Es’hailSat and Arabsat Sign a Strategic Agreement to Expand Opportunities at the 26 degrees East Direct-To-Home (DTH) Neighborhood

19 August, 2013

Es’hailSat, the Qatar Satellite Company, and ARABSAT today announced the signing of a strategic partnership agreement to promote closer co-operation between the two companies and strengthen the reach and penetration of the 26 degrees East hot spot neighborhood for TV broadcasting.

Under the terms of the agreement, Es’hailSat will acquire the rights to 500MHz of premium Ku-band bandwidth at the 26.0 East TV broadcasting hot-spot. Es’hailSat’s second satellite, Es'hail 2, will use these frequencies and will be designed to provide DTH and other telecommunications services from the 26 degrees East hot spot.

This will significantly increase Es'hailSat's capacity at the 25.5 / 26.0 East TV broadcasting hot-spot, and will strengthen Es'hailSat's in-orbit back-up capability when both Es’hail 1 and Es’hail 2 are operational.  Furthermore, the arrangement between Es'hailSat and ARABSAT will pave the way for enhanced operational flexibility and mutual in-orbit back-up between the two satellite fleets.

The agreement was signed in Doha by Mr. Ali Al Kuwari, Es’hailSat’s CEO and Mr. Khalid Balkheyour, President & CEO of ARABSAT in the presence of HE Dr. Hessa Al Jaber, Minister of Information & Communication Technology (Qatar) and Fareed Khashoggi Chairman of the Board of Directors of ARABSAT.

Commenting on the agreement, Es’hailSat CEO, Ali Ahmed Al Kuwari, said: “We are delighted to be able to work with ARABSAT on the development of the 26 degrees East prime TV broadcasting hot-spot. With our first satellite – Es’hail 1 - scheduled for launch on 29^th August 2013 and our plans for Es’hail 2 now confirmed, we are moving closer to providing the necessary capacity to enable our customers to substantially increase their communications capability, particularly in broadcasting in HD and 3D”.

Khalid Balkheyour , ARABSAT President & CEO Said “ we are very pleased with this strategic long-term partnership with Es’hailSat which will strengthen ARABSAT  hot spot 26 degrees east and will provide a strong boost for Es’hailSat. This partnership will provide our customers and viewers with more alternatives and variety of contents that will be beneficial for both operators and will make 26 degrees East the premium hot spot of the region“. “We wish Es’hailSat success in launching Es’hail 1 at the end of this month, and all the success and prosperity in launching and operating more satellites” Balkheyour added .