Intelsat today celebrated the opening of an office in Johannesburg, its first in Africa, as the organisation heads toward privatisation next year.
"We have a relationship with Africa that goes back nearly four decades to 1965," Conny Kullman, CEO of Intelsat, told a reception at the Michelangelo Hotel across from the office site in Sandton, a suburb of Johannesburg. "We believe that in order to maximise our contribution to local development, it is time for us to be where you are - to help you take advantage of all that is available in this increasingly dynamic Information Age," he added.
According to Kullman, eight percent of Intelsat`s global revenue of $1.1 billion comes from the sub-Saharan region. African shareholders currently own 5.6 percent of Intelsat. Telkom Limited of South Africa is the biggest user and owner on the continent. "By moving closer to you, our customers and distributors, we will provide the services and solutions you need, and have the opportunity to play a bigger role in developing products that will inspire connections and that will change the way the world communicates," Kullman continued.
Telkom CEO, Sizwe Nxasana, told the gathering that Intelsat`s plans to launch another 10 satellites over the next two years, including a satellite over Africa at 342o E that will be launched next week, will make an important contribution to helping Telkom meets its growing customer needs.
"The opening of the office in South Africa is an excellent demonstration by Intelsat of its commitment to being closer to its customers," Nxasana said. "Telkom wants to make telecommunications available throughout our country, including the rural and previously disadvantaged areas. Intelsat`s presence will undoubtedly benefit our end users and, most importantly, the regional office will likely afford other customers within Africa quicker sales support as it will eliminate the time zone effect," he added.
Nxasana said Telkom welcomed the privatisation of Intelsat, a process that Telkom has supported from the beginning and will continue to support. "We believe that the new company will be better geared to be more customer responsive, creative and efficient and to offer a wide range of products and services that will enable Intelsat to maintain its leadership in the provision of satellite services and products," he explained.
Collaboration between Intelsat and Telkom has resulted in a doubling of capacity in the satellite connection between South Africa and the U.S. for South Africa`s two major Internet service providers. Other joint initiatives include corporate networks for two major oil companies and a leading mining company, with various domestic service applications, including rural telephony.
Following the reception, Nxasana joined Kullman and other Intelsat representatives in a ribbon cutting ceremony at the new Regional Support Center, which will be responsible for marketing and sales support in Africa, especially in South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland.
For further information, please contact Paul Booth at tel. 082 568 1179; fax (011) 463 0448; e-mail pabooth@cis.co.za
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