[Satellite TODAY 11-02-11] Satellite operator SES confirmed its plans to invest $400 million in the South Asia and Asia-Pacific regions to increase its coverage across the region’s growth economies.

   Speaking at an Oct. 31 media briefing session jointly hosted by SES and CASBAA, SES Vice President of Sales Glen Tindall said his company has plans to launch eight new satellites by 2014 to grow its global satellite fleet and its business.

   “The SES-8 satellite scheduled for launch in 2013 will provide expansion capacity for the rapidly growing markets in South Asia and Indochina,” said Tindall. “In 2010, SES completed the acquisition of ProtoStar 2 to provide incremental capacity in South Asia and Asia-Pacific. The satellite was subsequently renamed SES-7 and today provides a range of DTH and enterprise services to the region. The two projects represent a combined investment of $400 million in the Asia-Pacific region.”

   The fleet extension program will increase SES’ global fleet capacity by 23 percent compared with the capacity the operator had available at the end of 2010. Approximately 85 percent of the new satellite capacity will be dedicated to emerging markets in Asia, Latin America, Middle East and Africa, enabling customers and users alike to deploy market relevant services and networks.

   “Asia is not made up of one market, but many,” said Tindall. “In fact, SES has seen strong success in high potential emerging markets such as Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam where DTH connectivity is still at the early stage but growing, and HDTV is gaining momentum.”