Panamsat said July 19 it signed an agreement with Alcatel for the acquisition of the EuropeStar-1 satellite and two new orbital slots, giving Panamsat a stronger presence in the European and Middle Eastern markets.

Under the terms of the agreement, Panamsat gains the rights to the 45 degrees East and 47.5 degrees East orbital locations. Ownership of these orbital locations expands Panamsat’s reach, enabling access to new markets in Europe, Saudi Arabia and other parts of the Middle East, Africa and Asia.

“Our strategy right now is to focus on the markets that we know are growing and not to be everything to everybody,” Panamsat CEO Joseph Wright told Satellite Today. “This acquisition gets us into Europe in a big way. Our customers, particularly our video customers, have been requesting this for some time. It gives us the capacity we need in the Middle East for the U.S. government. It also gives us the capacity we need for our African customers” who lease capacity primarily for networking rather than video.

The acquired satellite, renamed PAS-12, will enable Panamsat to provide a broad range of enhanced services to European customers for programming distribution, broadcast contribution and enterprise networking. Panamsat said the potential applications it may offer with the satellite and the orbital locations it acquired include new offerings in direct-to-home and high-definition television, on-demand satellite services, digital satellite news gathering, as well as support for government satellite communications.

Panamsat did not disclose how much it paid for the satellite and the orbital locations, but said it would pay for the satellite from cash on hand, with a portion of the payment to be deferred to 2006.

For more on how Panamsat’s acquisition shifts the competitive Fixed Satellite Services landscape, please see the July 25 issue of Satellite News. For more information on subscribing to Access Intelligence’s satellite industry news and information products, visit us on the Web at https://www.satellitetoday.com.