MUMBAI: Post the acquisition of PanAmSat Holding Corporation, Intelsat, Ltd has brought on a new executive team.
At the time that the acquisition was announced, in August 2005, the companies stated that Intelsat CEO David McGlade would be the CEO of the company, and that PanAmSat CEO Joe Wright would be chairman of Intelsat’s board, after the transaction closes.
McGlade said today that he intends to appoint PanAmSat COO James Frownfelter as the COO of Intelsat upon the closing.
Frownfelter will replace current Intelsat COO Ramu Potarazu and Intelsat Global Service Corporation president Kevin Mulloy, who have submitted their resignations from Intelsat, effective 9 February and 27 January, 2006, respectively.
As Intelsat COO, Frownfelter will have responsibility for sales and marketing functions, engineering and operations, and major program procurement. During his tenure at PanAmSat, he directed 16 successful satellite launches and instituted a renewed focus on core competencies, resulting in significant improvement in PanAmSat’s network reliability.
Since becoming an officer of the company in 2001, Frownfelter has led the transformation of PanAmSat from a satellite operator to a well-managed, higher quality, and more profitable communications company with expanded services for global distribution applications.
McGlade also announced that Phillip Spector will continue in his current role as Intelsat general counsel following the closing of the PanAmSat acquisition. He will retain responsibility for all legal and regulatory matters, as well as human resources, facilities, and security.
Spector joined Intelsat in February 2005 from the international law firm of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP, where he was managing partner of the Washington office and chairman of the firm’s communications and technology group.
McGlade said, “The combination of Intelsat and PanAmSat will result in a premier satellite company that will be a leader in the delivery of video content, the transmission of corporate data and the provisioning of government communications solutions. Jim Frownfelter and Phil Spector have between them many decades of experience in the satellite sector, and they both have strong records of success. These appointments are the first phase in assembling a new team and signal our clear intention to take the company to the next level in terms of customer service and operational excellence.”
“At the same time, I would like to thank Ramu Potarazu for his significant contributions to Intelsat and the satellite industry over the past two decades, including his leadership roles in Intelsat’s 2001 privatisation, the acquisitions of Comsat General and Intelsat Americas assets, the sale of Intelsat to our current owners in 2005, and most recently the PanAmSat transaction. Kevin Mulloy also contributed greatly to Intelsat’s success, including the development of Intelsat’s post-privatization strategy and the technical integration of the Intelsat Americas fleet. We wish them every success in their future endeavors,” he added.
Acting Intelsat chief financial officer Robert Medlin will continue in that role at Intelsat until a permanent CFO is named. Current PanAmSat general counsel James Cuminale and chief financial officer Michael Inglese will stay with PanAmSat until the transaction closes.
PanAmSat CEO Joe Wright said, “I would like to congratulate Jim Frownfelter on his future role at Intelsat and feel very confident that he will have the same level of success in transforming and integrating the new company as he did at PanAmSat. While we will miss Jim Cuminale and Mike Inglese, we greatly appreciate the extraordinary roles they have played in building PanAmSat into the company it is today. Jim Cuminale was here from the creation of PanAmSat and has been a key architect of almost every major event that has occurred at this company. Mike Inglese oversaw internal and external financial transactions that were, in many cases, firsts for our industry.”
On 29 August, 2005, Intelsat and PanAmSat announced that the two companies signed a definitive merger agreement under which Intelsat will acquire PanAmSat for $25 per share in cash, or $3.2 billion. The transaction is currently expected to close in the second or third quarter of 2006.
Tag: Ramu Potarazu
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Intelsat gets new executive team on board post PanAmSat acquisition
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Firestone zeroes in on Intelsat to expand cable programming distribution
MUMBAI: Intelsat announced that Firestone Communications has expanded its use of the Intelsat Americas fleet for distribution of cable programming in North America.
The long-term contract, to utilise a full transponder on IA-13, will give Firestone Communications and its cable programming customers access to the satellite’s prime cable arc location at 121° W, and connectivity to over 3,000 digital cable head-ends in the US.
Firestone Communications is a rapidly growing media and communications company offering a new, fully-digital, state-of-the-art network operations facility for programmers and producers around the world.
Accessing the IA-13 satellite allows Firestone Communications to leverage the prime cable distribution neighborhood on the satellite and significantly expand its customers viewing audiences.
“As we’ve grown our business, Intelsat’s flexibility has provided us with more bandwidth within its cable programmer community, enabling us to better accommodate our customers needs. Intelsat now provides us with a full transponder’s capacity and power allowing us to cost-effectively offer a full multiplex of cable channels,” said Firestone Communications president Michael G Fletcher.
Intelsat COO Ramu Potarazu said, “Intelsat is actively committed to growing our video distribution community in the cable arc where IA-13 is located. Customers such as Firestone Communications help us achieve that growth as new cable channels are added to its customer lineup. Emerging cable programmers find immediate value in the cost-effective, turnkey program distribution services provided by Firestone Communications and Intelsat, which effectively lower market entry barriers and get channels up and running quickly.”
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Intelsat signs 3-yr contract with Portugal pubcaster
MUMBAI: Intelsat has singed a three-year contract with Radio e Televisao de Portugal (RTP), Portugal’s State broadcaster, under which Intelsat will provide end-to-end international distribution of RTP content to Europe, Africa and Latin America.
This was announced by Intelsat at the IBC show in Amsterdam on 10 September.
Advisor to the board of directors at RTP Luis Quaresma said “We needed a highly reliable satellite network with global coverage to ensure an end-to-end, high-quality signal was preserved during international transmission.“To this end, we extended our contracts with Intelsat, as we knew that its expertise and state-of-the-art video distribution network could easily accommodate our evolving international requirements.”
“Intelsat has made a strong commitment to efficiently serve the broadcast market, as demonstrated by the enhancement of our state-of-the-art network and provision of a specific video operations centre that is staffed all day, every day by people who know the broadcast business well and can make transmissions happen on a moment’s notice,” said Ramu Potarazu, COO, Intelsat Ltd.
“Intelsat is a serious player in the international distribution market; we have designed our network to specifically support broadcasters that need creative, innovative and reliable services and solutions.”
Intelsat, packaging teleport services with capacity on the IS-706, IS-805 and IS-907 satellites, is providing completely digital, end-to-end network services for cable, system master antenna television and direct broadcasting of RTP’s bouquet of International, themed channels to millions of viewers.
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Intelsat has pre-booked over 35,000 channel hrs for Olympic coverage
MUMBAI: Intelsat, the only global satellite leader providing Olympic Games coverage since 1968, has today confirmed that it has pre-booked over 35,000 hours of programming for 50 channels for this year’s Olympic Games in Athens, Greece.
This represents one of the highest traffic events in the company’s history, and equates to what would be almost four years of continual programming carried within a 20-day period.
Intelsat is providing all-digital transmission of the Games for many of the event’s rights holders, using six satellites from its global fleet covering every ocean region.
The Intelsat system is carrying Olympic footage from Athens to North America, Asia and South America for a number of premier customers, including CCTV in China and GlobeCast, a leading international provider of satellite transmission and production services for professional broadcast customers. GlobeCast will utilise Intelsat capacity to offer high-quality services to ATV Hong Kong, TV Globo, Brazil, TVB Hong Kong and Chinese Taipei Broadcast Pool. OTE, the national telecom provider of Greece, will use the Intelsat system to provide occasional use services to its customers in Europe. Intelsat-carried Olympic images will be broadcast to a potential viewing audience of over 3 billion people.
“Reliability is the most important aspect of providing coverage of the Olympic Games to our clients’ viewing audiences,” said Graham Smith, head of Sport for Europe at GlobeCast. “We are utilising Intelsat satellites to deliver this content and we’re confident that during this exciting event our clients’ programming will benefit from Intelsat’s experience and reputation for unmatched satellite service.”
“The Olympics is arguably one of the most important events for bringing the people of the world together, and Intelsat is proud to play a key role in making that happen by enabling quality video distribution around the globe,” said Intelsat, COO, Ramu Potarazu.
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Intelsat-Telespazio to provide service to Saipem
MUMBAI: Intelsat and Telespazio will be providing Worldwide communications services to oil and gas industry contractor Saipem.
The global communications provider has been chosen by Telespazio to provide oil and gas industry contractor, an ENI company, Saipem with voice and data services to support its worldwide onshore and offshore construction, drilling and deep water operations.
Intelsat’s global solution, utilizing the IS-701, IS-905 and IS-904 satellites, will allow 16 oil and gas vessels traversing the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans to transmit voice and data traffic to Saipem’s land-based operations center located in Europe, says an official release.
Each of the 16 vessels will be equipped with a 2.4 meter C-band maritime antenna to communicate with Intelsat’s satellite system. This network is integrated into Saipem’s global terrestrial network, which is managed by Albacom, a telecom provider.
According to Telespazio network and multimedia business unit manager Paolo Binelli, “Intelsat’s robust network is well suited to carry this solution as it offers Saipem the flexibility and reliability it needs to communicate efficiently to and from almost any ocean region on a global scale. In the oil and gas industry, it is important to have a trustworthy and secure network, such as Intelsat’s, in place to transmit data between ocean-based vessels and processing centers in order to maintain the accuracy and integrity of the information.”
“Intelsat’s diverse network and four decades of experience as a satellite services leader, combined with Telespazio’s service provision strength, create a winning combination that allows us to pass along a valuable knowledge base to customers on land or at sea,” Intelsat ltd, COO, Ramu Potarazu was quoted in the release, saying so.
“Our strength and know-how in the provision of services to important vertical markets, such as oil and gas, gives our customers the peace of mind that information critical to the success of their businesses is being transmitted in a steadfast, reliable manner,” he added.
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Intelsat partners with BMW WilliamsF1 team
MUMBAI: The BMW WilliamsF1Team has chosen the US based satellite communications company, Intelsat system, to transmit mission-critical information during all European Grand Prix races and testing days.
Beginning this year, Intelsat’s 905 satellite at the 335ºE orbital location will carry telemetry information about the Formula One race car’s performance including heat output, revolutions and engine performance, fuel consumption rates, tire performance and other important data, says a company release.
In addition, Intelsat will also provide a virtual private network and onsite database replication to support the BMW WilliamsF1 Team, says a company release.
“I am delighted that the BMW WilliamsF1 Team will benefit from the vast competence, operational flexibility, satellite reliability and engineering excellence for which Intelsat, which has supported many seminal events in history, is known”, said BMW WilliamsF1 team principal Frank Williams.
“Not only is it a privilege to have the endorsement of such a pedigree brand, but self-evidently, Intelsat will make a real contribution to our on-track performances”, he added
Intelsat Ltd. COO Ramu Potarazu stated, “The BMW WilliamsF1 Team need now only use one provider, Intelsat, for its European races, supplying it with a robust but simple solution that gives the team constant access to the mission-critical information it needs to win races. Having the chance to work with the BMW WilliamsF1 Team gives Intelsat the opportunity to partner with a top quality organization and provide a winning technology formula to support the overall success of the team.”
During race weekends and test days, WilliamsF1 and BMW will alternately have trucks located on-site at the race track and will relay and process telemetry information received directly from the car to the IS-905 satellite.
Information regarding chassis and engine performance will then be sent for analysis to Oxfordshire, UK and Munich, Germany, where WilliamsF1 and BMW are respectively based, confirms the release.
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Intelsat launches video fibre network
MUMBAI: Intelsat on Monday commercially launched its North American video fibre network , which claims to present broadcasters worldwide with an enhanced opportunity to reliably transmit video content to, from or within North America.
The network, known as, Intelsat’s Terrestrial Media Transport, TMT, is the North American extension of Intelsat’s GlobalConnexSM suite of services which are provided using a worldwide hybrid terrestrial and satellite infrastructure.
The extended network, designed with North American broadcasters in mind, is among the first of its kind specifically designed to support both standard and high-definition digital video transmissions for news and sports distribution as well as for contribution and syndication.
The scaleable, fibre-based network is optimized for broadcasters to provide flexible transmission throughout, multiple format support, added security in collocation facilities, an innovative back-up approach and end-to-end monitoring to support smooth trouble-shooting. In addition, it offers high quality of service that can be extended to all Intelsat GlobalConnexSM customers.
Intelsat COO Ramu Potarazu said, “Broadcasters are driving demand for a new type of fiber-based network; one that can flexibly accommodate their diverse needs from standard definition to high definition via a single interface, in an end-to-end, digital environment”.
The TMT network leverages a new back-up approach to replace conventional “telco-oriented” redundancy with a broadcaster-focused, secure approach utilizing “slipless-switching” technology. This will enable two simultaneous and redundant content feeds to be carried on diverse paths for every transmission that takes place on the network
In addition, the network is capable of providing a scalable service using MPEG-2 and other formats of compression encoding, employing variable bit rates up to 45 Mbps, HDTV or higher within a single pipe. It supports digital television transmissions, with end-to-end digital formatting, allowing the signal to remain digital throughout the entire transmission. Tandberg Television has undertaken the integration of the new network.
“We are pleased that Intelsat, one of the world’s leading satellite companies, selected Level 3 to enable the commercial launch of the TMT network,” said Level 3 senior vice president of transport and infrastructure Steve Liddell.
He added “Working together, our combined team of network architects designed what we believe is one of the most technically advanced terrestrial distribution networks in operation today”.
Intelsats new TMT network features private line services from Level 3.This service is ideal for customers with multiple locations who need to transport high volumes of voice, video, or data over a secure channel, says a press release.
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Intelsat buys US West Coast teleport facility
WASHINGTON: Intelsat has acquired the PacAmTel teleport, located outside Los Angeles, California, in a bid to assemble a worldwide terrestrial infrastructure and strengthen its global satellite fleet.
The new teleport, to be known as Riverside Teleport, has terrestrial links to one of the US West Coast’s major telecom point of presence (PoP) – the Meet Me Room (MMR) at One Wilshire in Los Angeles, where a community of service providers interconnect, says a company release.
Intelsat hopes that Riverside will be one of the several key ground facilities utilised in Intelsat’s GlobalConnexSM Solutions, a new portfolio of hybrid services that combines Intelsat’s global satellite fleet with terrestrial capabilities. GlobalConnexSM Solutions is already delivering end-to-end voice, data, Internet and video solutions efficiently and reliably to customers around the world.
“A teleport at this location makes good business sense for Intelsat because it can operate with satellites in both the Pacific and Atlantic Ocean regions,” says Intelsat Global Service Corporation, President and Chief Operating Officer Ramu Potarazu.”With this facility on the West Coast of the US, we will have a complete network for end-to-end services to, from and within, the Americas”, he adds.
Intelsat’s worldwide end-to-end network now consists of teleports in California, Fuchsstadt, Germany and Clarksburg, Maryland, as well as fiber interconnected PoPs in Los Angeles, New York, Frankfurt and London. It offers telephony, corporate network, video and Internet solutions around the globe via capacity on 24 geosynchronous satellites in prime orbital locations, claims the company.
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Intelsat looks to buy broadband satellite system
Intelsat has issued a Request for Proposal (RFP) for the purchase of a next-generation broadband satellite system as a key component of the organisation’s initiative to address growing IP market demands worldwide, Ramu Potarazu, chief technology officer, announced on Monday, according to a company news release.
The RFP includes one geostationary Ku/Ka-band satellite operating in a bent pipe configuration, with options for up to four more spacecraft. The system is expected to support last-mile access for small and affordable user terminals as well as customers who target small and medium enterprises and small office-home office users. The organisation’s goal is for the contract to be awarded by the fall, with deployment expected to occur in 2004.
Along with the RFP, Intelsat is looking at other opportunities to address broadband business issues. Included are current and upcoming services on its existing satellite fleet, as well as a continuing investigation of new system alternatives, Potarazu says.
“Responses to the RFP will help us to further solidify our strategy for acquiring next-generation broadband infrastructure, so this is an important step in Intelsat’s plan to build on our communications industry experience to meet evolving market needs,” says Potarazu. “The combination of the next-generation equipment and the new services being developed on our existing fleet is expected to ensure the company’s long-term ability to not only meet those needs, but also do it in ways that will give users a leg up on the competition.”
Intelsat already has 10 satellites on order, representing a total investment of more than $3.2 billion for launches planned from this year through 2003.
Intelsat presently offers Internet, broadcast, telephony and corporate network solutions around the globe through a fleet of 19 satellites.