Intelsat, a fixed satellite service provider, has expanded its African satellite infrastructure and are offering new capacity to the region via Intelsat (News - Alert) 25 and Intelsat New Dawn.

Intelsat has acquired the ProtoStar 1 satellite and repositioned it to address the customer demand for new capacity in Africa. It offers C- and Ku-band coverage of a substantial portion of Africa along with capacity for high growth applications that include cellular backhaul for expansion services to remote locations.

According to the company, Intelsat Network Broadband gives the ability to manage customers' networks across multiple satellites and regions, using just one hub. They provide users with an unparalleled ability to offer enterprise-grade, faster-than-DSL connectivity, anywhere in the world. Intelsat's new terrestrial architecture, IntelsatONE, which consists of an IP/MPLS-based network, teleports and points of presence, provides customers a single source for converged data, voice and video solutions.

Intelsat has stated that IntelsatONE and Intelsat 905 satellite is enabling African communication services providers to deliver corporate network connectivity to their enterprise customers needing to connect offices across Sub-Saharan Africa. Another Angola-based company has sought the services of Intelsat 1R satellite for transmissions for their customers serving the oil and gas, banking and mining industries.

Intelsat has planned to offer more than 700 MHz of satellite capacity on as many as seven satellites within its global fleet for transmission services of the 2010 FIFA World Cup to be held in South Africa. Intelsat' capacity can be used to distribute matches from South Africa to a global audience.

Intelsat has claimed that by leveraging the flexibility and high-quality of their global satellite fleet and IntelsatONE ground infrastructure, telecom service providers can establish international and regional networks with ease and speed on land and at sea meeting virtually any communications requirement for voice, data, corporate networks and government applications.