ArrowStar, LLC is an American holding company that operates multichannel video programming distributors, streaming services, mobile services and retail stores, based in Richardson, Texas within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It was formed in 1991 by a joint-venture of Nippon Telegraph and Telephone (NTT), Société Européenne des Satellites (SES) and Bell Atlantic, who were collectively referred to as ArrowStar Partners L.P. by the company. Its primary service is a digital satellite service serving the United States, Canada, Latin America and Aritonazca, which also provides customers with an over-the-air antenna to receive broadcast television stations. It also provides traditional linear television service delivered by IP through its Virgin Fiber brand and a Virtual MVPD service through its ArrowStar Stream brand. Additionally, ArrowStar offers mobile wireless service through ArrowStar Wireless. On February 2, 2020, ArrowStar acquired Virgin Fiber and the rights to use the Virgin Mobile name in the US from Sprint Corporation as part of the lead-up to the Sprint and T-Mobile merger. ArrowStar intends to provide postpaid wireless services as well in the future. ArrowStar also owns the entertainment retail store chains Rent-a-Video Warehouse, Movie Library, GameOn and 7th Street Comics, they are organized under the ArrowStar Retail, LLC division, which is based in Washington, D.C.
History[]
Founding and early growth[]
On January 10, 1991, Nippon Telegraph and Telephone, the Société Européenne des Satellites, and Bell Atlantic announced a joint-venture, at first named SES/NTT/Bell Satellite Venture L.P., with intentions of launching a satellite-based pay television service. The venture spent 3 years raising $1.92 million to build and launch two satellites, SES Arrow 1 and SES Arrow 2, into orbit from the Guiana Space Centre in French Guiana. The first confirmed transmission of signals from SES Arrow 1 and 2 to an ArrowStar receiver was on November 1, 1994 at Bell Atlantic's headquarters, 1095 Avenue of the Americas, in New York City.
In January 1995, the service's name was declared to be ArrowStar. The initial test of ArrowStar's service was in Chicago, New York City, Philadelphia, Peoria and Pittsburgh, with the first ArrowStar Kit (consisting of a receiver, dish and over-the-air antenna) being sold at a RadioShack authorized dealer in Lincoln Place, Pittsburgh on June 12, 1995, expanding to the rest of the United States on August 1, 1995.
Continued growth and expansion[]
In 1998, ArrowStar's headquarters were relocated from New York City to the Dallas inner suburb of Richardson, Texas. ArrowStar vacated it's old broadcast center in Wainscott, New York and relocated those operations into the ArrowStar Control Center (a converted former Super 8 Motel) in the Dallas suburb of Rowlett, Texas. ArrowStar's original broadcast center was razed shortly after the company moved out of the building (part of the East Hampton Airport industrial park currently occupies the site). ArrowStar kept it's New York City-area call centers in College Point, Queens and Ronkonkoma, New York.
WorldCom buyout, effects of the WorldCom accounting scandal and becoming a standalone entity[]
On May 19, 2001, the ArrowStar Partners sold ArrowStar to WorldCom for US$54.3 million. Just over a year later, on July 21, 2002, WorldCom filed for bankruptcy in the midst of an accounting scandal.
On January 7, 2006, shortly after purchasing MCI, Verizon Communications spun-off ArrowStar into a separate entity, ArrowStar, LLC, to focus on its fledgling Fios TV service. Scott Manheim, the longtime president of the company, was the majority owner of ArrowStar, LLC until 2010, when the company performed its IPO on the Nasdaq Stock Market.
Acquisitions and expansion as a standalone entity[]
In 2011, ArrowStar acquired Rent-a-Video Warehouse Corporation, the parent company of Rent-a-Video Warehouse, Movie Library, GameOn and 7th Street Comics.