New Skies Satellites N.V. the global satellite communications company, announced today that two major European telecommunication companies, Telenor and CPR Marconi (part of Portugal Telecom Group), have signed on for voice and data services over New Skies’ upcoming NSS-7 Atlantic Ocean region satellite.

In addition, the Albanian Internet service provider Albanian Business Communications (ABCom) also will join the established IP and telecom neighborhood on the new NSS-7 spacecraft.

“The launch of NSS-7 on April 16 will add incremental capacity where our customers need it, allowing us to fulfill the service requirements of innovative companies such as CPR Marconi, Telenor and ABCom,” said Howard Farr, New Skies’ vice president of sales for Europe. “We want to be a part of their future business plans and NSS-7 will ensure we have the resources to support them.”

NSS-7, New Skies’ first new spacecraft since the company’s creation in 1998 and The Netherlands’ first communications satellite ever, is scheduled for launch from the European spaceport in French Guiana on Tuesday, April 16, at approximately 10:53 P.M. Greenwich Mean Time.

The satellite has been designed to replace the NSS-803 and NSS-K satellites at 338.5 degrees East longitude, combining the existing television and Internet services on NSS-K with the substantial video and data traffic on NSS-803.

Prior to NSS-7’s launch and service commencement, both CPR Marconi and Telenor will use the NSS-803 satellite. CPR Marconi, a current New Skies customer, is increasing their capacity with the company to support the continued delivery of telephony services throughout Portugal and the Azores Islands over NSS-7.

Telenor is a new customer that will create a Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT) network for the delivery of fixed data and telephony services throughout Africa and Latin America. To establish the new VSAT network, Telenor will point a 16-meter antenna, located at their Nittedal Earth Station north of Oslo, at New Skies’ 338.5 degrees East orbital position.

Using New Skies’ IPsys Internet services and NSS-7’s high-power Ku-band coverage beams, ABCom will link directly into the U.S. Internet backbone through New Skies’ Washington Mediaport. The service has already begun on the NSS-K satellite.

The NSS-7 design is based on Lockheed Martin’s A2100AX platform and boasts a communications payload consisting of nearly 3,500 MHz of capacity. The bandwidth is spread over 36 C-band and 36 Ku-band transponders in 11 high-powered coverage beams, which are focused on key developed and emerging markets throughout the Americas, Europe and Africa.

The extensive switching capability between beams and between frequency bands offers enhanced connectivity between regions and makes it possible to tailor capacity to match current Internet and video traffic patterns in the Atlantic Ocean Region. NSS-7’s high downlink power levels also will enable the use of smaller, more efficient receive systems for the delivery of Internet and data services.