Dish Network subscribers have access to Disney Junior following Dish’s recent carriage agreement with The Walt Disney Co. Disney Junior is available in Dish programming packages, including America’s Top 200, America’s Top 250 and America’s Everything Pak, Dish said in a news release (http://bit.ly/1kOlhFI). “Authenticated access to WATCH Disney Junior, SEC ESPN Network and Longhorn Network will launch later this year."

Intelsat and L-3 successfully demonstrated the new U.S. Air Force Protected Tactical Waveform (PTW) technology over Ku-band transponders on the Intelsat fleet. Engineers measured the performance of anti-jam modems and waveform technology from L-3 on a Ku-band satellite emulator over the Galaxy 18 satellite, Intelsat and L-3 said in a press release (http://bit.ly/1lM2Mpq). “The testing and transmissions over an existing Intelsat Ku-band satellite validate the compatibility of the PTW with commercial space assets.” PTW is designed to provide affordable, anti-jam SATCOM capabilities over existing satellites, the companies said.

SES and Telecomm Mexico signed an agreement to use capacity to connect underserved rural communities with high-speed broadband. As a government-owned organization, Telecomm Mexico will use five transponders of Ku-band capacity on the AMC-3 satellite, SES said in a news release (http://bit.ly/1oyyKr2). The organization intends to link 11,000 schools and community centers with Internet access and voice services, SES said. The satellite is at 67 degrees west.

Thuraya and Airtel Africa entered into a partnership to provide Airtel Africa customers with mobile satellite products and services across 17 African countries. Customers will have voice and broadband connectivity “via Thuraya’s satellite network across the continent’s most remote areas,” Thuraya said in a news release Monday (http://bit.ly/1i85uQj). Beginning in May, Airtel Africa will sell Thuraya’s products and airtime packages at their retail outlets, it said.

Intelsat and Vodacom signed an agreement to provide Intelsat’s managed broadband service to Vodacom. That will help Vodacom offer a differentiated broadband service targeting the small office/home office and small- and medium-sized enterprise users across sub-Saharan Africa, Intelsat said in a news release Monday (http://bit.ly/1dKh7zN). Intelsat plans to provide Ku-band capacity to Vodacom on Intelsat 28 at 32.8 degrees east, it said. The solution will be powered by Hughes, it said. When Intelsat 33e launches in 2016, Vodacom plans to use its capacity to access a high performance overlay “that will provide additional throughput for its busiest regions,” Intelsat said.

Advocacy groups for broadcasters and cable sparred this week over cable buying groups, which broadcast organization TVFreedom.org called “a dubious pay-TV business practice,” in a release calling for congressional and regulatory investigations of the National Cable Television Cooperative. “We believe America’s consumers deserve to know whether buying groups, like NCTC, provide any savings at all to consumers on their monthly cable bills,” said a TVFreedom spokesman in the release. TVFreedom took particular aim at the American Cable Association, which has been lobbying the FCC for more program carriage protection for buying groups like NCTC. In responses from ACA and the American Television Alliance (ATVA), the cable industry said TVFreedom’s focus on joint negotiation with programmers through buying groups was a reaction to likely new FCC restrictions on broadcasters jointly negotiating retransmission consent contracts. Calling TVFreedom a “proxy” for the NAB, ACA called the allegations against NCTC “a desperate and pathetic effort to deflect attention away from the fact that TV stations have been caught red-handed by the Federal Communications Commission in colluding in the negotiation of retransmission consent.” NAB is a member of TVFreedom, along with many other broadcaster groups. ATVA also linked the attack on NCTC to NAB. “This baseless attack is further proof the NAB is so desperate to distract from the collusion crackdown it’s facing that it’s willing to make up a phony story,” said ATVA. In an emailed response, a TVFreedom spokesman said the groups were trying to cloud the issue. “We are asking the NCTC and ACA pay-TV members to simply answer the questions we are asking for the benefit of consumers’ awareness,” said the spokesman. In its own emailed release, NTCA said broadcasters were trying to “defect focus” and “impede” rule updates. Video buying groups are “indispensable” to small carriers that provide video services in rural areas, NTCA said. “Without video buying groups that often provide the only hope of managing content costs, small companies could not bring video to remote areas where over-the-air signals are often difficult or impossible to receive,” NTCA said.

Gogo received a supplemental type certificate (STC) from the Federal Aviation Administration to install Ku-band satellite equipment on Airbus A330 aircraft for Delta. “With the newly-issued A330 STC, Gogo and Delta can begin initial testing of the service on their A330 fleet before the service goes live to consumers,” Gogo said in a news release Thursday (http://bit.ly/1fKvfDC). Gogo said it expects to install its connectivity service on the airline’s entire fleet by the end of 2015. Gogo previously received the certification to install the equipment on Boeing 747-400 aircraft also for Delta, said the provider of in-flight communication services.

The Canadian government requested frequency coordination for two earth stations operating in the 3700-4200 MHz and 5925-6425 MHz bands. If no adverse comments are received by April 18, “these earth stations will be considered satisfactorily coordinated with the USA and Canada will be so advised,” the FCC International Bureau’s Satellite Division said in a public notice (http://bit.ly/1fHZqeO).

Glowlink Communications Technology and iDirect Government Technologies joined the Satellite Industry Association. IDirect, based in Herndon, Va., offers satellite IP products for critical communications, and Silicon Valley-based Glowlink provides equipment and services for carrier spectrum monitoring, interference prevention and other applications, SIA said in a news release (http://bit.ly/Nuxm7N).

Russian-owned satellites, Express AT1 and Express AT2, were successfully launched Sunday by a Proton M rocket. Eutelsat contracted 15-year leases for transponders across all of the satellites that will principally serve the platforms of direct broadcast satellite companies Tricolor TV and NTV Plus, Eutelsat said in a news release (http://bit.ly/1nyHcpR). Express AT1 will replace an existing satellite at 56 degrees east and Express AT2 will be go to 140 degrees east, it said.