Intelsat's Second Epic Satellite to Begin Operation in Early 2017

The Intelsat 33e satellite is expected to be in service in early 2017, CEO Stephen Spengler said during the company's Q3 earnings call Thursday. It and Intelsat 36 satellites were launched in August (see 1608250021), with 33e being the second of the company's high-throughput seven-satellite Epic constellation. The company has three more launches scheduled in 2017: Intelsat 32e, an Epic satellite, in Q1, Intelsat 35e in Q2 and Intelsat 37e in Q4, it said in a news release. Spengler said the company still is being hit with pricing pressures, though network services seem to be stabilizing. For the quarter, Intelsat had revenue of $542.7 million, down 7 percent due to network services declines, but up from Q2 due to revenue from direct-to-home satellites launched earlier this year, Spengler said.