Satellite operator Eutelsat Communications and Asia Broadcast Satellite have announced the execution of a strategic agreement for commercial cooperation at the 75 degrees East orbital location.

 

“This marks a historical moment for ABS (News - Alert) to enter into a strategic agreement with Eutelsat for cooperation at 75 degrees East,” said Tom Choi, CEO at ABS.

 

The agreement calls on Eutelsat (News - Alert) Communications to collocate its EUROBIRD 4 satellite at 75 degrees East with the ABS-1 and ABS-1A satellites operated by ABS. The redeployment is expected to inject an additional eight Ku-band transponders to 75 degrees East to address markets in the Middle East, Central Asia and Russia.

 

Eutelsat said that it has renamed its satelliteW75/ABS-1B, which will also provide possible redundancy to customers until the arrival of ABS-2, which is expected in 2012.

 

Choi said that W75/ABS-1B will bring increased Ku-band capacity to 75 degrees East for the Middle East and CIS regions where the supply of Ku-band capacity is scarce and in high demand.

 

“This strategic agreement with ABS underscores once again Eutelsat's commitment to developing partnerships with satellite operators that enable valuable in-orbit resources to be fully optimised for the benefit of our community of users,” said Michel de Rosen, CEO at Eutelsat.

 

The company will initiate commercial activity at 75 degrees East through this new collaboration with ABS, he said, adding that the company is looking forward to building a strong and lasting relationship with an operator of reference in the Asian continent.

 

ABS claims to be one of the fastest growing satellite operators in the world. It operates the ABS-1 and ABS-1A satellites at 75degrees East that connect 4/5th of the world’s population covering all of Asia, the CIS region, the Middle East, most of Africa and Eastern Europe.

 

Choi said that the strategic cooperation with Eutelsat will “greatly” benefit the customers of both Eutelsat and ABS who have been seeking expansion capacity in these regions.

 

“We will also bring forward the additional Ku-band capacity which will be provided on ABS-2 planned for 2012, two and a half years early,” Choi said. “Our customers will be able to jump start their expansion plans in 2009 instead of having to wait until 2012.”