EMC and Arabsat sign a milestone agreement  for over US$ 85 Million

July 8th, 2008. 

Emerging Markets Communications (EMC) and Arabsat have signed a milestone agreement for a global value of over US$ 85 Million that ensures EMC high power standard C-band space capacity on the Arabsat satellite fleet over the next 10 years.    

Arabsat currently owns and operates 4 satellites at 2 orbital positions, including the Arabsat-2B at 30.5 degrees East. In addition to that, Arabsat has embarked on an ambitious plan to outgrow its fleet with the launch of one new satellite per year as of 2008, including BADR-6 launched last night and Arabsat-5A due fourth quarter of 2009. BADR-6 will be positioned at the 26 degrees East orbital position and Arabsat-5A at 30.5 degrees East, replacing Arabsat-2B for full continuity and expansion towards new markets.   

EMC, a global provider of satellite telecommunications networks, is assuring under this agreement capacity in Arabsat satellite fleet, with coverage of the entire African and the Central Asian countries for the next ten years.  

“It is no secret that getting satellite capacity is one of the major challenges the industry is facing for the years to come. This agreement with Arabsat allows EMC to keep providing its customers a full range of options and will assure capacity for their networks”, said Abel Avellan, President of EMC.  

And he added “EMC provides end-to-end communications services to organizations that have operations in countries where satellite is the best or the only option. The UN, IMF, WB, and different 500 fortune companies are among our customers. These are organizations for which the quality and stability of their communications are critical factors in their day-to-day operations. We have to make sure we deliver that, and to assure the satellite capacity for the future is one of our top priorities”.  

Khalid Balkheyour, President & CEO of Arabsat, answered “We are immensely pleased, and feel definitely honored, to have been able to convince such a large and reputable north-American telecommunications player as EMC that our brand new BADR-6 satellite is currently the best available option on the market to guarantee their long-term growth over the Middle East and Africa regions”.  

He then concluded “we consider the signature of this major contract as a milestone in our ambitious deployment plan towards the sub-Saharan African market, and trust it marks the beginning of a long-term partnership with EMC whose expansion we’ll be equipped to support further with our forthcoming three 5th generation satellites in 2009, 2010, and 2011.”