Intelsat Becomes Lead Provider Of North American Satellite Capacity To SkyPort

Intelsat Tuesday announced that Houston-based SkyPort International, with the purchase of two long-term capacity leases on the IA-7 satellite over North America, has made Intelsat its lead provider of satellite capacity to serve the specialized needs of oil and gas companies, particularly in the Gulf of Mexico, as well as government agencies and other businesses with high security requirements.

SkyPort is a licensed provider of managed, secure, broadband satellite communications services.

The IA-7, which is one of four recently acquired satellites in the Intelsat Americas fleet, is providing SkyPort’s customers with IP-based connectivity in C- and Ku-band across the continental US plus Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Mexico and the Caribbean region.

SkyPort is accessing IA-7 via its strategically located teleport at Ellington Field, Texas, a state-of-the-art facility built to Secure Compartmentalized Information Facility (SCIF) specifications.

“SkyPort is a valued new customer in the U.S. market, providing critical communications solutions to customers with high reliability demands on a 24/7 basis,” said Mark Rasmussen, Regional Vice President, North America Sales, attending the Offshore Communications trade show in Houston.

“Partnering with premier service providers such as SkyPort, and backed by our 40 years experience in global satellite operations, Intelsat is enabling a variety of applications for the converging voice, data and IP requirements of the oil and gas, maritime and financial industries, in addition to the government services market.”

“Intelsat’s capacity, coverage and excellent operational track record made them the best partner for SkyPort in creating the end-to-end solution that our customers demand,” said Rick Davis, Vice President, Sales and Marketing.

“While Intelsat is new to the U.S. domestic market, this is a company that’s been a leader in worldwide satellite services for decades. They understand the needs of our customers and I know that we can depend on their powerful network and capabilities.”