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Telecom Lead Team: Satellite services provider Intelsat
announced that Etisalat UAE, a mobile services operator in the Middle East, has
signed an agreement for capacity on Intelsat 22, scheduled to launch in late
March 2012.
The multi-transponder agreement will enable Etisalat to
utilize the satellite’s capacity to expand its broadband and GSM backhaul
services in the Middle East, Africa, Europe and central Asia.
“As the leading provider of connectivity in the
Middle East, Etisalat will now be able to expand the reach of its broadband and
GSM backhaul services to new regions across the globe,” said Ali Amiri,
executive vice president of carrier and wholesale services for Etisalat.
The satellite will carry two Ku-band mobility beams
providing coverage of the Indian Ocean region, which will blanket vital
maritime and aeronautical routes. In addition, Intelsat 22 will have Ku-band
capacity serving the Middle East and eastern Africa. Its C-band hemi beams
coverage provides connectivity to and from most of Europe, Africa, the Middle
East and eastern Asia.
We continue to work closely with premier
telecommunications providers like Etisalat to help them expand their global
footprint. Intelsat 22 is the first of five satellites expected to launch in
2012 that will provide additional capacity over key regions like the Middle
East, Africa and Asia,” said Jean Philippe Gillet, Intelsat’s regional vice
president of sales for Europe and the Middle East.
Intelsat 22 will replace Intelsat 709, and will serve the
Indian Ocean region from 72ºE.
Etisalat’s UAE operations, strategically located at the
crossroads of East and West, enables Etisalat to be the major hub in the Middle
East for Internet, voice, broadcast, roaming and corporate data services.
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