Page 99 - SAMENA Trends - September 2019

SATELLITE UPDATES SAMENA TRENDS

Botswana Telecommunications Corporation Ltd Doubles Capacity on

Spacecom’s AMOS-7 in Multi-Year Satellite Services Deal

Spacecom, operator of the AMOS satellite to provide improved broadband service to and beyond. Satellite communication via
fleet, and Botswana Telecommunications industries operating outside major towns AMOS-7 is facilitating our growth and
Corporation Limited (BTC) today e.g. Tourism, Agriculture, Construction, fulfilling our purpose, which is to provide
announced that BTC is doubling its Banking, etc. and offer Community Wi-Fi superior communication solutions to
capacity on AMOS-7 communication Hotspots, Safer Cities, Smart Farming and Botswana anywhere and everywhere to
satellite KU-beams. With this new Business Continuity services throughout enable them to live connected.” Spacecom
capacity, BTC is adding cellular backhaul the country. Spacecom’s Vertical CEO and President David Pollack stated,
and various long-distance communication Solutions Division is working closely with “By the end of 2019, Spacecom will
services to enhance rural area the company to assist in implementation have three satellites servicing Africa:
connectivity. AMOS-7’s KU-band beams of infrastructure for the new services. AMOS-7, AMOS-4 and AMOS-17. The
enable mobility by providing high data According to Anthony Masunga, Managing ongoing cooperation with BTC signifies
rates for communications-on-the-move Director of BTC, “Once again we are working the success of our strategy marrying our
irrespective of location in country. Thus, with Spacecom to bolster our business satellite’s communications capabilities to
BTC is able to offer e-learning, e-medicine, offerings. BTC is adding new and exciting the proficiency of our Vertical Solutions
e-commerce and other e-government services that will go far to reduce our Division to deliver superior Turn-Key
services to residents countrywide country’s digital divide and offer citizens in solutions with our partners.”
wherever they are, even when they are previously underserved areas more options
traveling. The capacity also allows BTC to communicate throughout Botswana

Egypt Kicks Off Construction of MisrSat-II Satellite

Egyptian Space Agency, in tandem with MisrSat-II project, Egypt will be the very under the Belt and Road Initiative. Let’s
China National Space Administration, first African country to have complete note the construction phase is expected to
kicked off the construction of the satellite assembly, testing, and integration last 35 months and MisrSat-II will have a
MisrSat-II satellite. This was during the capabilities. It will also be the first-ever 5-year lifetime.
fourth China-Arab States Expo held from successful space cooperation with China
September 5 to 8 in à Ningxia, China.
Fundraising for the project was closed
in January this year and the Chinese
government contributed a total of $140
million. The new space equipment will help
Egypt implement its development plans in
many areas, according to Ahmed al-Rafie,
the project manager. He said Egyptian
engineers and their Chinese counterparts
will also collaborate in the construction
of Egypt’s Assembly, Integration and
Testing center. “The design phases will be
carried out in parallel in Egypt and China,
but the assembly and integration of the
satellite will be done in Egypt at Egyptian
Satellite Assembly, Integration and Test
Center. This will provide the Egyptian
side with experience in the development
of satellite space systems,” said Mr. al-
Rafie. According to Liao Liqiang, China’s
ambassador to Egypt, at the end of the

99 SEPTEMBER 2019