[Satellite TODAY 11-10-09] Satlynx, a satellite telecommunications subsidiary of GE, has partnered with Arabsat to deliver a satellite communications platform that will rebuild the Central Bank of Iraq’s network infrastructure, Satlynx announced Nov 9.
    The network, based on iDirect technology and the Satlynx Direct satellite platform, aims to interconnect two Central Bank of Iraq locations in Baghdad with seven other remote banks in the country to form the backbone of a new payment and banking system.
    Alfa Consult, an Iraqi-owned firm based in Luxembourg, is the project’s main contractor. The company will install two satellite terminals at each location, which will receive satellite coverage provided primarily via Arabsat’s Badr-4 spacecraft, located at 26 degrees East, with a hot stand-by option on a secondary satellite system. Alfa Consult is providing $2.7 million of funding for the project.
    “This is just the latest in a series of investments in the essential communications infrastructure of Iraq. The system will cut the time required to process financial transactions in Iraq thanks to the satellite system put in place by Satlynx and Arabsat,” Saleh Salman, head of payments for the Central Bank of Iraq, said in a statement.