Intelsat, a global satellite communications company with SD-WAN and mobile managed services capabilities, is facing potential bankruptcy, Bloomberg reports. The service provider had hoped to boost revenues and profits by selling airwave licenses for 5G wireless networks -- but that effort has so far fallen short, Fortune notes.
This is the second potential service provider bankruptcy ChannelE2E is tracking this week. The other involves Frontier Communications, a telecom service provider with SD-WAN and managed cloud services.
Still, Intelsat has a plan to emerge as a stronger service provider. The company is seeking backers for a bankruptcy loan that would keep the satellite service in business under Chapter 11 court protection while the business waits for billions of dollars in proceeds from a government spectrum auction, Bloomberg asserts.
Intelsat's Emerging Managed Services
Intelsat, in many respects, is a next-generation MSP (managed IT service provider). The company's emerging services include:
- FlexMove, a managed service that allows people to connect to the Internet, private data networks and cloud services from virtually anywhere in the world, including while on-the-move, or on-the-pause at a temporary site, Intelsat said in February 2020. The manage service targets businesses, first responders and humanitarian-aid organizations. Intelsat is recruiting FlexMove MSP partners here.
- SD-WAN over Satellite Access -- which would allow customers to implement and manage remote site connectivity across different network providers, different network types (terrestrial and space), and different SD-WAN technology vendors ― all through a single user portal, Intelsat asserted in November 2019. Partners on that demo included 128 Networks and Nuage Networks (a Nokia company); terrestrial service provider CMC Networks; SD-WAN CPE vendor Kontron; software and services providers Infovista and Cloudify; and business/network consulting company GDX.
Intelsat Revenue Results
Although it competes in several growth markets, Intelsat's revenue fell 5 percent to $517 million for the three months ended December 31, 2019, compared to the corresponding quarter in 2018.
Intelsat's stock has fallen from about $26 in November 2019 to $1.10 on April 14, 2020.
