The Economist - A big merger in the satellite industry is rich with irony:
"'TRUTH and technology will triumph over bullshit and bureaucracy.' That was the motto of Rene Anselmo, the maverick founder of PanAmSat, who set out in 1984 to overthrow the monopoly over the satellite business then held by Intelsat, an international consortium backed by over 100 governments and incumbent telecoms operators. Anselmo took on the slow-moving, bureaucratic industry with the aid of Spot, a cartoon dog who was depicted urinating on the leg of anyone who stood in his way. Both motto and mascot can still be seen on PanAmSat's website, but probably not for much longer. On August 29th Intelsat, now a private firm and the industry's second-largest operator, announced that it had agreed to buy PanAmSat for $3.2 billion. Combining its 28 satellites with PanAmSat's 25 will put Intelsat back on top of the industry. Anselmo, who died in 1995, 'will be spinning in his grave,' says Simon Bull of Comsys, a satellite consultancy."
