The List | 2013 Top Fixed Satellite Service Operators

The year 2013 offered more proof, if any were needed, that it is harder to sell a satellite fleet operator, even a small one, than to create one. Export credit agency financing is readily available and it seems just about any government can point to savings that can be realized on purchases of satellite bandwidth if it has its own telecommunications satellite in orbit.

Israel’s Spacecom has been on the sales block for some time, Malaysia’s Measat was for awhile and so was SingTel’s Optus of Australia. None of these transactions has been concluded, and even if they were it is not certain they would be part of a consolidation deal or simply one set of private investors selling to another set.

Of necessity given their crowded market, Asian fleet operators have been among the most inventive in figuring out how to proceed intelligently even if no one is cashing out. Satellite capacity trades, condosat deals and cross-investment in each other’s satellites is now common in the region. Despite pressure on prices, Asian satellite owners as a whole are doing better than expected.

Companies listed here are providers of fixed satellite services, leasing their capacity on geostationary-orbiting satellites for video, voice and data traffic.

Mobile satellite services operators and companies devoted to consumer broadband service provision are not included, although the time is coming when these distinctions will lose their relevance. Also excluded are direct-broadcast satellite operators using their own spacecraft.

2013 Top Fixed Satellite Service Operators | No 1: Intelsat

2013 Top Fixed Satellite Service Operators | No2: SES

2013 Top Fixed Satellite Service Operators | No 3: Eutelsat

2013 Top Fixed Satellite Service Operators | No 4: Telesat

2013 Top Fixed Satellite Service Operators | No: 5 Sky Perfect JSAT

2013 Top Fixed Satellite Service Operators | Indonesia: A Turbulent Telecom Market

Top 25 FSS Operators for 2013