UPDATE FOR A FEW DBS BASICS
Rupert Murdock's News Corp. and MCI/British Telcom have apparently reached an agreement to enter into a partnership with PrimeStar to provide DBS services from two high-power satellites located at 110 degrees West Longitude. It is reported that News Corp will make an initial investment of approximately $1.1 Billion in the venture. Assuming that the stockholders of TCI Satellite Entertainment, a PrimeStar partner, and the regulatory agencies approve of the new partnership, this series of events could have a profound impact on the availability of Ku-band transponders on the space segment market.
If PrimeStar obtains access to the high-power orbital slot at 110 degrees, it will probably give up its leases of the 24 Ku-band 60 watt 36 MHz transponders which it currently holds on GE Americom GE-2 (85 degrees West Longitude). Return of these transponders to the domestic inventory would more than compensate for the failure of TELSTAR 401 which resulted in the loss of 16 Ku-band and 24 C-band transponders.
| DESCRIPTION OF DOMESTIC DBS PROVIDERS: | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| DBS Provider | Satellite | Class | Location |
| DirecTV & USSB (DSS) |
DBS-1 | BSS | 101.2 degW |
| DBS-2 | BSS | 100.75 degW | |
| DBS-3 | BSS | 100.85 degW | |
| PrimeStar | GE-2 | FSS | 85.0 degW |
| Ku 1-24 (total Ku-band inventory) | |||
| PrimeStar(proposed) TBA | BSS | 110+ degW | |
| TBA | BSS | 110+ degW | |
| AlfaStar | TELSTAR 4 | FSS | 89.0 degW |
| Ku 6 & 9-16 | |||
| AlfaStar(proposed) | TELSTAR 5 | FSS | 97.0 degW |
| Ku 1-28 (total Ku-band inventory) | |||
| EchoStar (DISH) | ECHOSTAR 1 | BSS | 119.0 degW |
| ECHOSTAR 2 | BSS | 119.0 degW | |
| BSS: Broadcast Satellite Service, high-power >100 watts/tr | |||
| FSS: Fixed Satellite Service, medium-power <100 watts/tr | |||
Subscriptions for DBS services are increasing. The latest subscription figures are:
| SUBSCRIPTION TO DBS SERVICES | ||
|---|---|---|
| DBS Provider | May Additions | Total Subscriptions |
| DirecTV | 45,000 | 2.565 million |
| PrimeStar | 55,000 | 1.88 million |
| EchoStar | 32,000 | 0.545 million |
| AlphaStar | na | 0.051 million |
| C-band | -21,000 | 2.194 million |
| TOTAL | 111,000 | 7.235 million |
It is reported that AlfaStar will be moving its DBS service from TELSTAR 4 to TELSTAR 5 sometime this year. The proposed move by AlfaStar to occupy all of the Ku-band capacity on TELSTAR 5 is tentative pending the results of the current bankruptcy proceedings. If AlphaStar does not survive its bankruptcy problems, 28 unsold Ku-band transponders on TELSTAR 5 will be placed on the space segment market.
Stay tuned.