New Skies Satellites N.V., and Intelsat Global Sales & Marketing, Ltd., two leading providers of global satellite communications services, today announced an arrangement to use their existing orbital and satellite resources at a single orbital location to expand their respective commercial service offerings to the Americas, Europe, Africa and the Middle East.
Under the terms of the agreement, New Skies will allow use of its C-band frequency rights at 340 degrees East, where the U.S.-licensed hybrid Intelsat 603 satellite is currently providing Ku-band services.
In return, each company will separately market the satellite’s C-band capacity for the delivery of video, Internet and data services throughout the Atlantic Ocean region, sharing revenues from C-band operations.
Each company may also offer “cross-strapped” services, where customer transmissions may be uplinked to the satellite in the C-band and downlinked in the Ku-band, and vice versa.
In addition, the two companies are exploring opportunities for a similar arrangement using New Skies’ NSS-513 satellite, which was replaced in the Pacific Ocean region by NSS-5 in December 2002.
Dan Goldberg, New Skies’ CEO, said, “This agreement is a positive development for both New Skies and Intelsat. Although we compete vigorously with Intelsat around the world, satellite operators are increasingly entering into such arrangements when it makes good business sense. This agreement is consistent with that broader trend in our industry and is a reflection of our ability to make productive use of our expansion orbital locations without making additional capital expenditures or incurring significant incremental expenses.”
“We are pleased to have reached this agreement with New Skies,” stated Conny Kullman, CEO, Intelsat, Ltd. “We believe that this will allow us to maximize revenues, minimize costs and optimize orbital resources.”
The Intelsat 603 satellite began operations in July 1992 and employs 64 C-band and 24 Ku-band transponders (36 MHz equivalent). The satellite’s Global, Hemi and Zone C-band beams offer comprehensive coverage of the Americas, Europe, Africa and the Middle East. In its current inclined orbit, Intelsat 603 is expected to provide services until July 2008.
New Skies has six satellites in orbit, ground facilities around the world and one additional spacecraft under construction. The company also has secured certain rights to make use of additional orbital positions, including four serving the Americas.
