Intelsat said Firestone Communications Inc. expanded its use of the Intelsat Americas fleet of satellites for distribution of cable programming in North America. The terms of the long-term contract call for Firestone to use a full transponder on IA-13, giving Firestone and its cable programming customers access to the satellite’s prime cable arc location at 121 degrees W and connectivity to more than 3,000 digital cable head-ends in the United States. Financial terms and the specific length of the long-term deal were not disclosed.

“As we have grown our business, Intelsat’s flexibility has provided us with more bandwidth within its cable programmer community, enabling us to better accommodate our customers’ needs,” Firestone President Michael Fletcher said in a prepared statement.