Airtel Introduces Its Africa Connect Network
Bharti Airtel has launched its Africa Connect network aimed at enhancing Africa’s connectivity with the rest of the world and adding to the data carriage capacity in the continent. Africa Connect is expected to contribute to growth of Internet and data services in the continent, which is home to some of the fastest growing telecom markets in the world.

Africa Connect has an integrated fiber and satellite network with 42 Points of Presence (PoP) spread across 17 African countries. The network will offer a variety of integrated telecom applications and solutions. The suite of products in the area of global transmission and IP services include submarine capacity, global leased circuits, Ethernet and backhauls, global and regional IP transit, managed Internet, bandwidth on demand for customers, and a comprehensive suite of satellite and managed services portfolio to enterprises and carriers in the region. The network is supported by infrastructure built by other regional carriers.

ASC Signal Enables STN to Launch African DTH Platform
ASC Signal Corporation has provided the first of several large gateway antennas with high-accuracy tracking for the Slovenia teleport of Satellite Telecommunication Network (STN). The first Ka-band gateway in that country, ASC’s 5.6-meter antenna system will incorporate ASC’s Next Generation Controller (NGC) and patented Sub-Reflector Tracking (SRT) systems to provide high levels of tracking accuracy for any antenna of this type.

The antenna system designed for STN uses ASC’s SRT to more accurately compensate for thermal effects on Ka-band antennas and ensure one one-thousandth of a degree tracking accuracy for Ka-band satellites. This level of tracking accuracy will enable STN to achieve the highest level of throughput per satellite transponder.

In the initial project phase, STN will use the ASC gateway to uplink up to 120 SD format and 10 HD format TV channels over four Ka-band transponders.

RRSat Acquires JCA in London
RRSat will pay will pay $9 million in net cash to acquire JCA, a London-based provider of content management services. The acquisition is aligned with RRsat’s growth strategy of becoming a global company with local presence in key locations. The acquisition is expected to be accretive to RRsat’s earnings within the first full operational quarter post acquisition.

RRsat is acquiring 100 percent of the TVP Group, of which JCA is a wholly owned subsidiary. Besides the $9 million, an additional payment of $4.5 million will be deferred, conditional on business results including revenue growth and profitability in the three years following the acquisition.

SES Boosted by Major New Middle East Contract with CETel

NSS 12 satellite.
Photo: SSL

CETel and SES have renewed a multi-year deal and also signed a new multi-transponder capacity deal to provide services to meet the escalating demand for VSAT services and corporate networks in the Middle East. Under the new contracts, CETel will be leasing 80 MHz capacity on SES’ NSS 12 satellite to extend its VSAT networks for corporate and governmental networks across the region.

CETel, a teleport and satellite service provider serving the Middle Eastern, African and European regions, offers dedicated VSAT services for corporate and governmental networks and GSM backhaul services, as well as hub hosting and managed solutions, from their teleports. Its teleport is headquartered in Germany, with affiliate offices in the United Arab Emirates.

ABS Signs African Enterprise Deal
Asia Broadcast Satellite (ABS) and Hummerlton Security Services (HSS) have signed a multi-transponder agreement on ABS 2 and ABS 3 satellites. The capacity agreement will provide additional connectivity for HSS to expand its business network and infrastructure for its growing business in Africa.

Under the multi-year agreement, HSS will use the high-powered C- and Ku-band capacity of ABS 2 and ABS 3 to provide data services to its customers across Africa. It will be used to support HSS’s payment gateway services and to extend data connectivity and enterprise applications to ICT and the banking industry predominantly in the Africa region.