SES extends African satellite coverage

SES Techcom Services, a subsidiary of satellite operator SES, will be expanding its Astra Connect broadband service in Africa for the enterprise and oil and gas markets via the Newtec Dialog multiservice platform on SES’s Astra 2G satellite.
SES is extending its current relationship with long-term partner Newtec – a specialist in designing, developing and manufacturing equipment and technologies for satellite communications – by the new platform, which is due to be launched in Q1 2016 and will utilise the West Africa Ku-band beam of the Astra 2G satellite, located at 28,2 degrees East.
The platform will broaden SES Techcom Services’ current portfolio and flexibly support different services, be it for consumer, small office home office and SME customers, or for enterprise and oil & gas customers. Newtec Dialog supports MF-TDMA and SCPC technologies, as well as Newtec’s Mx-DMA technology, increasing bandwidth efficiency and service reliability for enterprise applications and enabling those services to run more cost-effectively and reliably than before.
“There are millions in Africa who remain unconnected today and at SES we are eager to connect them via satellite broadband services,” says Gerhard Bethscheider, MD of SES Techcom Services. “By using Newtec’s new platform, our broadband offerings are efficient and scalable, and can be offered cost-effectively to our customers.”
Newtec’s CEO Serge Van Herck said, “As a multiservice platform, Newtec Dialog guarantees optimal modulation and bandwidth allocation, whether it is being used for enterprise, consumer broadband, cellular backhaul or mobility – and all of this combined in one single network. We are pleased it is meeting SES Techcom Services’ needs and are grateful we are extending our partnership in this way.”
Astra Connect broadband service is part of the SES broadband product portfolio. Earlier today, SES announced the launch of SES Broadband, a flexible and customised high-speed broadband service in five African countries.