Eutelsat Communications (Euronext Paris: ETL) and Asia Broadcast Satellite (ABS) have executed a strategic agreement for commercial cooperation at the 75 degrees East orbital location. Within the framework of this agreement, Eutelsat is co-locating its
EUROBIRD™ 4 satellite at 75 degrees East with the ABS-1 and ABS-1A satellites operated by ABS.
This redeployment will inject an additional eight Ku-band transponders to to this orbital location to address markets in the Middle East, central Asia, and Russia. Renamed W75/ABS-1B, Eutelsat’s satellite will also provide possible redundancy to customers until the arrival of ABS-2, which is expected in 2012. Michel de Rosen, Chief Executive Officer of Eutelsat commented, “This strategic agreement with ABS underscores once again Eutelsat’s commitment to developing partnerships with satellite operators that enable valuable in-orbit resources to be fully optimised for the benefit of our community of users. We are delighted to initiate commercial activity at 75° East through this new collaboration with ABS, and look forward to building a strong and lasting relationship with an operator of reference in the Asian continent.”
“This marks a historical moment for ABS to enter into a strategic agreement with Eutelsat for cooperation at 75° East. W75/ABS-1B will bring increased Ku-band capacity to 75° East for the Middle East and CIS regions where the supply of Ku-band capacity is scarce and in high demand. This strategic cooperation will greatly benefit the customers of both Eutelsat and ABS who have been seeking expansion capacity in these regions. We will also bring forward the additional Ku-band capacity which will be provided on ABS-2 planned for 2012, two and a half years early. Our customers will be able to jump start their expansion plans in 2009 instead of having to wait until 2012,” said Tom Choi, Chief Executive Officer of ABS. “We are extremely proud to enter into this relationship with Eutelsat, one of the biggest operators in the world. We sincerely hope that this will be the first one of many opportunities that we can pursue with Eutelsat in the Asia Pacific Region.”
