The proliferation of undersea cables in Africa will not hurt Intelsat's satellite business, says the company's regional VP for Africa, Flavien Bachabi.
This statement is in response to market speculation that the global satellite provider will lose part of its share of the African satellite market, as the undersea cables currently under development go online and provide large quantities of bandwidth capacity at cheaper prices.
Intelsat has 53 satellites in orbit and half face into the continent.
Bachabi says Intelsat welcomes the increased access to bandwidth, as it will enable greater connectivity in Africa.
He also argues that this increased access will not eat into Intelsat's revenue, and the company will continue to do "good business".
Intelsat will continue to provide satellite services when the situation calls for it, he said. The company also provides satellite/cable hybrid solutions if the situation calls for it, he noted.
The company also has over 27 000km of fibre optic cable infrastructure in Africa, to facilitate easier connectivity for land-locked countries, he said.
This is especially relevant for land-locked countries which do not have easy access to an undersea cable, he said. "Satellite has a very comfortable co-dependency with cable."
Business is good
While Bachabi would not reveal Intelsat's financial figures due to the fact that it is privately owned, he said business was good in the past year.
In 2007, Intelsat generated $2.2 billion, with customers from the Middle East and Africa accounting for 17% of that revenue, he said.
Globally, its growth was driven by the move by Intelsat's telecoms clients to expand their service offering from voice to triple and quadruple play, he said.
Growth in Africa was also driven by the growing stability on the African continent, he noted. Demand for satellite services is growing as telecoms providers from countries - which previously had political problems - rebuild their infrastructure, he added.
Bachabi noted that growing stability on the African continent also encouraged international companies that did not have presence in Africa to launch operations on the continent.
These companies also become Intelsat's clients, as they need a fast, efficient link between their African operations and the rest of their operations, he said.
Intelsat services its African clients from Sandton, where its sales, engineering and accounting team is based.
The team is made up of 14 staff members, and was created last year following Intelsat's acquisition of PanAmSat.
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