Intersat, Eutelsat to improve connectivity offer in West Africa

Intersat, provider of broadband Internet connection solutions via satellite, announced on Wednesday the purchase of additional data capacity on Eutelsat Konnect. 

The companies will strengthen their connectivity offer in Senegal, Guinea Bissau, and the Gambia. The signing of this agreement indicates the company’s ambition to meet the growing needs of Africans for “powerful, fast and high-quality Internet services,” according to Intersat’s Managing Director, Aminata Sanyang. 

The multi-year deal, representing several hundred Mbps, addresses the connectivity needs of enterprises, institutions, individuals in the Gambia, Guinea Bissau, and Senegal. 

Intersat says it is one of Africa’s largest and most respected providers of internet solutions. It provides internet via satellite connectivity to some leading organizations, government institutions, and the private sector. 

On its part, Eutelsat Communications says Intersat will leverage the unparalleled coverage and reach of its Eutelsat Konnect satellite to provide robust and high-quality internet service to customers located beyond the limits of terrestrial infrastructure. 

Aminata Sanyang, managing director of Intersat, commented on the agreement, saying: “At Intersat, we strive to stay at the cutting edge of technology by investing in state-of-the-art services that make our customer offer better and faster. We are pleased to integrate Eutelsat’s state-of-the-art in-orbit assets into our suite of solutions to roll out further our offer of robust, high-quality, high-speed internet to an ever-growing number of Africans.” 

While the agreement signifies the totality of the available capacity over the three countries covered, Eutelsat says that Eutelsat Konnect is a new-generation high throughput satellite (HTS) offering what is described as unprecedented operational flexibility, delivering significant resources for broadband services across Africa. 

Nicolas Baravalle, Eutelsat’s regional vice president, Sub-Saharan Africa, added: “We are delighted to sign this long-term agreement with Intersat to bring high quality, reliable connectivity to institutions, businesses, and consumers currently in the digital divide. It reflects the significant demand on the African continent and the unparalleled assets of the EUTELSAT KONNECT satellite in enabling it to be efficiently met. This contract also highlights the pertinence of Eutelsat’s multi-channel distribution strategy.” 

The company notes that “Since its full entry into service a year ago, the satellite has enjoyed significant commercial momentum with wholesale and distribution agreements in many of the continent’s most populous countries.” 

Last but not least, the satellites are called “high throughput satellites” because they accomplish a substantial increase in capacity by a high level of frequency re-use, which is possible by spot beam technology which enables frequency re-use across multiple narrowly focused spot beams.