Avanti Comms wins $7.6m refund

Satellite operator Avanti Communications was flying high on Monday after a New York court upheld its claim for a $7.57m refund from Space Exploration Technologies Corporation.Avanti was awarded the full amount of the refund it claimed, namely $7,566,013, plus interest.In a trading update the company said that the process of migrating the base of some 5,000 Avanti end users currently using leased Ku band capacity onto Avanti's HYLAS 1 satellite has proceeded to plan, with 10% already migrated.Avanti has confirmed that at the service launch of HYLAS 1 the peak utilisation rate under HYLAS 1 aggregate contracts is 35.1%, which comfortably exceeds the 25% target set pre-launch. Backlog revenues for HYLAS 1 are now £139.0m while for HYLAS 2 they are £28,4m. Avanti also notes a £113.4m option for HYLAS 2 capacity which is subject to a significant option fee. "Avanti is also pleased to report that the increased credibility generated from successful service launch has resulted in an increase to the pipeline. The pipeline now stands at £427.2m," the company statement concluded.---jh