June 05, 2014

Inmarsat and Hellas-sat to launch a joint satellite

Inmarsat and Hellas-sat today announce that they have signed an agreement together to launch a joint satellite into 39deg E orbital location. The satellite will carry two missions; first, the S-band payload (designated ‘EuropaSat’), which represents Inmarsat’s commitment to deploy an integrated telecommunications network to deliver aviation passenger connectivity services on a EU-wide basis and, second, a 44 Ku-band transponders payload designated ‘Hellas-sat 3’ for Hellas-sat, a majority owned subsidiary of Arabsat that will replace the existing Hellas-sat2 satellite and provide more growth capacities to its customers with diversified footprints in Europe, Middle East and Africa. The satellite will be manufactured by Thales Alenia Space and work will commence immediately to be launched in 2016.

Khalid Balkheyour, Arabsat President & CEO and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Hellas-sat, said “ This agreement represents the first milestone in fulfilling our commitment to our shareholders to capture additional growth opportunities, especially after the acquisition of Hellas-sat . Hellas-sat-3 also represents our commitment to Hellas-sat’s existing and loyal customers and partners in maintaining and expanding their business and continue to establish 39deg E as one of the leading DTH hotspots in Europe. This is the first satellite contract among our announced 4 satellites’ program; Negotiations with Inmarsat started last November and was just recently concluded. The flexible design of our program’s bid in terms of process and selection criteria has allowed for this agreement to realise and to be carved out of the bid.”

Rupert Pearce, Inmarsat CEO, said, “North America has seen rapid take-up of in-flight passenger connectivity. The success of the GoGo air-to-ground network has already triggered the building of a second competing network by AT&T, one of the world’s largest telecommunications operators. Independent research predicts that in-flight connectivity services will be a multi-billion dollar revenue sector by 2020. Inmarsat’s initiative announced today represents a major new business opportunity that is expected to deliver incremental profitable growth in the years to come and to deliver a strong return on investment.”

Both Inmarsat and Arabsat agree that this joint satellite agreement will reduce significantly both parties’ costs over the three years of the project .

Christodoulos Protopapas, CEO of Hellas-sat has further commented ”Hellas Sat will continue to develop the location 39degE to be the leading DTH hotspot in Europe, Hellas-sat 3 will cater for additional capacities and services for HD and free to air channels and will guarantee additional room for our existing customer base to grow. Hellas-sat will leverage 39deg E by adding another satellite; Hellas-sat 4 with wide coverage and intensive Ku- beams over Europe, Middle East and Africa for different types of broadcasting and telecommunication services, in addition to a multi spot Ka-beams payload for broadband and business networks. The constellation of both Hs-3 and Hs-4 will provide extensive redundancy and backup capacities to further secure DTH networks and customer base and guarantee the sustainability of the business and provide competitive advantage to its customers in Europe and other areas. Hs-4 is currently included in the 4 satellite program’s bid earlier announced by Arabsat.”.

Both Rupert Pearce and Khalid Balkheyour concluded, “We are very excited by the potential for this project to generate significant future returns for both of our shareholders, while bringing exciting new services to our customers. Through our shared payload partnership we have lived up to our commitment to significantly minimise both risk and financial cost of our investment plans, while enabling a project with high potential returns. By spreading the cost of the investment over a period of several years we can manage the cost of the project while still creating value for shareholders from our existing operations and infrastructure.

For further information please contact Saad Al Tehaif saadt@arabsat.com or visit our website www.arabsat.com

About Arabsat:

Arabsat was founded in 1976 by the then 21 members of the League of Arab States and has been working to meet the needs of the Arab world for more than 46 years, from its headquarters in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and two satellite control ground stations in Riyadh and Tunisia.

Arabsat is one of the leading satellite operators in the world. Also it is the leading satellite service provider in the Arab world, as it carries more than 650 television channels, 245 radio stations, paid TV networks, and a wide range of HD channels. It reaches tens of millions of homes in more than 100 countries in the Middle East, Africa, Europe, and Central Asia. It is followed by more than 300 million viewers. Arabsat operates a fleet of state-of-the-art technology at 20 East, 26 East, 30.5 East, and 39 East in a fixed orbit around the Earth. Arabsat is also the only operator in the Middle East and North Africa region that provides a full spectrum of radio, television, telecommunications, and broadband services.

Arabsat operates a fleet of state-of-the-art technology at 20 East, 26 East, 30.5 East, and 39 East in a fixed orbit around the Earth. Arabsat is also the only operator in the Middle East and North Africa region that provides a full spectrum of radio, television, telecommunications, and broadband services.

In addition to that Arabsat maintains a strategic partnership with most of the world’s leading satellite and value-added companies, with Arabsat acquiring Hella Sat, which is one of the leading satellite communications groups in Southeast Europe. These partnerships and acquisitions give Arabsat access to new orbital location rights and frequencies, and wider coverage allowing customers to offer content and technical solutions to viewers or partners around the world.

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