Belgium Satellite Services s.a. (BSS), one of the major teleport and satellite communications providers in Latin America, and Intersat Africa Ltd. signed a partnership deal to expand their market coverage across the Middle East and Africa. 

Intersat provides satellite communications and broadband services to private enterprises and  public sectors across the Middle East and Africa. The company utilizes modern satellite technology and advanced communications solutions to provide reliable connectivity to major industries. 

BSS was established as the result of acquisition of Belgacom’s satellite services division in 2007. BSS specializes in providing customized satellite networking solutions such as hosting and hub services,satellite broadcasting and IP communications over satellite for  large technical and operational infrastructures in Europe.

The partnership between Intersat and BSS is expected to improve their satellite communications services in the African and Middle East markets. The deal will result into joint sales and larger marketing and product development organisation that will serve more customers.

BSS Chairman Ajoy Khandheria noted that his company is eager to  expand its business in Africa and the Middle East through a strategic partner. He said that its new partner has reliable, stable and innovative solutions that suit the African market. The deal will provide the capacity needed to complete solutions which have been the top agenda of their telecoms and IT convergence projects in Asia. 

More Satellite Communications News 
 
LightSquared CEO Sanjiv Ahuja filed a petition to the Federal Communications Commission to allow the use of its low-power satellite frequencies for terrestrial-based 4G Internet networks.

The highly controversial spectrum could interfere with GPS signals, LightSquared’s opponents claimed. Yet, LightSquared hopes to take advantage of Obama’s mobile broadband program aimed at rural markets.  If the petition is approved, it would open billion-dollar worth of revenue streams for the embattled satellite carrier. If the FCC approved the petition, cell site carriers do not have to bid for new frequencies and act as satellite broadband resellers instead to serve marginalized areas. The cost savings for cell site operators could be as much as 50%.

Supporters of LightSquared are pressuring Senators Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken to get the Senate to convince the FCC to approve the petition. They are citing the cost savings of Best Buy, a LightSquared client, to emphasize the economic benefits of using the frequency spectrum in terrestrial 4G networks.

The waiver approved by the FCC last year required the satellite communications carrier to prove that its spectrum will not interfere with GPS signals. GPS devices can reportedly process low-power satellite frequencies assigned to LightSquared, which can cause big problems for various industries that rely on GPS data.  GPS devices need to have enough sensitivity to detect radio waves from four or more satellites at once. Terrestrial broadcasts of almost any strength is believed to make current GPS receivers less reliable.


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