CETel teams up with Arabsat for Africa C-band initiative

Teleport operator CETel has teamed up with Middle East satellite operator Arabsat to build a joint earth station for C-band services in Africa.

The agreement covers the use of CETel’s teleport facilities, network and broadband services as well as solution design across Africa, the Middle East, Europe and Central Asia for C-band use on Arabsat’s Arabsat-5C on 20° East.

The pair said their strategic plan to expand into the extended C-band is driven by the need of cost effective communications solutions in rural areas in Africa which offers not only trunking and backhauling applications but also corporate network connectivity between the regions and continents.

Guido Neumann, managing director of CETel said: “We already serving first customers on extended C-Band with a nine metre antenna from our teleport in Germany. It`s the right product at the right time for customers looking for answers to the ever increasing cost pressure in their areas of business.”

Khalid Balkheyour, president and CEO of Arabsat said: “Service providers’ ever increasing demand for capacity is satisfied by development of the extended C-band which gives wider room for expansion, not available anymore on congested normal bands. The possible applications which are explored together with CETel ranging from backhauling over connectivity for corporate networks up to governmental services.”