ORBITS: News Briefs… Altx – Cinea – COMSYS VSAT 2007 – NOAA – Telemar Scandinavia

Nothing Like A Little More Oomph
AltX, a division of JSE Limited (JSE), is an alternative exchange with a focus on small and medium sized high growth companies based in South Africa who are not yet able to list on the JSE Main Board but who have a clear growth path and access to capital. Ellies Holdings is now planning an AltX listing sometime next week as they plan to enter the satellite market. The company manufactures and distributes television reception and electronics products. The listing, according to one of their executives, will help the company expand its operations through various acquisitions. Approximately 45 percent of the firm’s revenue is generated by the their satellite TV ElSat brand—Johannesburg, South Africa—August 30, 2007

Chipping Away At Set Tops
The Running Marks solution from Cinea, Inc. (a subsidiary of Dolby Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE: DLB)), has now been integrated into the STMicroelectronics (NYSE: STM) Sti7109 System-on-Chip (CoC) HDTV decoder platform. This solution is available to all set-top box vendors, conditional access vendors, and cable, Telco and satellite system operators. The Running Marks replacement-based architecture offers extensive flexibility to mark compressed content anywhere during the content distribution path and on delivery to a home media gateway. With system renewability on the backend, and with no need for field upgrades, such results in cost savings when millions of devices have already been deployed—Reston, Virginia—August 30, 2007

Verily, VSAT
Do you truly know what is occurring in the VSAT market? Do you have a plan to deal with the rising prices for space segments? If you wish to learn more, why not consider attending The COMSYS VSAT 2007 Conference, “Broadening Horizons”, at the Waldorf Hilton Hotel in London from September 24th through September 27th. The main conference is preceded by the VSAT Market and Technology Workshop on September 24th at the same venue. Keynote speaker: Paul Gaske, Executive VP, Hughes Network Systems USA. For further details, contact Richard Bailey at +44 1727 832288.

Polar Poop-Out
The U.S.’ longest serving polar orbiting satellite has been officially shut down by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). There were a series of power system problems with the satellite, NOAA-12, and after 16 years of service and some 84,402 Earth orbits, it was time for the spacecraft to be put out of commission. NOAA operates two polar-orbiting satellites (POES) and they are crucial in monitoring atmospheric changes as well as ocean temperatures and noting climate phenomena. NOAA-12, a thirdgen satellite, replaced NOAA-10, and NOAA-15 replaced NOAA-12 in 1998—Washington, DC—August 30, 2007

More Choice In Russia
Now entering the Russian satellite communications market is Telemar Scandinavia AB. Their plan is to initiate mobile satellite communication and navigation equipment delivery by the end of this year. They have opened an office in Russia that will be headed by Igor Tsurikov, who was formerly the Executive Director of Alien Telecom. The company will offer their services in Russia under the name Telemar Russia, with St. Petersburg as their first area effort. According to Mr. Tsurikov, the satellite communication charges will be approximately 5 percent less than the current average cost of such services—Gothenburg, Sweden—August 30, 2007

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