New Skies launches new Internet transmission platform for expanded services in West Africa
NSS-7 satellite’s powerful Ku-band coverage of the region allows for
smaller, more cost-effective customer transmission equipment
ABUJA, Nigeria, August 28, 2003 – New Skies Satellites N.V. (AEX, NYSE:
NSK), the global satellite communications company, today announced it has
established an additional IP transmission platform dedicated to Internet
services providers, telecommunications carriers, government agencies and
businesses throughout West Africa.
The expansion is in response to strong demand in the region for the company’
s IPsys-branded Internet backbone connectivity services and powerful Ku-band
capacity on the NSS-7 satellite. IPsys directly connects customers’ remote
Points of Presence (PoPs) to the global Internet backbone via a single
satellite hop. IPsys connections thus bypass all shared ground networks and
associated congestion points–as well as any terrestrial connectivity
gaps–to seamlessly deliver rich Internet content to even the remotest
locations at high speeds.
Ku-band transmissions enable IPsys customers to use lower-cost receive
equipment and very small antennas. The NSS-7 satellite offers some of the
most powerful Ku-band coverage of West Africa available today, making New
Skies’ IPsys services the most cost-effective and highest quality solutions
for connecting to the backbone.
Jean-Pierre Kabanda, New Skies’ director of sales for Africa, said: "Since
its inception, New Skies has consistently demonstrated its commitment to
Africa and to the region’s development, designing NSS-7 to be one of the
most powerful satellites serving the continent.
"We’ve now developed a service based on the strengths of NSS-7’s Ku-band
coverage of West Africa, which will offer customers reliable, ultra-high
speed access to the backbone with the benefits of lower cost Ku-band
equipment. So regardless of the limitations of existing infrastructure on
the ground, New Skies can offer customers in Africa a communications network
that rivals any in the world."
New Skies currently operates 17 platforms for IPsys services over five
satellites via five separate teleport facilities on three continents. In
total, these platforms provide over 850 Mbps of contracted capacity to more
than 95 customers in 50 countries. Including the new NSS-7 Ku-band service,
New Skies operates four platforms that collectively transmit Internet
traffic to approximately 100 customer PoPs throughout Africa.
The transmission hardware, associated equipment and connectivity for the new
IPsys platform is provisioned at New Skies’ Washington D.C. mediaport, which
seamlessly links into the North American Internet backbone. The facility
will uplink bandwidth-intensive Internet traffic to the NSS-7 satellite for
direct delivery to customer PoPs throughout West Africa.
IPsys benefits
IPsys services are offered over a truly global and highly reliable satellite
network.
IPsys can bring carrier-level, high-throughput, Internet backbone
connectivity to virtually any spot on the globe.
IPsys improves QoS by creating a direct channel from the Internet backbone
to the ISP’s PoP, or its customers’ premises.
In contrast to fixed terrestrial connections, IPsys solutions are flexible
and scalable, accommodating the Internet’s asymmetrical traffic patterns,
and allowing incremental, on demand bandwidth growth to
Every part of the IPsys service uses fully redundant, industry leading
components.
About New Skies Satellites
New Skies Satellites (AEX, NYSE: NSK) is one of only four fixed satellite
communications companies with truly global satellite coverage, offering
video, voice, data and Internet communications services to a range of
telecommunications carriers, broadcasters, large corporations, Internet
service providers and government organizations around the world. New Skies
has five satellites in orbit, ground facilities around the world and one
additional spacecraft under construction. The company also has secured
certain rights to make use of additional orbital positions for future
growth. New Skies is headquartered in The Hague, The Netherlands, and has
offices in Beijing, Hong Kong, Johannesburg, New Delhi, S„o Paulo,
Singapore, Sydney and Washington, D.C. IPsysÆ is a registered trade mark of
New Skies Satellites N.V.
