[Satellite TODAY 09-23-10] The Russian Satellite Communications Co. (RSCC) has enlisted Thales Alenia Space to build the payloads for its Express AM8, AT1 and AT2 satellites, Thales announced Sept. 22. The satellites will be based on an Express 1000 platform provided by ISS Reshetnev and integrated and tested at ISS’ facilities in Krasnoyarsk, Russia.
    The Express AM8 satellite will operate at 14 degrees West, carrying 24 C-band transponders, 16 Ku-band transponders and two L-band transponders with coverage over Europe, Africa and North and South America. RSCC’s Express AT1 satellite will operate at 56 degrees East and carry 32 Ku-band transponders serving West and East Russia. The Express AT2 satellite will operate at 36 degrees East and carry 16 Ku-band transponders for West Russia.
    Thales Alenia Space said the contract is a boost for the manufacturer’s business, as RSCC is in the middle of a manufacturing program intended to bring a host of new capacity to the Russian market. “We have an ambitious $1 billion investment program,” RSCC CFO Denis Pivnyuk said Sept. 8 at Euroconsult’s World Satellite Business Week. “There will be new capacity for national digital broadcasting.  There is great potential for DTH in Russia. There are 59 million households in Russia. 6.7 million are already satellite pay-TV users. It will reach 8.9 million by the end of the year. We are looking at broadband services over Ka-band. There is also potential for cellular backhaul as well as consumer VSAT services. Given Russia’s geography, cellular operators want more capacity.”
    Pivnyuk also thinks there is a good opportunity for Ka-band in Russia. “There is no chance to compete with DSL, but we are talking about Russia. You cannot [run] fiber [throughout the country]. It is mostly a social thing to bridge the digital divide. Ka-band access may be he best solution for them.”
 

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