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ST Engineering iDirect and Arabsat strengthen partnership for expanded market access on Arabsat BADR-7 and 6A Broadband Managed Services

May 22, 2024

ST Engineering iDirect, and Arabsat are extending their successful multi-year partnership to bring connectivity to new markets in the Middle East, Africa and West/Central Asia.

While Arabsat's BADR-7 Ka-band satellite and 6A Ku-Band satellite currently service locations including Africa, Middle East and parts of Asia, the government-backed satellite service provider is now working alongside ST Engineering iDirect to expand its coverage to manage connectivity services in countries that face poor infrastructure challenges. Arabsat's expansion into new markets is part of Saudi Arabia's wider initiative to continue to invest in space, diversify from the media and broadcast sector and bring satellite internet capabilities to users in remote and underserved areas through its VSAT broadband business.

To close the digital divide, bridge the widening connectivity gap and bring vital resources in addition to managed services such as e-learning and disaster recovery solutions to residents in those countries, Arabsat is deploying the next-generation iDirect Hub infrastructure DCR/DBR to expand its existing Dialog and Evolution-based ground systems in four new gateways. This is in addition to the existing two gateways to utilize and operate almost 30 beams on Ka-Band, Ku-band, and C-Band to serve diverse coverages and geographical locations.

The iDirect Hub Infrastructure provides a highly-scalable and flexible solution for Arabsat's Dialog-based gateway deployments, achieving a higher throughput, greater efficiency and flexibility. It establishes the foundation for Arabsat to migrate to a virtualized, cloud-based hybrid infrastructure over time. As their network and requirements evolve, they can easily adopt the recently announced Intuition and its standards-based, end-to-end orchestration capabilities to further speed up the time-to-market and streamline service delivery.

"This partnership brings together best-in-breed ground system technology complementing Arabsat's advanced constellation of HTS satellites. We're committed to delivering flexible and future-ready solutions that enable Arabsat to address a wide range of services from media and enterprise, to mobility and broadband, to help them to unlock new markets and growth. By leveraging cutting-edge, forward-compatible technology, we are empowering Arabsat to extend its reach, transforming lives across the EMEA region through seamless satellite connectivity," said Don Claussen, CEO at ST Engineering iDirect.

"Expanding our partnership with ST Engineering iDirect underscores our company-wide commitment to transforming the lives of communities in the EMEA region through satellite connectivity," said Alhamedi Alanezi, CEO and President of Arabsat. "ST Engineering iDirect provides best-in-class technology that will enable us to expand our services portfolio across the entire region to provide real-time and enjoyable satellite broadband experience with competitive market SLAs. We are dedicated to promoting fairer distribution of broadband for a range of use cases, continuing to deliver the very best quality of service content for our customers, and ensuring we have a future-proof network so we can adapt and respond as market demands evolve."