“We have successfully installed the state-of-the-art facilities in orbit which would leave no room for any disruption of services, since they could prove 100 percent efficiency in their performance,” said Nabil Shanti, chief commercial officer and vice president for sales and marketing at Arabsat, on Monday at a celebration held at the Riyadh Intercontinental Hotel. He added that the satellite’s C-band capacity is completely sold out. “Each satellite which has more than 70 transponders will also provide 100 back-up services and would provide a platform for high-definition televisions,” he said.
Arabsat 5A is the initial fifth-generation spacecraft for Arabsat, which is one of the Arab world’s leading satellite service providers. This relay platform is designed to handle a full range of satellite communications services over sub-Saharan Africa, the North Africa and Middle East (MENA) region, and beyond.
“We are happy about the successful launch of 5A that will cover the whole African continent for the first time in addition to Arabsat’s usual coverage of the Middle East and large parts of Asia and Europe,” said Khalid bin Ahmed Balkheyour, president and chief executive officer of Arabsat.
“It will also provide all communication services, satellite television broadcasting, telephone connections, Internet (broadband) services, VSAT and interactive services,” he added.
“Thus Arabsat has achieved a great progress to serve our customers in the African continent and to compete in this promising African market.”
Balkheyour attributed the success of Arabsat to the hard work of a group of Arab youth from Arabsat’s headquarters and two Operating Stations in Riyadh and Tunisia. “Also, these young engineers participate fully in designing and supervising the stages of manufacture of these satellites so I dedicate my thanks and appreciation to them,” he said.
Founded in 1976 by the 21 member-states of the Arab League, Arabsat has been serving the growing needs of the Arab world for over 30 years. The Kingdom is the largest contributor of Arabsat with 36.66 percent. This is followed by Kuwait (14.59 percent), Libya (11.28 percent), Qatar (9.81 percent) and the UAE (4.66 percent). Together, these five largest contributors account for 77 percent of Arabsat.
It carries 340 TV channels and 160 Radio stations, reaching tens of millions of homes in over 100 countries across the Middle East, Africa and Europe, including an audience of more than 164 million viewers within the 21 Arab countries alone and another 36 million in other parts of the globe.
