Agreement Signed with Intersat Africa for Broadband Service on New ASTRA 3B Satellite
SES ASTRA, an SES company (Paris:SESG) (LuxX:SESG), announced today that it is further expanding its successful satellite-based broadband service ASTRA2Connect, and will offer the service in the Middle East as of next year. As a result, the company has signed a second service distribution agreement with Intersat Africa, a leading provider of satellite-based internet services based in Kenya, Africa, for broadband services on SES ASTRA's new satellite ASTRA 3B scheduled for launch in 2010. This agreement follows a recently signed contract with Intersat Africa for the distribution of ASTRA2Connect in ten countries in Eastern and Central Africa.
Under the terms of the new contract, Intersat Africa will market ASTRA2Connect in Middle Eastern countries, and will offer four different download packages of up to 2 Mbit/s using a 100 cm satellite antenna. ASTRA 3B, built by Astrium, will be positioned at SES ASTRA's increasingly important orbital position 23.5 degrees East. The new satellite will carry 52 marketable transponders, with a maximum of 12 designated for the Middle East.
The innovative ASTRA2Connect satellite service offers customers in regions without terrestrial broadband networks an easy solution to access high-speed internet. At the same time, they can benefit from highly reliable, always-on and interactive broadband connections for flat service fees. The customer premises equipment - a modem and a satellite dish - is low cost and easy to install. The equipment is based on Newtec's successful Sat3Play® technology. ASTRA2Connect was first marketed in early 2007 and now already serves 50,000 end users throughout Europe. Based on this success, the ASTRA2Connect technology was further developed, and now also provides satellite-based internet connections for the industrial and maritime markets. The service is marketed via wholesalers and internet service providers.
"This is our second agreement with Intersat Africa to market ASTRA2Connect outside Europe, and we are very pleased that we can now offer our successful satellite technology in the Middle Eastern region as well," said Norbert Willems, Managing Director of ASTRA Broadband Services. "We are confident that ASTRA2Connect has the right potential for the Middle Eastern markets. There are many countries where a reliable terrestrial broadband network is not affordable, or is absent. The ASTRA2Connect technology is therefore an ideal solution for all households without access to other networks."
"We are very proud to be teaming up with such a strong partner as SES ASTRA for the Middle East in addition to our recent partnerships for Africa," says Abdul Bakhrani, CEO of Intersat Africa. "Our agreement allows us to enter the dynamic and very promising Middle Eastern markets, so that countries that lack a broadband internet infrastructure, now will have access to cost effective, reliable and bi-directional broadband internet connections via satellite."
Source : ME Newswire
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About SES ASTRA
SES ASTRA is the leading Direct-to-Home (DTH) satellite system in Europe. The satellite fleet currently comprises 13 ASTRA and two SIRIUS satellites. The combined satellite system delivers services to more than 122 million DTH and cable households and transmits more than 2,500 analogue and digital television and radio channels. SES ASTRA also provides satellite-based multimedia, internet and telecommunication services to enterprises, governments and their agencies. With nearly 100 High Definition (HD) channels on its main orbital positions, ASTRA and SIRIUS represent the most important HDTV platform for Europe's leading broadcasters. The prime orbital positions for ASTRA and SIRIUS are 19.2° East, 28.2° East, 23.5° East, 5° East and 31.5° East.
SES ASTRA is an SES company (Paris:SESG) (LuxX:SESG). SES wholly owns SES ASTRA and SES WORLD SKIES, 90% of SES SIRIUS in Europe, and participations in Ciel in Canada and QuetzSat in Mexico. SES provides outstanding satellite communications solutions via a global fleet of 40 satellites in 26 orbital locations. For further information: www.ses.com.
About Intersat Africa Limited
Intersat is one of the leading providers of satellite based data solutions in Africa offering Internet via Satellite connectivity to major organisations, government institutions and the private sector. Intersat strives hard to stay at the cutting edge of technology, investing heavily in state-of-the-art services that make service delivery more efficient and reliable.
Intersat's wide variety of customized products and services are purposed and optimized for their discerning customers' needs and are used by national and multinational corporations, academic institutions, financial institutions, backbone providers, broadcasters, Internet Service Providers and government institutions across Africa, Middle East and South East Asia.
Through continuous research and development, Intersat has been able to deliver turnkey satellite systems and infrastructure that enables its customers to break their communication boundaries. A team of competent and experienced technical personnel provides support to its customers throughout the African continent from Intersat's Nairobi office on a 24x7 basis.
For more information please contact:
Markus Payer
SES ASTRA
Tel: +352 710 725 500
Email: markus.payer@ses-astra.com
Website: www.ses-astra.com
Wilfred Waithaka
Intersat Africa Ltd
Email: waithaka@intersatafrica.com
Website: www.intersatafrica.com
© Press Release 2009
