Intelsat New Dawn to serve Africa by 2011

Intelsat has entered into a joint venture with Convergence Partners, South Africa's leading investor group, to build and launch a new satellite into the 33º East orbital location by 2011.

The satellite will be ideally positioned to serve the African continent and already has orders amounting to US$350 million from the continent's telecommunications companies. Dubbed "Intelsat New Dawn," it will feature a payload optimized to deliver wireless backhaul, broadband and television programming to Africa.

"The New Dawn joint venture, with its optimized satellite and African-led financing, represents a solution for Africa by Africa," said Andile Ngcaba, chairman of Convergence Partners. "Over the course of this satellite's life, it will provide world-class connectivity, allowing businesses to grow and rural communities to connect."

The satellite "is a great example of the type of creative investments Intelsat will use to further develop our fleet in regions where we believe there is unmet demand," added Intelsat CEO David McGlade.

The project is expected to cost a total of about $250 million and will be funded approximately 15 percent with equity and 85 percent with loans from South Africa's Nedbank Capital and the Industrial Development Corporation of South Africa.

The equity will be provided by Intelsat (74.9 percent) and the Convergence Partners-led group (25.1 percent), which also includes Altirah Telecoms. Intelsat's cash contribution to the project is expected to be approximately $25 million.

Intelsat New Dawn has 28 C-band and 24 Ku-band 36MHz transponder units, with pre-launch commitments from Vodacom, Gateway Communications Africa, Zain Nigeria and Gilat Satcom.

With a lifespan of 15 years, the satellite is expected to answer the continent's bandwidth requirements and improve on the available infrastructure.