Satellite operators win Brazil exploration rights

Operators controlled by Canada’s Telesat, UAE’s Yahsat and Spain’s Hispasat have won exploration rights in a Brazilian orbital auction that raised about R$184m (US$58m).
The country set a minimum price of R$27m (US$8.6m) for each of the four…

Operators controlled by Canada’s Telesat, UAE’s Yahsat and Spain’s Hispasat have won exploration rights in a Brazilian orbital auction that raised about R$184m (US$58m).

The country set a minimum price of R$27m (US$8.6m) for each of the four rights on offer, and the sale premiums ended up ranging from 56.9% to 85.6%.

Telesat won the first and second stages by paying a 56.9% premium at R$42.5m (US$13.5m) and a 72.96% premium at R$46.9m (US$14.9m) for them, respectively. It picked up two slots at 63W: One for Ka-band services and the other for so-called Appendix 30B mixed services.

Yahsat won Ka-band rights at 20W in the third stage with a R$44.1m (US$14m) proposal at a 62.8% premium.

Both companies had taken part in Brazil’s last orbital sale about a year ago but ended up losing to Hispasat, SES and Eutelsat.

Hispasat, which bids through Hispamar, a joint venture with Brazilian telco Oi, paid R$50.3m (US$16m) to win the latest auction’s fourth stage at the highest premium of 85.6%. It was awarded the right to use Ku-band at 74W.

France’s Eutelsat had also submitted sealed bids last week to take part in the sale.

It is the sixth orbital slot auction that local regulator Anatel has held since its inception in 1997.

Anatel CEO John Rao said the results showed that investors still believed in the potential of the country’s telecoms market.

Operators attracted to Latin America’s emerging market growth potential have been rushing to get into the region in recent years, prompting concerns about a potential oversupply of satellite capacity.