Satellite operator SES has signed several new contracts with Gateway Communications Africa that will provide the wholesale telecommunications carrier with more capacity
Gateway will be provided with capacity on SES’s NSS-703 satellite at 313 degrees East and its NSS-5 and NSS-7 satellites positioned at 340 degrees East, while will allow the telecommunication carrier to expand its business with mobile network operators (MNOs) and internet service providers (ISPs) across Africa.
Gateway Communications chief operating office Phil Braden said, “Satellite connectivity remains a core tool in connecting our customers to each other and to the rest of the world.
“As subsea cables bring more capacity to the coast of Africa, investing in satellite and building terrestrial networks have a great future across Africa.”
SES has a fleet of 50 geostationary satellites, which provide communications services to a range of broadcasters, internet service providers, mobile and fixed network operators and governmental organisations.
The company currently has eight satellites that serve the African continent and has plans to launch two more in 2012.
Ibrahima Guimba-Saidou, SES vice president and general manager for Africa, remarked, “These organisations face infrastructure issues in Africa due to the vast territories to be covered and this is where satellite coverage is used to alleviate some of the mobile backhaul limitations.”
