Intersat is expanding its internet service offerings to East Africa via a new agreement with SES S.A.
The ISP will use the Ku-band capacity on SES’s NSS-12 satellite via the SES Djibouti teleport to deliver shared and dedicated internet services delivered via the latest and most advanced iDirect VSAT technology, with a capacity of up to 70Mbps. Intersat currently serves over 200 VSAT terminals using the SES service.
“Intersat is in the business of breaking down the price barrier that has held back the majority of Africans from benefiting from the internet. Not only have we connected businesses, government organisations, internet service providers, educational institutions and hospitals, but we have also brought affordable broadband internet via satellite to rural Africa,” said Subrata Roy, Chief Technical Officer at Intersat. “The new deal on NSS-12 satellite’s Ku-band will allow us to double the number of terminals we serve by 2016.”
“The agreement with Intersat allows us to better serve customers in the East African market who have little or no access to terrestrial based connectivity,” said Ibrahima Guimba-Saidou, Senior Vice President, Commercial, Africa at SES.
In addition, SES has launched a new flexible and customised high-speed broadband service in five African countries. SES Broadband will be available in Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa. The two-way communications platform offers up to 1Gbps for both customisable data rates and fixed packages, with more than 99.5% service availability.
Krasimira Bozhinkova, Vice President, Data Portfolio Management at SES said, “The socio-economic impact of broadband access in empowering people has been proven and is growing. Our new platforms simplify the process of getting connected without limiting the experience.”