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Spotlight: ViaSat Plays Role In All African Games

By Staff Writer | October 6, 2003

      ViaSat [Nasdaq: VSAT] is the latest satellite company to tap business opportunities in Africa. And the company has found a way to combine sports with work by winning a $4.65 million contract to supply its LINKWAY multi-protocol broadband VSATs to provide communications and video back-haul services for the All African Games being held this month in Nigeria. The contract, awarded by Ace Computer Systems, of Kaduna, Nigeria, calls for ViaSat’s satellite network to offer digital communications among four Nigerian cities and a hub in the country’s capital of Abuja. ViaSat also will integrate Scientific-Atlanta’s [NYSE: SFA] PowerVU video content distribution products into the network to uplink video from athletic venues to the hub, then re-broadcast the video throughout Africa.

      Aside from supplying the VSAT networks, ViaSat will coordinate the installation and integration of all third-party equipment into a turnkey network for video contribution in the 4:2:2 format. With sites in Nigerian cities Lagos, Kaduna, Calabar and Bauchi, plus the Abuja hub, the network includes both 4.5- and 9-meter ViaSat antennas and on-site personnel to manage the system.

      Known as the “African Olympics,” the All African Games are held every four years and involve all of the independent nations of Africa. The games feature 22 sports, and involve more than 2,000 athletes from 53 African nations.

      –Paul Dykewicz

      (Bruce Rowe, ViaSat, 760/476-2505)