Arab Satellite Communication Organization (Arabsat) and Telesat Canada have signed a strategic commercial agreement under which Telesat will utilise a lifetime Ku-band payload on a the new Hellas Sat-4.
The new satellite’s RFP is going to the market in March as part of Arabsat’s RFP for its sixth generation satellites. The RFP will incorporate the design and manufacture of four new satellites. Hellas Sat-4 is expected to be launched in 2017 and will be located at 39 degrees East. Under the terms of the agreement, Telesat has acquired, on an exclusive basis, use of a high-powered Ku-band payload providing coverage of Europe and the Mediterranean region.
Telesat’s President and CEO, Dan Goldberg commented: “Telesat has enjoyed a longstanding and strategic relationship with Arabsat and has the highest regard for its commercial and operational capabilities. This latest agreement will provide Telesat with prime Ku-band capacity over Europe and the Mediterranean that complements well our existing in-orbit capacity. We are pleased to be able to partner with Arabsat on this initiative and to expand Telesat’s capabilities in this important region.”
Arabsat CEO Khalid Balkhyour commented: “The upcoming RFP for Arabsat’s 6th generation satellites reflects the company’s views on the exciting growth opportunities ahead of us and our commitment to capitalize on these opportunities. Hella-sat-4 will be a state of the art satellite with Ku and Ka-band missions. This commercial agreement with Telesat reflects the lasting cooperation between two leading satellite operators and will further establish Hellas-sat as a leading service provider in Europe.”
In a related development, the CETel Group (Central European Telecom Services) has announced a further cooperation with Arabsat to expand the existing solution portfolio by providing high?quality solutions on Arabsat?5C in Extended C?Band. Jointly Arabsat and CETel will deploy an additional 9.3m Antenna at the CETel Teleport facilities near Cologne/Bonn pointed towards Arabsat 5C at 20° East.
The infrastructure expansion will enable CETel to provide extended C?Band solutions, epecially for networks and trunking connections requiring high amounts of bandwidth, e.g. for ISPs and telecommunication Ccmpanies in Africa and the Middle East, CETel designs tailored end?to?end solutions on Arabsat 5C in extended C?Band.
