Spanish satellite operator Hispasat has made a wholesale agreement with Eutelsat to provide satellite connectivity services to Spain and Portugal via Eutelsat’s Konnect satellite.
The company will use the French operator’s Konnect satellite over the two countries to provide broadband connectivity services at 100 Mbps to telecommunications operators and Internet Service Providers. Hipasat said the multi-year deal complements its current capacities and efforts to bridge the digital divide in the region.
“Satellite technology has evolved and permits Internet access at 100 Mbps immediately from any location, no matter how inaccessible it is,” said Miguel Ángel Panduro, CEO of Hispasat. “At Hispasat we are fully committed to the goal of providing all citizens Internet access and contributing to digitalizing economic activity regardless of geographic location. That’s why we have entered into this partnership with Eutelsat to complement our current capacity."
Hispasat, which is owned by Red Eléctrica Corporación, currently operates seven commercial satellites and two government satellites. The company is planning to launch the Amazonas Nexus satellite in mid-2022.
Rodolphe Belmer, CEO of Eutelsat, added: “We are delighted by this strategic deal with our longstanding partner, Hispasat. Coming after wholesale agreements covering France and Italy, and a distribution deal for Germany, this latest commitment by a satellite operator to cover the territories of Spain and Portugal confirms the relevance of powerful, cost-efficient next-generation geostationary satellites as an immediate solution to the ubiquitous deployment of reliable, high-speed broadband.”
Eutelsat has made agreements with Deutsche Telekom, Orange, and TIM (Telecom Italia) to provide satellite broadband services to remote areas via its Konnect satellite in Germany, France, and Italy respectively. It also announced an agreement with Globacom to deliver broadband via satellite to businesses and communities in unconnected and underserved areas throughout Nigeria.
Eutelsat and Intelsat are both on the hunt for new CEOs. Intelsat’s Stephen Spengler last week announced plans to retire as the company comes close to completing a restructuring, while Eutelsat CEO Rodolphe Belmer on the same day announced his intention to step down and take over Atos.
The French company – which has invested more than $700 million in LEO satellite firm OneWeb – last month rejected a $3.2 billion takeover bid from billionaire telecoms investor Patrick Drahi.
This week also saw rival satellite firm Inmarsat officially launch its Elera IoT satellite network service. Dutch IoT firm Hiber has said it will use Elera to provide IoT services to remote customers.
Small satellite manufacture Terran Orbital this week announced it is to go public via a merger with a Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC). The firm is to merge with the blank check company Tailwind Two Acquisition Corp. and value the combined entity at around $1.58 billion. Satellite operators Planet and Spire Global, along with space startups Satellogic, Rocket Lab, and Astra have all announced SPAC mergers this year.
