HNS Americas, the Latin American subsidiary of Hughes, and local satellite operator Star One have won the auction for the four Brazilian orbital slots that are to be made available over the next five years.
Brazilian telecoms regulator Anatel announced…
HNS Americas, the Latin American subsidiary of Hughes, and local satellite operator Star One have won the auction for the four Brazilian orbital slots that are to be made available over the next five years.
Brazilian telecoms regulator Anatel announced at the end of August that HNS and Star One had been awarded two orbital slots apiece. The companies beat off competition from five rival bidders, Eutelsat, Hispamar, Intelsat, SES and Sky Brazil, paying an aggregate R$254.4m (US$160.1m) for the rights.
HNS paid R$145.2m (US$91.6m) for the right to operate a satellite in the Ku and Ka-bands at 45W and R$35.2m (US$22.2m) to operate a satellite in Ku, Ka and X-bands at 68.5W.
Star One paid R$37m (US$23.3m) to operate a satellite in the Ku and Ka-bands at 84W and again R$37m (US$23.3m) to operate a satellite in Ku, Ka and X-bands at 70W.
The reason HNS paid so much more for one of the slots is thought to be due to the fact that it gave it the first right of exploration. It also represents a hefty premium for Anatel. A spokesperson for the regulator previously told SatelliteFinance that it had set a minimum price for each slot of approximately R$4m (US$2.6m), meaning the price HNS paid represented a premium of around 3580%. The other slots also garner substantial premiums of between 790% and 840%.
Commenting on its orbital slot acquisition, Hughes said: “With this win, the company looks forward to making use of these slots to expand its video and data service offerings in one of the fastest growing regions of the world.”
Hughes, which is now owned by EchoStar, already operates a satellite broadband business service in Brazil, providing managed network services to the banking, education, retail, and utilities sectors.
Anatel first announced the plans for the new slots in mid-July, stating that the process would allow Brazil to increase satellite capacity to meet anticipated growth in demand from hosting the football World Cup in 2014 and Olympic Games in 2016.
