Along with Halsaa’s election at the ESOA quarterly board meeting Oct. 19, Eutelsat CEO Michel de Rosen was confirmed as Vice-Chairman and Intelsat CEO David McGlade was elected as second Vice-Chairman.

In his acceptance, Cato Halsaa thanked Béranger for his 18 months of leadership and emphasized his plan to continue the association’s policies stating, “Using the evidence from the Booz & Company report, we will develop the European Commission’s understanding that satellite is an inherent part of the future communications ecosystem, with a role that goes beyond that of bridging the digital divide.”

Halsaa also added, “I would also like to see the Commission take a holistic approach to managing and evaluating spectrum use in the future – an approach based not only on economics but also taking into account socio-economic factors and technical efficiencies.”

The ESOA is currently the only CEO-driven satellite organization to represent the world’s largest operators with all regional European players together and aims to increase awareness on matters directly impacting the business interests of satellite operators, such as key spectrum issues and space and broadband policy.