Saturday, September 3, 2011

SES and Sea&Space Reach Agreement for the Distribution of Its Satellite Broadband Service in Central and West Africa


LUXEMBOURG - Saturday, September 3rd 2011 [ME NewsWire]

(BUSINESS WIRE)-- SES S.A. (Paris:SESG) (LuxX:SESG) today announced an agreement with Sea&Space Exploration for the distribution of SES’ proven satellite broadband service ASTRA2Connect in 20 countries in Central and West Africa. ASTRA2Connect will be distributed by Sea&Space’s spin-off SatADSL through a specialized network of professional distributors based in Nigeria, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Angola, Ivory Coast, Ghana and Sierra Leone.

ASTRA2Connect, Europe’s most successful satellite broadband network serving 80,000 end-users, is offered via distribution partners to end-customers and businesses in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. SatADSL will provide this reliable and affordable satellite communication service in Central and West Africa to individuals and small businesses as well as to remote sites of corporate organizations.

“We are proud to offer our successful satellite-based broadband service ASTRA2Connect in Central and West Africa together with Sea&Space Exploration,” said Patrick Biewer, Managing Director of ASTRA Broadband Services. “While the average penetration rates of terrestrial networks are low in Africa, broadband via satellite is immediately available for everyone within our reach. ASTRA2Connect can thus serve as a crucial telecommunication infrastructure for the region.”

“We are fully committed to offer an affordable and high quality service to our African partners through the ASTRA2Connect platform,” said Thierry Eltges, CEO of SatADSL. “The SatADSL service brings an innovative solution to African users currently having no equivalent choice. Africa’s economy is rapidly growing and an increasing number of expanding companies in this region rely on telecommunication services best adapted to their needs. We are proud to participate in this process and allow more and more individuals and companies to connect to the world - thanks to the continuous improvement of our service.”

About ASTRA Broadband Services S. A.

ASTRA Broadband Services is a 100% owned subsidiary of SES ASTRA operating SES ASTRA’s satellite broadband service ASTRA2Connect. ASTRA2Connect is a bi-directional satellite broadband service, providing households and businesses in regions without terrestrial broadband networks reliable and low-cost broadband access to the internet. In addition to access to the internet, ASTRA2Connect provides VoIP telephony and the reception of all digital and analogue TV and radio channels on ASTRA. ASTRA2Connect is today available in more than 60 countries in Europe, the Middle East and Africa and is Europe's largest satellite-based broadband network – serving more than 80,000 end-users. It offers speeds of up to 6 Mbps in download and easily installable hardware components (80 cm satellite dish, iLNB and satellite modem). ASTRA2Connect is also used by the maritime market for low-cost broadband access to the internet and for SCADA applications. For further information: www.astra2connect.com.

About SES

SES (Paris:SESG) (LuxX:SESG) wholly owns the market-leading satellite operators SES ASTRA and SES WORLD SKIES, and has participations in Ciel in Canada and QuetzSat in Mexico, as well as a strategic participation in satellite infrastructure start-up O3b Networks. SES provides outstanding satellite communications solutions via a global fleet of 46 satellites. For further information: www.ses.com

About Sea&Space Exploration www.seaandspace.com

Sea&Space Exploration’s mission is to support the development of new satellite products and services with a focus on Broadband Internet access. Sea&Space Exploration is specialized in market surveys and support to research & development for companies and organizations active in satellite telecommunications. Sea&Space Exploration supports SatADSL innovations through new product developments, demonstrations and pilot projects. After 12 years of activity and more than 40 market surveys performed in 5 continents, Sea&Space Exploration has gained an extensive experience in satellite communications and lines up an impressive list of satisfied customers.

About SatADSL www.satadsl.net

SatADSL offers robust and affordable satellite communication services in Central and West Africa to individuals, small businesses and large companies operating in remote areas, such as money transfer companies and retail outlets. SatADSL is teaming up with professional local distribution partners to offer the service to end users. SatADSL is a spin-off of the Belgian company Sea&Space Exploration and benefits therefore from the lengthy field experience of Sea&Space Exploration in satellite telecommunications.

Contacts

SES

Markus Payer

+ 352 710 725 500

markus.payer@ses.com



SatADSL

Caroline Devos

caroline.devos@satadsl.net

+32 478 31 13 76


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