[SatNews] Intelsat S.A. (NYSE: I) announces that Axesat S.A. has signed a multi-year agreement for satellite services on the high-performance Intelsat EpicNG platform.

Axesat, the largest provider of satellite-based corporate networks in Colombia, selected the Intelsat 29e satellite as the best choice to support the growing needs of its corporate enterprise customers as well as its cellular backhaul customers throughout Latin America. Under the agreement, Axesat will consolidate services spread across multiple satellites and operators, including Intelsat 805 and Intelsat 14, onto Intelsat 907 at 332.5 degrees East and Intelsat 29e at 310 degrees East. This will enable Axesat to deliver services to a diverse group of customers and, with the flexibility of Intelsat’s satellite services, to tailor unique solutions for each.

Artistic rendition of the Intelsat 29e satellite.

Intelsat 29e, scheduled for launch in the first quarter of 2016, features the most advanced digital payload in the commercial satellite market, bringing unprecedented power, efficiency and accessibility to the marketplace. Its combination of high-power Ku-band spot beams, wide beams, open architecture design and backward compatibility will enable Axesat to easily integrate Intelsat EpicNG into its existing network with minimal upfront capital expenditures. This will result in increased efficiencies and allow Axesat to focus on growing its business and expanding into new geographic areas.

Executive Comments

“We reviewed many high throughput satellite (HTS) options and committed to Intelsat EpicNG because it provides the improved efficiency and hardware independence that we considered vital to our plans,” said Mauricio Segovia, President of Axesat. “Intelsat will allow us to seamlessly integrate HTS into our existing network, deliver more bandwidth and cost-efficient commercial solutions to our corporate and cellular backhaul customers, as well as support our growth strategies in the countries where we operate.”

“We designed Intelsat EpicNG to bring more power, better economics and make satellite more accessible to existing and potential customers. This enables companies such as Axesat to easily scale their existing infrastructure and take full advantage of HTS to meet the burgeoning demands for broadband connectivity in the region,” said Kurt Riegelman, Senior Vice President, Sales and Marketing, Intelsat. “With 3G networks on the rise in Latin America and the need for rural connectivity never greater, the Intelsat EpicNG platform will allow Axesat to capture growth in existing markets, expand their services into new locations and, importantly, improve broadband connectivity in the areas they wish to serve.”