18 June 2013
Geolink Satellite Services, part of CETel Group, has signed a multi-year transponder contract with Arabsat on 5A satellite, located at 30°5 East.
The additional capacity is required to enlarge Geolink’s VSAT satellite networks and to serve the growing demand in the African market.
With over 4000 active terminals worldwide, state of the art teleport facilities in Germany (CETel) and NOC in Paris, Geolink satellite Services is a leading provider for satellite communication on C, Ku, L and Ka band.
Khalid Balkeyour, President & CEO-Arabsat said ”We are delighted to team up with Geolink on this deal, we view this contract as a continuation of a decade old successful partnership with CETel and CETel Group”. “We are now committed more than ever to grow and strengthen this partnership as we execute our strategic plans to expand geographically through acquisitions and building and launching of new satellites.” Balkeyour added.
“We are pleased to work with a top-tier satellite operator like Arabsat on a long term basis” said Christophe Pacilly, President of Geolink Satellite Services. ”The 5A satellite coverage over the African continent for C band gives us a unique opportunity to service our customers from the energy industry, mining, media and humanitarian sector. In the region where capacity is scarce, 5A allows us to meet the growing demand of the African telecommunication market.” (Source: Arabsat press release)
8 May 2013
Arab Satellite Communications Organization – Arabsat – has signed a contract to build its new headquarters in the Diplomatic Quarter inRiyadh. The new building will be constructed by Al-BAWANI Co. Ltd on land provided by the Government of theKingdomofSaudi Arabiato Arabsat and covers an area of nearly 14,000 square meters.
Eng. Khalid bin Ahmed Balkhyour, President & CEO of Arabsat, stated “This project has been in collaboration with the High Commission for Development of Riyadh, where His Royal Highness the Prince of Riyadh issued his consent so that Riyadh Principality take over the supervision of the design and implementation of the building through an international competition in which more than 25 local and global designers have participated. Al-BAWANI Co. Ltd will build Arabsat headquarters within 30 months.”
Balkhyour praised the fundamental support received by theKingdom ofSaudi Arabia since the establishment of Arabsat, when the Kingdom hosted Arabsat headquarters in the Diplomatic Quarter and its main station in Dirab outsideRiyadh, allocating pieces of land to these headquarters. The Kingdom also provided a grant to build Arabsat’s new headquarters, which will be one of the main features of the Diplomatic Quarter inRiyadh as expected by the High Commission for the Development of Riyadh.
Mr. Mohammed bin Abdulaziz Al-Tuwajiri, Chairman of Al-BAWANI Co., Ltd. said, “We thank Arab Satellite Communications Organization for providing the opportunity for Al-BAWANI Co. Ltd to build this important building with its distinctive architectural features.” He added that his company is looking forward to a lasting strategic partnership with Arabsat.
26 March 2013
My-HD Media, the secure and affordable television platform that offers a single viewing card solution for High Definition (HD) channels in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) regions, announced at CABSAT 2013 its long term strategic partnership with Arabsat, one of the world’s top satellite operators and the leading satellite services provider in the Arab world.
Under the agreement, Arabsat will expand the reach of My-HD Media’s bouquet of channels to over 170 million viewers in more than 80 countries across the Middle East,Africaand beyond. The My-HD Media offering includes besides many other attractive HD channels the top network in the region: the MBC Group. Commenting on the strategic agreement, Mr. Cliff Nelson, CEO of My-HD Media, said: “I am pleased to announce our exclusive partnership with Arabsat during our first participation at Cabsat 2013. Arabsat has always been a frontrunner in the region and a prime hotspot for HD in MENA, and our partnership is intended to give us a valuable platform to provide superior HD content to over 170 million viewers across the (MENA) region.”
“We aim to build a diversified bouquet of 40 HD family entertainment channels and we are confident that our association with Arabsat will be a long term profitable collaboration that will add significant value to both parties but most importantly to the end consumer” added Mr. Nelson.
Mr. Khalid Balkheyour, President and CEO of Arab Satellite Communications Organization (Arabsat), said: “My-HD Media has quickly grown into a major contender in the HD industry, where they currently carry an impressive bouquet of HD channels that will continue to evolve and develop. The main objective from our successful alliance with My-HD Media will provide a commercially viable, mass market ready, end-to-end distribution platform to the broadcasters on Arabsat. My-HD Media will allow broadcasters to capture additional HD business across MENA. At the same time we are further expanding Arabsat’s HD reach and HD leadership in the market. And I am confident that in addition to the exclusive carriage for Saudi League in HD and the already existing choice of attractive Free-to-Air HD channels our viewers will really enjoy the new HD channel bouquet carried on the My-HD Media platform.”
4 February 2013
Arab Satellite Communications Organization (ARABSAT) and BBC have announced the renewal of their agreement for five years to broadcast BBC Arabic TV and radio programmes via Arabsat satellite Badr 4 at 26°E , which covers the Middle East and large parts of Europe andAfrica.
Eng. / Khalid bin Ahmed Balkhyour, President & CEO of ARABSAT, and Nigel Fry, Head of Distribution BBC Global News, both stated that they are very pleased to continue this relationship, with Fry saying that BBC channels are available to many millions of homes across the region as part of a bouquet of popular channels.
Balkhyour said that ARABSAT is currently finalizing the manufacture and launching of its 6th generation of satellites that will secure ARABSAT leadership in the satellite telecommunications and broadcasting market in the region, in addition to ARABSAT diversity of services delivered to its customers to meet all their future requirements.
On 2 Febuary Arabsat announced that it had signed a contract with the Sudanese Blue Nile Channel to join the Sudanese bouquet, broadcast from the recently built platform shared between the Sudanese Radio & Television Agency and ARABSAT. Blue Nile Channel with its wide range of diverse programming is the most viewed Sudanese channel; it broadcasts its programmes to the Sudanese platform via optical fibre.
22 January 2013
ARABSAT and SPI International signed a long term agreement which gives Arabsat the exclusive distribution rights for three new HD channels in HD/SD for the MENA region on Arabsat BADR-5 satellite @ 26 deg East “Hot Spot” and African countries on Arabsat-5C satellite @ 20 deg East “See-digit-All”. Further HD channels from the SPI portfolio are also under consideration.
Khalid Balkheyour President & CEO, ARABSAT said: “We are very pleased to start a partnership with SPI International; we are committed to provide them with the best satellite services and bring them to the ARABSAT neighbourhood of more than 170 million viewers over the Middle East andAfrica. ”
As one of the top satellite operators in the region, ARABSAT was on the forefront of the HD demand since 2007 when they first allocated a free transponder to encourage regional and non-regional broadcasters to launch their HD channels. With an ample number of satellites and orbital slots known to millions of viewers in the Middle East region, Africa, and Europe, as well as suitable available bandwidth, full backup capacity, a partnership with an HD ready satellite teleport and high emphasis on channels reception quality earned ARABSAT an excellent reputation among broadcast customers who recommend ARABSAT as the 1st Point Of Delivery for HD and SD channels to content distribution headends such as IPTV and others. With the agreement with SPI, ARABSAT is cementing its leadership in the MEA HD market.
“Following the successful launch of our new HD channels in Europe, Asia and North America we are very happy to partner with ARABSAT and expand our global reach to Middle East andAfrica” said Loni Farhi, SPI International President.
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