Africa/Middle East News

Spacecom’s Amos 5 Wins $3.6 Million Broadcast Contract in East Africa

Spacecom’s Amos 5 at 17 degrees east has won another broadcast deal in East Africa. Under the new $3.6-million contract, Spacecom will provide analog to digital migration broadcast services to an East African DTT and DTH operator.

The operator’s DTT distribution and DTH signal to the region, composed of dozens of channels focusing on local and international content including news, sports, entertainment and family programming, will be transmitted on Amos 5’s Ku-band capacity.

Earlier this month, Spacecom announced an East African digital migration broadcast project worth $5.9 million. Amos 5 was designed and built specifically for the African market with a pan-African C-band beam and three Ku-bands that cover the continent and provide connectivity to Europe and the Middle East.

SkyVision Donates Satellite Connectivity Over iDirect Technology to School in Ghana

Crossover students.
Photo: Crossover Int’l Academy

SkyVision has donated an iDirect-powered satellite network for the Crossover International Academy, a K-8 school in Ghana. The network was implemented as part of a joint effort between both companies to help the academy improve its educational offering by providing underprivileged students with online educational resources. For example, students can enhance reading levels by using uploaded video tutorials and online programs, such as PRO reading technology and Total Reader.

Crossover is also leveraging the service to connect with Pegasus, its sister school in the United States. The two schools can now communicate with one another via email, implement student debates over Skype and FaceTime, prepare weekly assignments and lesson plans, create online courses for the school’s staff, and organize online fundraising activities.

Sudan TV and Arabsat Sign Exclusive Contract on Badr 5

BADR 5 (Arabsat 5B). Photo: ILS

Arabsat and Sudan TV have signed a contract to add the Nileen sports channel to Arabsat bouquet on the Badr 5 satellite exclusively and to be broadcasted from Arabsat’s platform in Khartoum. Nileen channel has the exclusive rights to broadcast the Sudanese Premier League, one of the most watched sports channels in Sudan. Arabsat also signed a contract with Sudan TV to broadcast others of its channels on Arabsat bouquet on Badr 5.

Mohammed Hatem Suleiman, head of Sudan Tv, said the relationship between the two companies is long lasting, continuous and strong, and wishes to increase cooperation between the two parties to broadcast all Sudanese channels now and in the future on Arabsat wide spread satellites.

YahClick Continues to Boost Connectivity Across Kenya

YahClick service partner SimbaNet, and Yahsat, the UAE-based satellite operator, are working together to reduce the entry costs of acquiring YahClick high-speed satellite broadband Internet services. Following on from the positive uptake of the service in Kenya to date, SimbaNet, in partnership with Yahsat, is offering businesses free equipment and reduced installation charges for selected YahClick Business service plans up until Dec. 19, 2013.

Launched in late 2012, and now operational across 12 markets, YahClick provides satellite broadband Internet connectivity to businesses, home users, government entities, and non-governmental organizations, helping bridge the technological gap for unserved and underserved communities. YahClick is beamed through Yahsat’s Y1B satellite, which was successfully launched in April 2012. Y1B offers Internet connectivity through Ka-band multi-spot beams, with reusable frequencies to maximize spectrum efficiency. YahClick will be fully operational across a coverage area spanning 28 countries throughout the Middle East, Africa, Central and South West Asia, in partnership with more than 30 leading in-market service partners.