SatCom Africa 2009 opened to a full house

SatCom Africa 2009 opened to a full house with all of the major satellite operators, key service providers and end users from Africa, Europe and China represented. The Chairman, Mr. Russell Southwood, Chief Executive of Balancing Act set the stage with an overview of the African telecoms market. Even though he highlighted the undersea cables planned for the region, he also focused on satellite technology and its important impact to the communications infrastructure for the region.

Building on Mr. Southwood’s remarks, Intelsat’s Executive Vice President and General Counsel, Mr. Phil Spector captivated the audience with a keynote address, further discussing the satellite services trends that will shape the African market, Intelsat’s regional heritage and its ongoing commitment to invest in Africa. Mr. Spector passionately discussed ways in which satellite will continue to play a vital role in bridging the digital divide, the key applications best served via satellite and Intelsat’s plans for bringing significant capacity to the continent. By far, the most notable satellite addition - the New Dawn satellite (built for Africa…by Africa) which is the joint venture between Intelsat and Convergence Partners announced late last year.

The last topic Mr. Spector discussed centered on creating an interference-free space environment where Intelsat is taking a leadership role in bringing together other satellite operators, industry organizations and supporting certification training for technicians and satellite engineers.

Later that day, Mr. Flavien Bachabi, Intelsat’s Regional Vice President, Africa, participated in an interactive panel with other service providers where the discussion revolved around the measures being taken to alleviate the problems of capacity scarcity in the region. This session led nicely into another panel discussion concerning financing satellite projects in the region, which our partners of New Dawn, Convergence Partners and NedBank, were the main participants.

~ Vevette Husbands, Program Manager, Trade Shows & Events