News Broadcasting
Grand Santi, French Guiana gets internet access courtesy Intelsat
Global communications company Intelsat is providing satellite capacity to support the first ever internet access to Grand Santi, French Guiana.
The internet access, which is installed in a local school for use as a learning aide, will be carried over by satellite for connection to the US internet backbone. The project is the pilot site for a programme which will eventually provide an Internet and telephone network across the territory. The programme to provide connectivity and build infrastructure in French Guiana will continue through the year, with several other locations being gradually added to the network, says an official release.
The internet access solution to the area is provided through ‘Outremer Telecom’ of Martinique, in conjunction with the ‘Communaute des Communes de l’Ouest Guyanais’ (CCOG), a grouping of counties in west French Guiana. The Intelsat 801 spacecraft at 328.5E will provide the satellite capacity for this network.
According to Outremer Telecom regional network manager, Frdric Hayot there are very few satellite operators who can accommodate such a remote situation where the end users are virtually unreachable and lack the infrastructure needed to communicate with the rest of the world.
Intelsat Global Sales & Marketing Ltd. president, John Stanton, says that the internet solution that is being provided to French Guiana demonstrates not only the efficiencies that satellites can offer for remote locations, but also makes it possible to connect all the regions of the world.
News Broadcasting
News TV viewership jumps 33 per cent as West Asia war draws audiences
BARC Week 8 data shows news share rising to 8 per cent despite T20 World Cup
NEW DELHI:Â Even as individual television news channel ratings remain under a temporary pause, the genre itself is seeing a clear surge in audience attention.
According to the latest data from Broadcast Audience Research Council India, television news recorded a 33 per cent jump in genre share in Week 8 of 2026, covering February 28 to March 6.
The news genre accounted for 8 per cent of total television viewership during the week, up from 6 per cent the previous week. The spike in attention coincided with escalating geopolitical tensions involving the United States, Israel and Iran, which have kept global headlines firmly fixed on West Asia.
The rise is notable because it came at a time when cricket was dominating television screens. The high-stakes stages of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, including the Super 8 fixtures and semi-finals, were being broadcast during the same period.
Despite the cricket frenzy, viewers appeared to be toggling between sport and global affairs, boosting the overall share of news programming.
The surge in genre share comes even as the government has enforced a one-month pause on publishing ratings for individual news channels. The move followed regulatory scrutiny of the television ratings ecosystem.
While channel-level rankings remain temporarily out of sight, the genre-level data suggests that when global tensions escalate, audiences continue to turn to television news for real-time updates.
