Has Rupert gone "Daffy"?? Yes I believe so...!

UPDATE:

DirecTV Group Inc. said on Feb. 7 fourth-quarter earnings more than doubled as the satellite television operator's subscriber base grew and it changed its accounting for set-top boxes. The company said net income surged to $356 million or 29 cents per share, in the three months ended Dec. 31 from $121 million, or 9 cents per share, in the year-ago period. Fourth quarter revenues increased 16 percent to $4.18 billion and operating profit before depreciation and amortization more than doubled to $915 million compared to last year’s 4Q.
....That's what I'm talkin' about! Why dump a money machine to get 16% back from Liberty Media? Strange thinking by my standards....


October 2006 Article:

Ok, I admit this isn't about satellite internet......but it's pretty interesting stuff if you have followed the NewsCorp rise over the last decade or so. Rupert Murdoch has built a powerful media company with newspapers, TV stations and satellite TV at the core of it all. Three years ago he bought all of the useful Hughes Corporation assets...DirecTV (satellite TV) & DirecWay (satellite internet). Then he turned around and sold off the DirecWay internet business to concentrate on the TV by satellite business?...Well, maybe not....

Rumors have been flying for about 4 months or so that he was going to sell out the DirecTV Group to John Malone's, Liberty Media, so he could get them out of his hair (they own between 17- 19% of NewsCorp). Actually, it's more of a trade of assets deal to circumvent a bunch of taxes....only about 2 billion in cash might change hands when all is said and done.....IF it is actually done. Both parties have been pretty quiet for several weeks now. Maybe Rupert has changed his mind?? Who knows, but with satellite TV kickin' some pretty good cable TV ass right now, I surely don't know why he's letting go of a money machine......
On the other hand, if I knew how Murdoch thinks, maybe I'd be a billionaire too!

The obsession all the big boys in this business have with the "Triple Play" and "Quadruple Play", where all of your communications billing comes from one company, seems to be completely over emphasized. I really don't think savy consumers care if they have a single bill......most are smart enough to do some shopping around and pay bills over the internet anyway....."So What", if you have to push the "Enter button" two or even three times instead of once to pay your Phone, TV, Internet & voip bills...especially if it saves you money!! As an example, I'm personally saving $50.00 per month by buying "a la carte".

Get to know your satellite!

During the last 12 months or so there have been a fair number of satellite ownership changes , name changes of satellites and a few new birds coming into the picture....why should you care who owns the satellite you are pointed to and what it's history is? ...I'll tell you!

The risk of a total failure of most of the satellites in orbit over the America's today is actually very small; however, the performance of the satellites, earth equipment (Network Operations Centers for example) and ground personnel can vary greatly.

During the last few years a good deal of consolidation and financial turbulance has occurred in the ku band satellite world: Loral Space has gone into and out of Chapter 11 Bankruptcy, Satmex has been on the brink of Bankruptcy for over 2 years and PanAM Sat has been bought by Intelsat. Additionally, Loral has sold several satellites to Intelsat. The only major satellite owner covering the America's with a good degree of stability during this period is SES Americom and to a slightly lesser degree, Intelsat & Telesat of Canada.

There are several teleport operators who have "sprung up" during the last two years as well. A teleport operator is the company that actually links your satellite dish with the satellite you are assigned to and leases the "space segment" from a satellite owner. These operators vary in experience and quality of equipment. There are too many who are "uplinking" with antiquated equipment, inaedequate teleport dishes and NOC personnel with limited training or experience. It's a very good idea to ask your provider how long they have been in the teleport business before you sign up with them!

There are a few satellites covering the America's with what I'll just call "issues". Some teleport operators have chosen these satellites to put customers on because they can lease "space" on them for much less money than more stable birds ...and here is the list:
1. SatMex 5 - This is a decent enough satellite; however, the folks at SatMex don't have any money and have not done a very good job of load balancing, customer support or problem solving for the operators leasing transponders from them over the last year. They need revenue from SatMex 6 (not yet launched) or they will have even more serious problems.
2. Intelsat IA 7 - This satellite is operating fairly stable today; however, it was the satellite that suffered a total failure for about 24-72 hours in late Nov. 2004 which put thousands of Starband internet users in the dark. The satellite was partially recovered and is operating "ok" at this time....but the exact nature of the "anomaly" has not been well explained or understood and it could happen again.
3. Intelsat Telestar 14: This satellite failed to deploy one of it's solar panels during the initial setup and has never been able to operate at full capacity (only using 17 of it's ku band transponders). Although the transponders being used are functioning ok, there will always be power constraints on this bird.

As previously stated, it's a real good idea to know as much as you can about the Satellite Internet Service Provider you are dealing with, their satellites in use and how advanced their Teleport is before choosing them. In most cases you are bound by a 12 month service agreement and a wrong choice can be downright purgatory.