SES Americom, Inc., an SES GLOBAL Company and U.S.-based satellite operator, announced today a multi-year service agreement to provide satellite capacity to EchoStar Communications Corporation on Americom’s AMC-15 satellite, a new satellite currently under construction.
EchoStar plans to utilize this capacity to seek ways to offer a combination of satellite TV programming bundled with satellite-delivered, high-speed Internet services.
AMC-15 is a Ku/Ka-band hybrid satellite being built for Americom by Lockheed Martin and is based on the highly reliable A2100 spacecraft platform. AMC-15 is planned for launch to the in-orbit location of 105 degrees West Longitude in the third quarter of 2004.
When fully operational, the satellite will feature 24 – 36 MHz Ku-band transponders, 12 – 125 MHz Ka-band spot beams and the highest levels of redundancy on core components such as amplifiers, receivers, commanding beam and computer control systems. Until AMC-15 becomes operational, EchoStar plans to begin testing using interim capacity from Americom.
Dean Olmstead, president and CEO of SES Americom, said, “EchoStar will be an excellent customer as they are an industry-leading pay TV service that continually seeks innovations that would enhance the consumer experience.
“This long-term agreement exemplifies our development of Americom2Home as a wholesale platform to maximize the range of entertainment and information services available to the American home.”
He continued, “We’re expanding the direct-to-home neighborhood in the U.S. by replicating the successful model established by our sister company, SES ASTRA, in Europe.”
Further terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
