Website: Rapid TV News
Africa is proving to be an attractive market for satellite operators.
Intelsat has just started to commercialise extra capacity for the Continent in the shape of its recently acquired ProtoStar-1 craft.
Now renamed Intelsat-25, ProtoStar-1 was bought by Intelsat late last year and has now been repositioned at 328.5 deg E (31.5 deg West) which gives it an excellent position over Africa.
IS-25 commenced service last week and offers C- and Ku-band coverage over a substantial portion of Africa.
IS-25 provides capacity for high growth applications that include cellular backhaul for expansion services to remote locations; IP Trunking for robust internet connectivity; and video services for programming.
The Intelsat New Dawn satellite, currently scheduled to be launched this year, is expected to join IS-25, and will bring the number of satellites within Intelsat’s fleet that serve Africa to 25.
Top of the priority list is the upcoming FIFA World Cup, and Intelsat says the company will be providing more than 700 MHz of satellite capacity on as many as seven satellites within its global fleet for transmission services of the 2010 soccer championship.
“Rights-holding and non-rights-holding broadcasters will utilize Intelsat capacity to distribute the matches from South Africa to a global audience,” Intelsat said.
“In addition, Intelsat will combine this space segment with the IntelsatONE network of teleports, fiber and points of presence, offering end-to-end managed solutions.”
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Intelsat positions ProtoStar 1 over Africa
