISA satellites from European spaceport in French Guiana.
[Satellite Today – 12/20/2011]

Dish Network in center of wireless universe as AT&T walks away from acquisition of T-Mobile, a deal opposed by Justice Department.
[Wall Street Journal – 12/20/2011]

SES announces that the speed of its satellite-based broadband service ASTRA2Connect is now available with download speed up to 10 Mbps.
[SatNews – 12/20/2011]

Comtech announces $4.1 million contract for SATCOM equipment to support mobile backhaul.
[Market Watch – 12/20/2011]

Globecomm Systems receives contract extension from NATO CIS valued at $8.8 million to extend communication services and onsite support for its GPS-based Force Tracking System.
[SatNews – 12/20/2011]

Raytheon’s Navy Multiband Terminal successfully tests with on-orbit AEHF satellite.
[Sacramento Bee – 12/20/2011]

Glowlink gets major competitive contract from US Air Force for satellite carrier monitoring and interference geolocation capabilities.
[SatNews – 12/20/2011]

Russia and India announce intent to cooperate on satellite navigation services.
[Satellite Today – 12/19/2011]

U.S. Navy’s first MUOS satellite is undergoing post-shipment testing at Cape Canaveral in preparation for February launch following delivery by Lockheed Martin.
[UPI – 12/19/2011]

Next cluster of six second-generation Globalstar satellites ready for launch next week from Baikonur.
[SatNews – 12/19/2011]

Fourth WGS satellite moves closer to launch as it is encapsulated in teh Delta IV Launch vehicle payload fairing.
[Space Ref – 12/19/2011]

Comtech Xicom Technology receives orders totaling $3.2 million for Ka-band high-power amplifiers for commercial satellite DTH services and emerging high throughput satellite market.
[Market Watch – 12/19/2011]

Plans underway for ESA’s Intermediate eXperimental Vehicle to be launched on Europe’s new Vega rocket in 2014.
[SatNews – 12/19/2011]

The barriers to entry into the satellite business are legendary, but I suppose you could pull it off if you have a really good business plan — and the right people to execute it. Sure, it would take a few years to get off the ground (pun intended).

However, it assumes you have what the whole business depends on: spectrum. That’s right, we’re talking about radio spectrum. Without that, you don’t have a business. Trouble is, spectrum is a scarce resource — there only so much to go around. Unlike time, which is the scarcest resource because you can’t make more of it, additional spectrum becomes available once the FCC (U.S.) or ITU (Globally) determines available spectrum is fully utilized. Or someone makes a business case, with supporting technology, for using new spectrum. Case in point: modern DBS services using the Ku-band. DirecTV and DISH Network are generating significant cash flow, they employ lots of people and serve millions with excellent TV services.

So what do you do will all that money besides reinvesting in your own business? You buy — or lease — more spectrum. Does it have to be satellite? No. Evidence abounds that the folks at DISH Network get it. Charlie’s been acquiring spectrum at a discount and now people are justifiably speculating that AT&T wants it — especially after the T-Mobile acquisition went kaput.

This isn’t a poker game — more like chess. Charlie’s a few moves ahead of us here, so you’ll likely see a few key moves in the coming days, weeks or months. AT&T may buy DISH Network. A partnership between DISH Network and T-Mobile is a real possibility.

AT&T still has tons of bandwidth around the country, but what good is that if you can’t get more wireless spectrum?

Remember the old adage “content is king?” Well, in the wireless business, “spectrum is king.”

SpaceX Dragon to attempt first commercial cargo run to the International  Space Station on February 7.
[Satellite Today – 12/16/2011]

NSR report – military satellite revenues will double for cost-conscious  providers.
[Satellite Today – 12/16/2011]

NovelSat, developers of 3G-Sat modulation technology, announce new satellite  data rate world record of 357Mbps on 72 MHz transponder.
[SatNews –  12/16/2011]

Artel contracts Cable & Wireless to connect 30 satellite earth stations  around the globe with MPLS data network.
[Satellite Today – 12/16/2011]

Indian Minister of State for Communications and Information Technology states  that foreign tourists are illegally using satellite phones and could pose a  national security threat.
[Press Information  Bureau, Government of India – 12/16/2011]

Second Soyuz mission is scheduled to launch from French Guyana the morning of  December 175h, carrying the French Earth observation satellite Pleiades-1, four  French ELISA micro-satellites, and Chile’s SSOT Earth Observation Platform..
[SatNews –  12/15/2011]

Replacement for NIGCOMSAT 1, deorbited in 2008, NIGCOMSAT 1R is scheduled to  be launched from China on December 19.
[Daily Times – 12/15/2011]

New generation of weather and environmental satellites, GOES-15, officially  becomes operational as GOES-West as of December 13.
[SatNews –  12/15/2011]

Lockheed Martin delivers U.S. Navy’s first Mobile User Objective System  satellite to Cape Canaveral for scheduled February 16th launch.
[Market Watch – 12/15/2011]

National Space Society hails announcement of Stratolaunch Systems, a Paul  Allen Project to reduce cost of space travel, carrying launch rockets to high  altitude aboard largest aircraft ever built, with six 747 engines.
[SatNews –  12/15/2011]

AsiaSat and THAICOM announce signing of cooperative agreement to provide  satellite services from orbital location of 120 degrees East.
[SatNews –  12/15/2011]

U.S. Air Force’s first Advanced Extremely High Frequency military  communications satellite is successfully progressing through initial on-orbit  tests.
[SatNews  – 12/15/2011]

Republic of Estonia signs accession agreement to become full Member State of  EUMETSAT by 2012.
[SatNews –  12/15/2011]

FCC passes rules requiring broadcast, satellite, and cable companies to quiet  down loud ads.
[Washington Post – 12/15/2011]

Physicists in Low Temperature Laboratory of Aalto University show how a  nanomechanical oscillator can be used for detection and amplification of feeble  radio waves or microwaves with almost no noise.
[R&D Magazine – 12/15/2011]

NXP Semiconductors announce SiGe:C Low Noise Amplifiers that improve  linearity, noise figure, and reception of GPS signals, delivering 10 dB  improvement under -40 to -20 dBm jamming conditions.
[SatNews –  12/15/2011]

Government committee says that LightSquared’s network affects a “majority” of  general-purpose GPS receivers and technology used to land planes.
[Wireless Week – 12/15/2011]

PacStar is awarded $12.2 million contract by U.S. Dept. of Defense to deliver  tactical communications solution to U.S. forces in Afghanistan.
[Market Watch – 12/15/2011]

Satellite industry warns governments of the world of their concerns over  proposed piece of international legislation called the Unidroit Space Assets  Protocol which risks complicating and damaging what is currently in place.
[SatNews –  12/14/2011]

Enhanced compression technology and digitization is improving the efficiency  of satellite transponders – by 2017 global demand for C- and Ku-band  transponders is forecast to total 7,840.36 MHz TPEs (transponder equivalents)..
[Official Wire – 12/14/2011]

Avanti Communications shares are lifted by satellite bandwidth contract win  from Bentley Walker for U.S. $1.1 million.
[Proactive Investors – 12/14/2011]

European Space Agency updates application for iPhone and iPad, allowing users  to see ESA’s latest satellite imagery from Envisat in near-real time.
[SatNews –  12/14/2011]

Gilat is selected by JSC NC Kazsatnet’ of Kazakhstan for high speed data  connectivity among over 200 VSATS in multi-star topology with NetEdge Gateway  solution.
[Market Watch – 12/14/2011]

Arianespace signs contract with MEASAT for launch of MEASAT-3b in 2013.
[SatNews –  12/14/2011]

SES announces four global sales regions with dedicated management to  consolidate positions in the Americas and Europe, and further focus on emerging  and growth markets.
[SatNews –  12/14/2011]

XTAR joins Operation First Response to support wounded U.S. soldiers.
[Satellite Today – 12/14/2011]

Globecomm Systems gets 1-year $6 million service contract from U.S.  Government agency to provide IT support services relating to Internet  connectivity via its teleport.
[SatNews –  12/14/2011]

CalAmp begins volume shipments of new product designed to facilitate whole  home networking and communications of set top boxes to its Direct Broadcast  Satellite (DBS) customer.
[Market Watch – 12/14/2011]

Astrium imagery from two TerrSAR-X StripMap acquisitions show large crack in  Pine Island glacier in Antartica; ice shelf ready to break off is larger than  New York City.
[SatNews –  12/14/2011]

Dish Network indicates desire to form strategic partnership with T-Mobile USA  if AT&T’s bid for acquisition of T-Mobile fails.
[Telegeography – 12/14/2011]

Arianespace signs for launch of two satellites in the European Union’s  Sentinel-2 and Sentinel-3 families on the first launch of Europe’s new light  launcher Vega from French Guiana in 2014-2016.
[SatNews –  12/14/2011]

O3b exercises additional launch option on Arianespace contract.
[Satellite Today – 12/13/2011]

Since SPOT Satellite Messenger products were introduced in 2007 over 1,500  emergency rescues have been initiated worldwide.
[Market Watch – 12/14/2011]

Amos 5 communications satellite launched for Israel’s Spacecom.
[Globes – 12/13/2011]

NewSat signs $67 million contract for Jabiru satellite capacity.
[ARN – 12/13/2011]

Emergency satellite communications platform developed by government of  Luxembourg to be available to international humanitarian community as of 1  January, 2012.
[IEWY  –  12/13/2011]

OnAir WiFi internet connectivity launched across the Emirates A380 fleet.
[SatNews –  12/13/2011]

Opinion – Why is FCC stonewalling Senator Grassley on LightSquared? –  (Grassley put holds on two Barack Obama nominees to FCC).
[Hot Air – 12/13/2011]

LightSquared ‘Outraged’ over Report Leak; Primary Backer Harbinger Faces SEC  Scrutiny.
[Wireless Week – 12/12/2011]

ViaSat subsidiary WildBlue begins offering 5 megabit-per-second satellite  broadband service in Colorado, using recently launched ViaSat-1 satellite.
[Denver Post –  12/12/2011]

Japan launches H-2A rocket carrying a radar satellite.
[SatNews –  12/12/2011]

TCS introduces portfolio of managed mobile communications services called  TotalCom for government agencies and businesses.
[Computer World – 12/12/2011]

Russian data relay satellite and Spacecom’s Amos 5 share a ride into space.
[Spaceflight Now –  12/11/2011]

Echo II:  When satellites were young and shiny (photo).
[CNET – 12/10/2011]

NATO facing fast-approaching deadline for replacing satellite communications  capacity to avoid “satcom blackouts.”
[Space News – 12/09/2011]

“Doing more without more” – Space Command looks to fill communication gaps as  budgets tighten yet requirements for secure communications continue to grow.
[National Defense Magazine – January 2011]

WBMSAT satellite communications consulting services