Vol 6 No. 5Vol 6 No 5Vol. 7 No. 8 2018

By Marcel Dischinger

Understanding quest for new space

Vol 6 No. 5Vol 6 No 5Vol. 7 No. 11 2018December

The future of Ultra High Definition Television viewing

AFRICA

Next-generation technologies driving new businessmodel

BROADCASTING

Leveraging outer space for National Security

C O N T E N T SVol. 7 No. 11

Editor in-chief Aliyu BelloExecutive Manager Tonia GerraldSA to the editor in-Chief Ngozi OkeyHead, Application Services M. YakubuEditorial/ICT Services John Daniel Usman Bello Alozie Nwankwo Juliet NnamdiClient Relations Sunday Tache Lookman Bello Safiya ThaniMarketing Offy Pat Tunde Nathaniel Wasiu OlatundeMedia Relations Favour Madu Khadijat Yakubu Zacheous FeliciaFinance Folarin Tunde

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1

Wipro InfotechCover source

Nigeria

The future of Nigeria’s space assets

Building business leaders and entrepreneurs

Konnect Africa launches satellite internet access offers in DRC

One of Africa's largest public broadcasters selects Globecast and Spacecom's AMOS-7 for SNG services

NigeriaSat-2 delivers imagery beyond end of life cycle

Avanti signs African master service deal with Logical Wireless

Again, AfricaCom 2018 achieves all round results

Advancing digital connectivity in Africa

In Satcom industry, no single strand fits all

France-IX reaches new milestones with presence in Africa

Intelsat reports strong profitability in Q3 2018

Leveraging outer space for National Security

Es'hailSat's second satellite successfully launched

Speedcast expands global connectivity for Schlumberger

Study: Eutelsat leads DTH market acrossNigeria, Cameroon and Ivory Coast

Next generation technologies driving new business model

5

Outer space is the expanse that exists beyond the Earth and between celestial bodies. Contrary to common knowledge and opinion, it is not completely empty but a special and interesting vacuum comprising a low density of particles, plasma of Hydrogen and Helium as well as electromagnetic radiation, magnetic fields, neutrinos, dust, cosmics. Though, it could be commonly agreed as a matter of convention to take the Karman line defined at an altitude of 100 km (62 miles) above sea level as the level where the outer space starts to have effect.

Satellites are launched into space for specific tasks and are usually designed specifically to fulfill these roles. Of the over one thousand one hundred active satellites orbiting the earth today are of nine types namely; Communication Satellite, Remote Sensing satellite, Navigational satellite, Low Earth Orbiting Satellites, Medium Earth Orbiting Satellites, Global Positioning Systems, Geostat ionary Sate l l i tes, Drone Satellites, and Polar Satellites.The Geosynchronous Orbit (GSO) is the most sought after orbital slots to place satellites due to its position in relation to the Earth and its rotation.

Nigeria's space program was inaugurated in the country in 2001 by President Obasanjo, and since then, the country had launched five Nigerian satellites into the orb i t namely : N iger iaSat1¸ NigeriaSat2, NigeriaSat X, NigComSat-1, and NigComSat-1R which is a replacement of NigComSAT-1 due to the mishap of NigComSAT-1.The space opportunity in Nigeria in terms of business ecosystem is valued about $50billion yearly which includes the asset on ground and in space, which remains largely untapped.

As at the time Nigeria launched itself into space, most African nations were still far behind and it was both an outstanding decision by the Nigerian government and its people that put the future correctly in focus. The orbit location spectrum resource is the bone of contention for the growing outer space industry because of its dual context nature; that is, a resource whose value can only be realized

through the simultaneous use of both t h e o r b i t a l l o c a t i o n a n d t h e electromagnetic spectrum. Nigeria, having taken its position in the orbits should be a space-flourishing nation. We do have the outer space capacity and assets to like most space nations; deploy space technology to transform our lives and solve many problems.

“With our space assets generating

less than N1billion yearly, and knowing that each satellite in

orbit have a fixed life span, a lot of

awareness on the part of government

and private sector is needed to ramp up

the benefits from our space assets”.

However, we must realize that what we failed to do, others might do it or are already doing it and the ideas and opportunities we failed to plug, others would implement them right in our corridors for which we would also be required to pay for the services in one way or the other.

The trend and scope of space activities by the developed nations indicate that space policies have become very significant for these groups of countries both for economic enhancement and other uses. Inmarsat, with their global satellite network and strength would sooner than later, begin to acquire significant market share in our satellite and space industry. Iconic information and Communications (ICT) companies such as Google and Facebook whose traditional strengths are extensive server farms are also launching themselves into space connectivity by

assembl ing sate l l i tes that are specifically built and oriented to cash in on this part of the world. They are doing what we failed to do and we could surrender a sizeable portion of the $50billion industry we failed to harness. Nigerians could still be paying for space-based services while the country possesses arguably the biggest space industry in Africa.

Space technology remains crucial in our lives as we explore suitable solutions to the emerging non-conventional and multi-faceted challenges we face today in both our environment and the society. Today, we have climate change which has shown early warning signs just as we pray they don't begin to show their obvious impacts and effects.

Things are not as it used to be as we have too much or too little of what we are used to. Excessive rainfalls leading to flooding, too little rains, too much sunshine and diurnal temperatures, non-seasonability of rainfall are signs that climate change is a reality. In our society today, we are faced with social problems that threaten our security and existence as a nation. Bokoharam in the North, Kidnapping and pipeline vandalism in the south are disturbing social threats that have often defied conventional approaches and solutions.

Therefore, a new concept and scientific approach must be probed and harnessed that can also be deployed in the total collaborative efforts to combating these challenges. So far, scientific and technical advancements made in space technology makes it the obvious choice and the way to go as far as looking for alternative solutions are concerned.

HRH Engr. Otis Anyaeji, FAEng, FNSE

The future of Nigeria’s space assets

EDITORIAL

We have always known you to be a big player in the ICT market in Nigeria, what informed your switch from ICT to leadership training?

CWG Plc is today the largest security listed in the ICT sector of the Nigerian Stock Exchange. When we started CWG in 1992, it was more of a profitable impact investment initiative. We wanted to deploy technology to solve problems and enable growth for corporates through eff iciency, and optimization. The advent of the internet, the u b i q u i t y o f b r o a d b a n d a n d t h e pervasiveness of smartphones opened the gateway to business models that levelled the playing field and the opportunity to expand our solutions to small and medium businesses through cloud computing. They no longer had to acquire expensive systems and scarce technology personnel. We could just deploy the technology for them on a pay-as-you-use basis.

This gave rise to our CWG2.0 initiative which was focused on enabling inclusiveness and business t ransformat ion wi th new technology such as big data, artificial intelligence and mobile banking and payments. Today, about 65% of financial transactions in the banking sector is processed through the Finacle banking application, and CWG presently supports about 30 percent of the ATM base and has 450 support hubs across Nigeria, as well as being a strong player in the Fintech space.The innovative journey to achieving the CWG vision involving learning, unlearning and re-learning; and how attendant risks were surmounted has attracted institutions such as the Goldman Sachs Foundation, the Chazen Institute, and the Centre for International Business Education and Research (CIBER) to sponsor Case Studies to be developed on the company for teaching purposes. Today, institutions such as Columbia Business School in New York, MIT in Boston, LBS in Nigeria and many other institutions of higher learning have developed case studies in CWG Plc.

For me personally, having achieved my dream of building a leading African Technology Company that can provide solutions for African businesses and entrepreneurs to grow, I thought it was time to move to another passion; and that was leadership training, so I retired from the headship of CWG to Found the Ausso Leade rsh ip Academy (#ALA) f o r Entrepreneurial and Business Leadership Mentorship. I saw the opportunity, having witnessed how the Technology Academy we had set up at CWG had empowered young graduates and middle management to make

a career in technology and excel. I felt I could replicate the concept in Leadership Mentorship, albei t adopt ing i t for entrepreneurial businesses in growth mode, and high achieving business executives (or Intrapreneurs).

What is The AUSSO Leadership Academy all about and what vacuum is it coming to fill in Nigeria's economy?

The Ausso Leadership academy was set up to mentor Entrepreneurs to Institutionalize and Scale their businesses geometrically. The vision is to maximize the jobs created by Entrepreneurs in order to enable shared prosperity. I was inspired to set up the Ausso Leadership Academy to provide the advice I would have provided my younger self when I was starting my business; and also be the mentor I wish I had. The idea is that creating more jobs will ultimately enable shared prosperity. A common prosperity that will ensure that our young ones; including those on whom we have spent so much money to educate in foreign lands will find a job that will bring them back, so that they can contribute to our development with the knowledge and exposure they have acquired. They may even go on to Found their own businesses thereafter, and help in accelerating economic growth.In terms of vacuum, there is a huge leadership gap between the visionary entrepreneur cadre and the next management layer required for the journey of a sustainable business in Africa. The Ausso Leadership Academy fills this huge vacuum by making pract ica l and democratizing entrepreneurial and business mentorship through experiential skill transfer, emphasizing what has worked and the pitfalls to avoid. The huge success of the technology entrepreneurial ecosystem in Silicon Valley, London and Beijing is largely due to such deep mentorship regimes.

There are a lot of other formal and informal training institutes in Nigeria, what difference will ASSUSO make?The Ausso Leadership Academy is different in that it is based on the inverted classroom model. Instead of having a professor stand in front of the class pouring out theoretical knowledge, there are facilitators who mentors the class to achieve deep self-learning by agitating their innovative mindset. There is a co-inspired network leaning environment, where other delegates challenge your proposed business model and the underlining assumptions, helping you to cover all angles, especially your blind

spot. The facilitator is not just a teacher but a business or entrepreneurial champion with a proven track record, who borrows deep from his experience to inspire the class. This is what the Ausso Leadership Academy provides to complement what is taught at Business Schools.Unlike many training instructions, delegates to the Ausso leadership Academy come prepared to dissect their businesses and harden their Business Playbook. All case studies are on their Own Business and not an esoteric case study of another company operating in a very different environment. All concepts treated apply to their businesses in the context of our local operat ing environment. All Playbooks generated are granular and execution-ready. All Faculty and Champions are Business and Entrepreneurial Leaders with a Proven Track Record.

AUSSO is already about one year old, how is the journey so far?The impact that the Ausso leadership academy has had, makes it seem that it has been here for a longer time that it has actually been. The Academy was launched on April 12, 2018 by none other than Dr. Ernest Ndukwe, considered the father of modern telecoms in Nigeria. The Academy has recorded remarkable success with the graduation of two Cohorts, and positive feedback of delegates' outstanding performances upon returning to their companies and entrepreneurial businesses. There are two more cohorts p lanned for September and November.

What height do you intend to take AUSSO to?Unlike a purely commercial venture, the Ausso Leadership Academy was

Source: Airbus Defence and Space

Ausso Leadership Training Academy

Building business leaders and entrepreneurs

LEADERS

Austen Okere

conceived as a sustainable social impact investment rather than a profit-oriented investment; so the idea is to charge sufficient fees to ensure that the Academy runs at the high quality standard it has set, sustainably over the long term, developing Business Leaders who will power Nigeria through rapid economic growth and shared prosperity.

Training is a professional field that requires a lot of experience, how equipped are you for this assignment. #ALA is more of a mentorship academy than a training institution. I believe I am eminently qualified for the role, based on my track record in entrepreneurship and my roles in Business education across the globe. I have been adequately prepared with an MBA from IESE Business School, and over 30 years industry experience, covering roles in Visioning & Strategy, Relat ionship Management, Leadership Training, Corporate Management, Sales & Marketing, and Systems Analysis; with 23 of those years as Founder and CEO of CWG Plc, the largest security in the ICT sector of the Nigerian Stock Exchange.

I am also an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Columbia Business School, New York, where I received special commendation for my mentorsh ip ro le in innova t ion and entrepreneurship. I was appointed to the Advisory Board of the Global Business School Network in Washington DC in recognition of my major contribution to the development of business education and knowledge transfer in Africa. I have keynote addressed and lectured at many Business Schools, including United States International University (USIU) in Kenya, Imperial College of London, China and European International Business School (CEIBS), I.E. Business School of Madrid, Lagos Business School, Columbia Business School and MIT.

It is this rich repertoire of experience that I bring to bear at the Ausso Leadership Academy. In addition, there is a complement of faculty consist ing of business leaders and entrepreneurs with practical experience and proven track record, imparting knowledge through experiential learning. They have a shared motivation and a burning desire to impart their knowledge and experience in building a thriving entrepreneurial ecosystem.

They are complemented by Champions of Business and Entrepreneurship, who come to share the stories of their journeys, and how they overcame adversities in building their businesses. We believe that within our local context the delegates will relate better to our own Heroes; more importantly, we believe that this will serve to rightfully recognize and acknowledge our Champions and document their legacies for posterity and future generations. Some of the Champions who have been to share their valuable experiences are Dr. Okey Enelama, Honourable Minister of Industries, Trade and Investments; Oscar Onyema, Chief Executive Office of the Nigerian Stock Exchange, Austin Avuru, CEO of Seplat, Ndidi Nwuneli and Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede

Facebook appoints Managing Director in MENA.Facebook has announced the appointment of Ramez T Shehadi as its new managing director in the MENA region. In his new position, Shehadi will lead the commercial growth and impact of Facebook and its expanding portfolio of apps, services and businesses across the region."The ever-evolving Mena region continues to be a key market for Facebook, with over 181 million people using the platform every month,” said Ari Kesisoglu, vice president of Middle East, Turkey and Africa at Facebook. “Driven by a mobile-first strategy, Facebook's family of apps and services help people to explore new ways of digital storytelling and support brands to reach the right audiences. Ramez's depth of global experience in industry and technology strategy will help us fu r ther d r i ve impac t amongs t i nd i v i dua l s , commun i t i es and institutions in the region; while maintaining a focus on our mission to bring people together and build community.Shehadi brings extensive expertise in establishing, scaling and running regional and global lines of business and cross-industry portfolios for top-tier global consulting firms, most notably as senior partner and managing director of the Mena portfolio of Booz Allen Hamilton, lead partner of the Mena Digital Business and Technology practice of Booz & Company and Global co-lead of Booz Digital, among others.

Barbara Bergmeier appointed Head of OperationsAirbus Defence and Space has appointed Barbara Bergmeier, 50, as Head of Operations and Member of the Executive Committee. She succeeds André-Hubert Roussel, 53, who will become Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of ArianeGroup, a 50-50 joint venture between Airbus and Safran, effective 1 January 2019. “I am happy that Barbara Bergmeier joins us at this exciting time for Airbus Defence and Space. Barbara is a seasoned leader in complex industrial ecosystems. She brings extensive expe r i ence i n Manu fac tu r i ng -Operations, Digital Transformation, Supply Chain Management, Production Restructuring, Design and Set-up of assembly l i nes and a s t rong international background – all assets which are of paramount importance for the further implementation of our growth strategy in the coming years,” said Dirk

Hoke, CEO of Airbus Defence and Space. Barbara Bergmeier joins Airbus Defence and Space from Vilsbiburg, Germany-based Dräxlmaier Group, where she has been Chief Operating Officer and an Executive Board Member since 2014. In that capacity, she has been in charge of 50 production sites in 20 countries and has been instrumental in expanding the company's industrial footprint in Asia and in the Americas.

Eutelsat appoints Gary Donnan as Chief Innovation OfficerGary Donnan has joined Eutelsat Communications as Chief Innovation Officer, reporting to Chief Executive Officer Rodolphe Belmer. In his role, Gary is tasked with defining Eutelsat’s i n n o v a t i v e r o a d m a p a n d t h e identification and cross functional development of innovation initiatives across the group. He will also focus on forging stronger links between Eutelsat and the external innovation ecosystem to step up the roll out of emerging technology throughout the country.Gary Donnan brings significant experience in cross functional and collaborative management.He joins Eutelsat after eleven years at Technicolor where he conducted large -scale transformation projects and held several key positions in the fields of technology, research and innovation, gaining expertise in the broadcasting industry. As a member of Technicolor's Execut ive Commit tee, he was successively Executive Vice President (EVP) for Research and Innovation, then EVP for technology and standards. Prior to joining Technicolor, Gary held similar research and innovation positions at Alcatel, including research and development for the deployment of fibre, cable, radio and satellite networks in various parts of the world. He is therefore well versed in telecom technologies as a whole.

APPOINTMENTS

LEADERS

Barbara Bergmeier

Konnect Africa launches satellite internet access offers in DRC

Konnect Africa announced the launch of its Internet access offers throughout the Congolese territory. Internet offers from 5 GB to unl imited data plans. The ICT Development Index published annually by the International Telecommunication Union to date shows that less than 3% of Congolese households have Internet access. According to the ITU, less than 1% of the Congolese population currently have access to the Internet via terrestrial networks. The lack of connectivity is a major obstacle to the economic development of this country.

By relying on the latest satellite technology, Konnect Africa is now providing a concrete response to the digital divide by launching a range of eight Internet access offers for individuals and businesses.

Accessible at affordable prices, these subscription offers are suitable for all consumer profiles, offering packages of up to 5 GB of data, and which can be unlimited for professionals. These packages are being proposed as prepaid in order to meet the needs of the market. The broadband speeds offered will be up to 20 Mbit/s download and up to 3 Mbit/s upload. For the launch, Konnect Africa is also introducing a promotion on this new range.

By working hand in hand with a large network of local partners specialised in various fields ranging from the distribution of telecom and television services to financial services, Konnect Africa has ensured that it has covered the Congolese territory as widely as possible. These Internet access offers are now available in six major cities of the Democratic Republic of Congo through a network of eight resellers totalling nearly 500 stores and retail points.These offers will soon be supplemented by the arrival of a Wi-Fi hotspot service, called Konnect Wifi, which will provide broadband internet access at traffic points such as in hospitals, schools and universities, stores, etc.On the occasion of the introduction of Konnect Africa's services in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Jean-Claude Tshipama, CEO of Konnect Africa, stated: "In a country which constitutes one of the main African markets for internet via satellite, today we are able to offer the Congolese people powerful connectivity solutions thanks to this technology. As a key success factor to meet the specificities of a country, we rely on world-class local partners to distribute our turnkey offers. Currently being deployed in some 20 countries in Africa, our Konnect Africa service responds to the need to develop digital inclusion on this continent."

Tw o G l a s g o w b u i l t satellites, funded by the U K S p a c e A g e n c y designed to moni tor weather and help combat global climate change has been launched into orbit. They were 'first of a kind' 5kg satellites designed and built by Spire Global are unique due to their function, tiny size, low cost and quick build time. This style of satellite could revolutionise work in s p a c e , w h i c h h a s traditionally been slow and expensive for business and science to access.

Both satellites, which were developed under the European Space Agency's (ESA's) ARTES Pioneer programme of which UK is the largest funder to ARTES, aim to prove the value of 'nanosats' in weather monitoring, by using them to measure refracted radio signals passing through the Earth's atmosphere.Graham Turnock, Chief Executive, UK Space Agency sa id : These incredibly clever pint-sized satellites built in Glasgow could slash the complexity and cost of access to space, presenting an exciting opportunity for the

UK to thrive in the commercial space age.T h r o u g h o u r £ 4 m development funding in E S A ' s A R T E S p r o g r a m m e , t h e government's Industrial Strategy and by working c l o s e l y w i t h o u r international partners, we are helping Scott ish businesses transform t h e i r i d e a s i n t o commercial real i t ies, resulting in jobs, growth and innovation. Experts can use the satellite's measurements to glean temperature, pressure and humidity information for weather forecasting and c l imate change monitoring.ESA is always looking to champion innovation in the space industry, and the idea of Pioneer is that these Space Mission Providers can help this by being a one-stop-shop for in-orbit demonstration and therefore reduce the barriers and complexity that can stifle new ideas.Peter Platzer, CEO of Spire Global said: Spire has been focused on developing unique data s o u r c e s w i t h h i g h frequency updates for the entire Earth and has over 6 0 L E M U R - 2 c l a s s

satellites deployed in space with a complementary global ground station network.The satellites were launched from Sriharikota, India, but from the 2020s, these home-grown spacecraft could be launched from the proposed spaceport in Sutherland, Scotland. The UK Space Agency is also supporting a space incubation centre in Glasgow and has provided support over several years to the Scottish Centre of Excellence in Satell ite Applications, based at the University of Strathclyde and working across the whole of Scotland.The Centre's role is to raise awareness of the potential of satellite services and data to be used in new and improved products and services in other “space e n a b l e d ” m a r k e t s – including, for example, offshore renewable energy and aquaculture. The UK Space Agency is driving the growth of the space sector as part of the Government's Industrial Strategy with major initiatives including the £99m National Space Test Facility at Harwell, and the UK continues to be a leading member of ESA, which is independent of the EU.

Spacecom, operator of the AMOS satellite fleet, and Globecast, the global solutions provider for media, announced a partnership to provide satel l i te capacity for permanent Satellite News Gathering services for one of Africa's largest public b r o a d c a s t e r s . V i a Spacecom's AMOS-7 Africa KU-band beam, Globecast is providing a long-term solution for the broadcaster. Provision of the service began in September 2018.

Alan Hird, Managing Director of Globecast in Africa, said, “We work with

satellite partners around the world, providing the m o s t a p p r o p r i a t e capacity for each and eve ry cus tomer by working closely with them to understand their precise capacity and service requirements.

We are pleased that our p a r t n e r s h i p w i t h Spacecom has been selected as the most appropr ia te i n th i s instance.”

According to Spacecom's Sr. VP Sales, Jacob K e r e t , " A M O S - 7 ' s unmatchab le power together with excellent elevation angle provides

an optimal solution for broadcasters seeking efficient and reliable satellite transmission service.T h e s a t e l l i t e ' s capabilities allow this broadcaster to uplink HD-on-the-move al l within one beam that covers all of Southern Africa. Our new contract as the satellite operator for permanent SNG services is another business development step as we prepare for the upcoming 2019 launch and beginning of services for our AMOS-17 satellite."

'Pint sized' Scottish satellites launched into orbit

IN THE NEWS

One of Africa's largest public broadcasters selects Globecast and Spacecom's AMOS-7 for SNG services

Avanti Communications Group plc has signed a M a s t e r S e r v i c e Agreement on Avanti's HYLAS 4 satellite with Logical Wireless, a South African Satellite integrator. The deal aims to provide c o m m u n i c a t i o n a n d connectivity services to enterprises and end-consumers located in remote areas across Africa.Under the new Master Se rv i ce Ag reemen t , Logical Wireless will use Avanti's new satellite, HYLAS 4, to complete its coverage of Sub-Saharan Africa and provide cost-effective and reliable satellite internet services into regions across Africa that suffer from unreliable

o r n o n - e x i s t e n t connectivity.The Avanti partnership will also enable Logical Wireless to deliver high capacity sites for carriers and telecom providers to directly access cloud and content platforms in A f r i c a ' s l a r g e s t Datacentre, making services more efficient and cost-effective.Avanti country manager and sales director for S o u t h e r n A f r i c a , Brenden Pronk, said “ We' re de l ighted to s t r e n g t h e n o u r relationship with Logical Wireless and support the delivery of high-speed satellite communication services throughout Africa. This partnership

is another milestone in our mission to help liberate the potential of people and businesses wherever they are located.

Logical Wireless, managing director, Gavin Behr, added, “Connectivity is critical for all businesses. It becomes problematic in remote areas where no forms of terrestrial connectivity are available. The partnership with Avanti enables us to deploy s a t e l l i t e b r o a d b a n d services that can be installed anywhere and p r o v i d e a c o m p l e t e c o m m u n i c a t i o n a n d connectivity solution to a l low indiv iduals and companies to conduct business as if they were in a city.”

IN THE NEWS

The technology industry discards as fast as it produces. In Nigeria, the lifespan of NigeriaSat 2 satellite launched into orbit by Ukrainian Dnepr rocket from a military base in Russia on 17 August 2011, may have ended last August, the satellite has continues to output imageries of the earth, according to Dr. Haliru Shaba, Director, S t r a t e g i c s p a c e A p p l i c a t i o n o f t h e N a t i o n a l S p a c e R e s e a r c h a n d Development Agency. With a lifespan of seven years, NigeriaSat-2 is Nigeria's third built as high-resolution earth observation satellites by S u r r e y S p a c e Techno logy L imi ted (SSTL) for Disaster Monitoring Constellation (DMC) system.

Nigeriasat-2 is a high r e s o l u t i o n A f r i c a n resource management constellation (ARMC) satel l i te. I t support National Geospatial Data Infrastructure (NGDI)

project. The satellite has the capacity to interface with existing Agency’s d a t a c o l l e c t i o n , d i s s e m i n a t i o n a n d analysis infrastructure. It is imbued with a powerful and flexible payload. The satellite is camera-based and has 2.5 m GSD panchromatic sensor, 5.0 m GSD in 4 spectral band, 32m GSD in 4 spectral bands and 300 x 3000km (32 GSD) and 200 x 200 km (2.5 and 5.0 GSD.The 32m resolut ion i m a g e r y e n s u r e compatibility with the Nigeriasat-1 imagery. The high resolution 2.5m a n d 5 . 0 m G r o u n d Sampling Distance, with improved geo-location a c c u r a c y s u p p o r t s several new high/very h i g h r e s o l u t i o n applications including those in the National G e o s p a t i a l D a t a Infrastructure project. It has a push broom stereo image of selected areas.

The application areas of the Nigeriasat-2 satellite

includes oil spill detection, extent and location (2.5m or 5.0 m), Pipeline monitoring, Structure mapping a the terrain analysis, Urban m a p p i n g ( 2 . 5 m panchromatic), Land use change in rural urban areas (5.0m), Hydrology (irrigation, fadama project, etc), Crop p roduc t ion and fo res t monitoring, Detection of such thing as illegal mining, fire, Road/railway development and maintenance, and Security monitoring.According to the Director of Strategic space application, Dr Shaba, over 170 projects have been conducted so far using the Nigerian earth observation satellites.

The first picture released f r o m t h e N i g e r i a n p a i r ( N i g e r i a S a t - 2 a n d NigeriaSat-X) is of New Zealand's biggest ci ty, Auckland.It was acquired by NigeriaSat-X, and reveals the buildings and the landscape surrounding this major urban centre. It is possible to see the wakes of ships passing under the harbour bridge that joins downtown Auckland with North Shore City.

UAE Space Agency, Yahsat showcases space projects at the Bahrain International Airshow

The UAE Space Agency and Al Yah Satellite Communications Company (YahSat) announced their participation in the fifth edition of the Bahrain International Airshow. The show will be held under the patronage of His Majesty King Hamad Bin Isa Al Khalifa, King of Bahrain in November. The UAE Space Agency and Yahsat will participate jointly and will highlight the UAE's space projects and strategic initiatives of both organisations.

The UAE Space Agency's participation will demonstrate a number of key space projects launched by the UAE over the past few years. The projects include the Hope Probe, the first Arab mission to explore Mars, which is being developed by the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre with funding and supervision from the UAE Space Agency.

The Agency will also showcase the strategic ties in the space industry between the UAE and Kingdom of Bahrain, represented by National Space Science Agency (NSSA). The ties include efforts of sharing knowledge, expertise, and local competencies, as well as cooperation on research projects related to space regulations. The cooperation is based on an MoU signed in 2015, on the sidelines of the previous edition of the Airshow. The MoU outlines the cooperation between the two organisations in the exploration and peaceful use of space.

H.E Dr. Mohammed Nasser Al Ahbabi, Director General of the UAE Space Agency stressed that the agency's participation comes in line with its strategic plans to ensure its presence in major aerospace industry shows; including the Bahrain International Airshow, which is reportedly one of the fastest growing events in the region.

Al Ahbabi emphasised that the Agency's second participation follows the success of the first in January 2015. H.E. added that this year will help highlight the strategic relationship between the two countries and organisations, which led to signing an MoU to boost the knowledge and capabilities of both countries in the space industry.Commenting on the company's participation, Masood M. Sharif Mahmood, Chief Executive Officer of Yahsat, said: “The participation in the Bahrain International Airshow will enable us to connect with major aerospace companies to discuss ways to cooperate in providing satellite communication services, Yahsat current ly provides satel l i te communication services to clients in government and commercial sectors, including healthcare, and education in more than 55 countries. Yahsat will also demonstrate its capabilities in providing secure satellite communications services to government sectors.”

NigeriaSat-2 delivers imagery beyond end of life cycle

Avanti signs African master service deal with Logical Wireless

Panasonic to provide TRT World Live broadcast

TRT World, the international news platform launched in 2015 and headquartered in Istanbul, offers an alternative viewpoint on global and domestic events, challenging perceived narratives and providing a new perspective on news has signed an agreement with Panasonic to extend its reach to passengers on airlines around the world.

Panasonic Avionics Corporation, the world leader in inflight entertainment and connectivity (IFEC) provides in-flight connectivity and infotainment content for over 80 connectivity customers around the world. This partnership enables Panasonic to extend TRT World's live broadcast to many of the world's leading international carriers, including Turkish Airlines. “It is important to stay informed and up-to-date on world events. Passengers tune in to different outlets for news and it's vital to have variety in your sources to have a more well-rounded view of current events. Thanks to Panasonic for making this challenge a lot easier during flight” said Fatih Er, Director of News and Programmes, TRT World “Partnering with Panasonic to deliver our content in-flight is a major achievement to fulfill our promise to offer our service everywhere, whatever platform our audience prefer to receive it.” Julie Lichty, Head of Digital Solutions and Services at Panasonic Avionics said, “Panasonic is proud to offer the world's only truly global inflight live television services. Whether it's the best in current affairs, sports and entertainment from a selection of the world's premier media brands, our mission is to keep passengers informed and entertained with quality programming. We believe that TRT World is a significant enhancement to our portfolio, and will be a tremendous enhancement to our airline customers' passenger experience.”

VT iDirect joins ESA Consortium to drive integration of 5G/satellite networksVT iDirect, a company of VT Systems, announced it has joined SATis5, a consortium funded by the European Space Agency (ESA) to promote the cost-effective integration of satellite technology into 5G networks. Together with the consortium members, VT iDirect's solutions group, will drive technology innovation aimed at opening

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market opportunities for 5G-based connectivity services. Additionally, VT iDirect will be leading the research and development of an end-to-end system to support multi-orbit geostationary equatorial orbit (GEO) and non-GEO satellite integration as part of the 5G architecture with focus on both enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) a n d m a s s i v e M a c h i n e Ty p e Communications (mMTC) Internet of Things (mIoT) usage scenarios. The SATis5 consortium members, VT iDirect, SES and Fraunhofer FOKUS, recently partnered to showcase a live Satellite-5G test bed at the FOKUS FUSECO Forum 2018 event in Berlin, Germany on Nov. 15-16. The companies showed how satellite connectivity could integrate into a 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) network architecture, comprising a Software-Defined Networking (SDN), Network Functions Virtualization (NFV), and Multi-access Edge Computing (MEC)-enabled 5G testbed. The successful test leveraged iDirect modems, satellite hub and 3GPP-enabled core network, with SES's geostationary satellite Astra 2F. The Consortium also showcased efficient edge delivery and network slicing of eMBB and mMTC over satellite building upon the Fraunhofer FOKUS' Open5G Core network as a Proof-of-Concept for their integration into a full 5G architecture. “The goal of SATis5 is to foster industry col laborat ion in using satel l i te technology for the future 5G connected world,” said Richard Lord, Vice President, Engineering, Strategic Initiatives, VT iDirect. “SATis5 is helping to drive major milestones and deliverables led by key innovators across the satellite and telecom industries. This is critically important work that will help service providers extend their global reach, penetrate significant new markets, and shape the future of how the world connects.”

Airbus builds new generation broadcast satellites to renew Eutelsat HOTBIRD fleet

Eutelsat, one of the world's leading satellites operators, has selected Airbus to build two HOTBIRD new generation telecommunication satellites that will replace the current spacecraft and enhance capacity at Eutelsat's premium broadcasting position 13° East.The two satellites will deliver improved performances over the European and Middle-Eastern footprint, reinforced by a powerful European Superbeam. They

will ensure full service continuity over the o p e r a t i o n a l 1 0 2 K u - b a n d t ransponders / f requenc ies , secure deployment and capacity redundancy at the HOTBIRD position. The HOTBIRD fleet forms one of the largest broadcasting systems in Europe, broadcasting 1,000 television channels to more than 135 million homes in Europe, North Africa and the Middle East.The new spacecraft will be based on the Eurostar Neo platform, Airbus' new geostationary telecommunications satellite standard design, a significant evolution of the highly reliable and successful Eurostar series with an entire range of major innovations. Eurostar Neo combines increased payload capacity and more efficient power and thermal control systems with reduced production time and optimized costs. The satellites combine electric power of 22 kW with a launch mass of only 4,500 kg, thanks to the EOR (Electric Orbit Raising) version of the Eurostar Neo platform. Due for launch in 2021, they will be the ninth and 10th high power all electric Eurostar satellites, harnessing multiple electric propulsion thrusters for faster orbit raising and on-station manoeuvres. Nicolas Chamussy, Head of Space Systems at Airbus said: “The continuing confidence of Eutelsat in our products means that they are now the launch customer for Eurostar Neo which will be our new flagship telecommunications satellite. They have been our key partner for most of our firsts, including Eurostar E2000+ and Eurostar E3000, as well as electric orbit raising.” Eutelsat CEO Rodolphe Belmer said: “We are delighted to sign this contract with our long term partner Airbus. It marks another milestone in our objectives to provide customers wi th premium satel l i te technology with the highest level of performance, and to expand reliability and service security at the 13 degrees position, which has been our leading neighbourhood for over 20 years, serving Europe, the Middle East and North Africa.”

Nicolas Chamussy continued: “Eurostar Neo combines innovation with tried-and-tested technologies, resulting in a product line that will be as reliable as ever while delivering the best performance in the market. Eurostar Neo will be produced within the digital factory 4.0, a completely new way of manufacturing which will guarantee end-to-end data continuity up to the final in-orbit test results.”

The development of Airbus' Eurostar Neo platform has been supported by the European Space Agency (ESA) and space agencies across Europe in the framework of the ARTES-14 programme line led by ESA and CNES, and strongly supported by the UK Space Agency.

Again, AfricaCom 2018 achieves all round results

As a reflection of its growing influence and importance of the entire digital ecosystem on everyday life across the planet, the 21st edition of AfricaCom held in Cape Town 13 – 15 November 2018, attracted close to 14 000 record-breaking attendees this year with the most diverse and informed, audience ever.

Commenting on the success of this year's event, Tom Cuthell, Event Director at KNect365, organiser of AfricaCom, said: “The buzz around the entire AfricaCom precinct was tangible this week, as those attending and participating in shaping Africa's digital future appear to agree the time has now come for less talk and more action in order to get things done. As organisers, we are pleased to have facilitated these conversations, presentations and exhibits and to play a role in Africa's ongoing digital democracy.” This actionable desire reflected throughout the more than 16 conference tracks with many speakers calling on regulators and policy makers to stop worrying about controlling what was already happening on the ground, and to create policy for what might be.

“Africa has room for inclusive growth, and while there have been some development results they have not been optimal” said Olabiyi D u r o j a i y e , C h a i r m a n a t N i g e r i a n Communications Commission, further commenting that African countries needed to collaborate to cut down on the red tape to speed up exchange of ideas and progression. The so-called 'developed' world is not going to wait for Africa to get on the bus – the continent is approximately 10 years behind – so Africa needs an aggressive infrastructure build up to catch-up and even surpass its counterparts. Don't imitate but innovate. One of the elements in preventing Africa's rapid progression is a critical lack of appropriate skills. As in 2017, education and access to learning platforms – especially in the early childhood development phase - were key topics across the three days. Africa has a veritable goldmine of youth.The importance of this was reflected in the number of E-Learning solutions and deployments on display in the Connectivity Hall and the Technology Arena. As pointed out by several speakers, the 4th Industrial revolution is now not so much about the technology itself but how to use it to enable advancement. The Internet of Things (IoT) will have a transformative impact on both African Business

and African Society. And this year's IoT World Africa proved it. By bringing together a cross-section of the most innovative and forward-thinking enterprises and vendors, this year's event – a first at AfricaCom - provided a platform for the burgeoning IoT ecosystem to get together and share their expe r t i se , i ndus t r y i ns igh t s and transformation stories. From enthralling panel discussions on the importance of reformulating business' operating structure to enable IoT across all lines of business, through to the creation of Africa-Centric business models that made by African Business, for African Business.

Also disrupting and changing the status quo is the increasing prevalence of Artificial Intelligence (AI). AfricaCom 2018 played host to the first staging of the AI World Summit in Cape Town. While machine learning and AI have been around in various guises for a number of years, it is now taking an upfront presence in many enterprise conversations, as evidenced by the number of ongoing conversations throughout the Summit and the event as a whole.

Networking and the sharing of ideas are fundamental features of the world's largest Africa-Focused technology, media and telecommunications event. 2018 was also the year for a number o f la rge announcements. One of these was from Rob Shuter, Group President and CEO, MTN Group who had earlier spoken at the Africacom headliners, on the fact that once Africans have access to the Internet, they cannot afford to actually use it. To counter this, MTN announced a partnership with KaiOS Technologies, China Mobile and UNISOC to launch Africa's First SG Smart Feature Phone which will be available for a competitive price.

AfricaCom has evolved over the years to address both the B2B and B2C audiences and at this year's event, there were a greater number of representatives from enterprises as well as decision makers – with a number of business agreements being concluded on the show floor throughout the event. In 2018, there was also much discussion around the role of TMT and business in driving social impact.

“Through AfricaCom, we want to give others the ability and inspiration to change the African continent. Because, when people get access to the Internet, they get access to education, health care, banking and more, and can start a business and continue grow existing operations. There are many applications and ideas out there that are trying to create social innovation. As the organizers of AfricaCom, we asked ourselves if we have a role to play in that change and when we put that question out to a vote to the general AfricaCom community - #AfricaComChallenge - 85% voted they would leave the event more able to deliver on this imperative,” said Ben Wielgus, Head of Sustainability, Informa. The world has big problems – for the people of Africa, climate change, lack of literacy,

lack of connectivity, poverty etc are some of the challenges faced on a daily basis. However, there is also huge opportunity. The #AfricaComChallenge is therefore for corporate Africa to identify and mentor at least one start-up that can feed into the great digital ecosystem that can overcome these challenges and with a view to even presenting these solutions at the AHUB next year. The #AfricaComChallenge sets the scene for a robust AfricaCom 2019 and in reinforcing the new era of dynamism and action that was born at AfricaCom 2018 - none of us are as smart as all of us.

In addition, the AfricaCom Awards show, supported by Founding Awards Sponsor, PCCW Global, was a colourful and festive Mardi Gras themed event last night. Held in Cape Town during AfricaCom, guests celebrated and acknowledged those trailblazers who are leading digital inclusion, connectivity and digital development on the African Continent. “AfricaCom continues to grow and with it the Awards,” commented Tom Cuthell, Event Director of AfricaCom. “I would like to thank everyone involved, our judging panel who rigorously vetted the entries, sponsors and partners for their ongoing support and all the companies who continue to show how dedicated they are to ensuring that Africa advances into the digital ecosphere.”

Here are the AfricaCom Awards stars for 2018: Best Network Improvement - Liquid Telecom - Completion of the Cape to Cairo fibre route; Delivering Excellence in Cus tomer Expe r i ence - Huawe i Technologies - Customer Experience Management (CEM) for Ghana; Fintech Innovation Award - Econet Wireless (Cassava Fintech) and Mahindra Comviva - EcoCash Merchant Payments powered by mobiquity Money; Most Innovative use of AI Technology - Huawei Technologies - Huawei PowerStar; Most Innovative Service – Orange - Rural Electrification; Changing Lives Award - Ericsson and Wot-if? Trust - eHUB Diepsloot South Africa; Best Sustainable Power Solution - Huawei Technologies - Huawei PowerCube 1000; IoT Product / Service of the year - Yego Innovision Limited – Yegomoto; Digital Entertainment Solution - Kwesé iflix - Best Innovation in Digital Entertainment.

Also, winners on the night of two very special peer-voted awards were: Abdikarim Mohamed Eid - CEO, Telesom who was acknowledged as the AfricaCom CXO of the Year and, Priya Thakoor - Chief Digital Officer, Coca-Cola South Africa who was recognised for outstanding achievements in driving 'Digital Africa' forward and walked away with the award for the AfricaCom Enterprise CXO of the Year. Cuthell concluded by saying: “Congratulations to all of the award winners. The bar has been set high and we all look forward to seeing what next year holds.”

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Newtec, a specialist in the design, development and manufacture of equipment for satellite communications, announced its technology will be used by leading satellite operator NIGCOMSAT as it expands its enterprise, government and consumer Ka-band broadband services in Nigeria.

Newtec Dialog is built to allow flexibility in the choice of technology and equipment, but also the types of services and applications available, ensuring a completely flexible focus for the businesses using it. Newtec Dialog gives service providers optimal efficiency enabling them to establish a business case for single or multiple markets using one single platform and Operations Support System / Business Support System (OSS/BSS).

In 2017, Newtec deploys its Dialog® multiservice platform for publicly-owned telecommunications specialist Teledata for hundreds of mobile backhaul (2G, 3G) and banking application sites across Mozambique. The Newtec Dialog platform, with a HUB 4IF Hub Module at its core, powers Teledata's cellular backhaul network using Newtec Dialog modems (MDM3310 Satellite Modem). The platform is also connecting hundreds of ATMs using Newtec's MDM2500 IP Satellite Modem at the remote sites, as well as providing back-up connectivity to improve higher reliability for the regional bank branches.

Pieter-Paul Mooi jman, Newtec's Regional Sales Director Africa, said: “Newtec Dialog's multiservice capabilities and high efficiency have been crucial in the successful commencement of this project, which will deliver significant capacity gains to Teledata by migrating its operations onto a single platform. Alongside this, the flexibility provided by our Mx-DMA return link technology has allowed the company to better manage the bandwidth at its cellular backhaul sites, which will result in significant cost savings.”

Having a platform with these qualities opens up a multitude of possibilities for optimizing the usage of infrastructure and satellite capacity across different markets. For example, a provider with a history of servicing a majority of IP trunking clients can shift focus easily and

beg in ta rge t ing b roadcas t ing , backhauling, consumer and enterprise VSAT or government and defense markets quickly using the same Newtec Dialog infrastructure. The platform therefore enables operators to adapt to any business scenario and provides the capability of delivering tailored services.

As a pioneer in the industry, Newtec is dedicated to creating new possibilities for the broadcast, consumer and enterprise VSAT, government, cellular backhaul and trunking and mobility, offshore and maritime markets. Its numerous products and technologies can be applied in a wide range of single and multiservice applications from DTH broadcasting, video contribution and distribution and disaster recovery and backbones for cellular backhauling, to small and medium enterprises, SCADA and oil and gas networks, aircrafts and vessels.

“ I n N i g e r i a , t h e N i g e r i a n C o m m u n i c a t i o n s S a t e l l i t e , NIGCOMSAT looks to expand its service offering, using Newtec Dialog allowing NIGCOMSAT to seamlessly move into new markets,” said Thomas Van den Driessche, CEO at Newtec.

Following on from its continued success with Newtec's VSAT platform Newtec Dialog®, NIGCOMSAT will now deploy a second hub and thousands of Newtec's MDM2210 IP Satellite Modems and MDM2510 IP Satellite Modems. “The ability to run multiple services over Newtec Dialog, was a key advantage for us when selecting our technology partner for this expansion as it means we can install a variety of modems and select the best one depending on the application being addressed – and all via a single platform,” said Abimbola Alale, Manag ing D i rec to r and Ch ie f Executiveof NIGCOMSAT. Nigerian Communicat ions Sate l l i te L td . (NIGCOMSAT was incorporated on April 4, 2006 as a company under the auspices of the Federal Ministry of Communication, with a mission “to manage and exploit the commercial viability of the Nigerian Communication Satellite, NigComSat for the social economic benefit of the nation”. It is charged with the management and operation of the first geostationary communications satellite in sub-Sahara

Africa.

EfficiencySince 1985, Newtec dedicated team of specialists has set industry standards with the most efficient, scalable and economical technology solutions Newtec Dialog enables the most optimal modulation and bandwidth allocation. That's efficiency. Newtec's engineers have invented a new patented return link technology, which combines the best qualities of SCPC and MF-TDMA.

The platform also supports SCPC DVB-S2, and Newtec S2 extensions return link for applications which demand high bandwidth and MF-TDMA 4CPM technology for highly overbooked services, such as Internet access for consumers, SME/B2B and SCADA. The MDM3000 series of Newtec modems, which run on the Newtec Dialog platform, support all three return link technologies enabling operators to optimize the service delivered to individual end-customers

via a simple configuration in the NMS. This can be done at any time and with minimal impact. The Newtec Dialog System is software upgradeable to support the new DVB-S2X in the return link as well. All return link technologies are combined with Newtec's core technology FlexACM®, a highly efficient Adaptive Coding and Modulation (ACM) algorithm using Newtec patent pending technology.

With these technologies, Newtec Dialog is able to provide the most optimal modulation and bandwidth allocation at any time, for any application and any satellite, while guaranteeing the highest efficiency.

Austin Okere,Founder, CWG Plc

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Advancing digital connectivity in Africa

Thomas Van den Driessche, CEO at Newtec.

The traditional satcom industry can be argued to be entering its third transition phase, after the FSS video boom until 2010 and the HTS influenced pricing decline more recently. With languishing growth in 2018, alongside declining EBITDA margins and backlog, the operator industry remains uncertain on video, while debating on the merits of going fully downstream in the long term.

Several factors such as high regional competition, video demand absorption through higher compression, supply-demand mismatch impact on pricing, p r e s s u r e f r o m O T T , a n d commoditization of capacity have driven the market to a stagnation point. However, no trend is bigger than the continuous manufacturing innovation to pack more Mbps per unit of million dollars cost. By pushing CAPEX per Gbps to ever more efficient levels, operators are able to undercut competitors on lease pricing, forcing many to sell at or below break-even profit margins, creating a zero-sum effect overall.

Industry's 3rd TransitionWhile, indeed, the innovation looks promising to take the satellite industry more mass market in the longer term, this transition has brought into the limelight two clear strategies that operators look to execute:Give Broadband to All – direct to home, via backhaul for village Wi-Fi, to air, sea and land mobility. Go mass market through service offerings, with extreme efficiencies both on capacity and modem/antenna/

Consolidate FSS via regional market

positioning, increase margins, enter a limited HTS play specializing towards a verticalAt the heart of these strategies is the relative competitiveness of each player, where irrespective of the service offering, an ability to bottom out capacity pricing (at >15% IRR) remains key. This is achieved by having the lowest Break-even fleet wide pricing* (pricing at zero profit margin) in both FSS and HTS fleets – essentially packing more Gbps at the same cost, alongside reduced launch costs.

This constant decline of CAPEX cost has a significant rollover effect on the entire ecosystem, as older fleets can't cope with pricing pressure from new/efficient fleets, consequently reducing planned 15-year IRR margins. This, in turn, reduces cash on hand for longer term replenishment, creating higher Net debt to EBITDA than anticipated and an indecisive 15-year o u t l o o k o n p r i c i n g s t a b i l i t y. Metaphorically, this is a circle of doom that many operators may not escape in the long term, even as service offerings stabilize the market in the short to medium term.

In addition, with supply exceeding 4-5x times that of demand in 2027 in combination with potential LEO constellations, another race to the bottom for pricing is expected to ensue, rendering several individual satellite assets to under-perform. With C-band already affected, fixed data and video distribution applications look most stressed in the medium term, while pricing for backhaul and consumer verticals declines at low double-digits in

a bid to go mass market.

Thus, as a must pivot, NSR believes the satcom industry will witness a renewed fleet innovation and business strategy to match CAPEX spend with long term sustainability. The Break-even metric indicates the risk of betting on a fixed vertical/geography for 15 years, when in the next 5 years – CAPEX per Gbps thresholds can be broken again, rendering the satellite asset toxic. Thus, as the CAPEX cycle ends between 2019-2021 for most operators, and free cash flow (FCF) increases, both HTS mass market and FSS consolidation strategy options will be on the table. But more importantly, operators will need to consider launching flexible payloads catering to most demand verticals and changing beams, frequencies, distribution channels and VAS on the go. Consequently, consolidation becomes key to succeed in such a strategy.

Secondly, reliance on high fill rates, 18% IRR margin, >75% EBITDA margin and 10% ROCE will shift to strategizing high ARPU, plug and play distribution partnerships and cross-vertical selling between operators or service providers. This divergence from a pure play lease model to a network and vertical agnostic user-oriented play can flip the 15-year satellite business plan as we witness today.

Bottom LineFrom higher vertical specialization to unbundling, from pure play lease to b u n d l i n g n e t w o r k , c o n t e n t a n d enter ta inment serv ices and f rom commoditization to mass market flexibility – the industry is witnessing a key change: accurate prediction of IRR over a 15-year horizon is impossible.

Under-performing assets are a liability in space due to tighter replenishment cycles, and without innovation towards fleet flexibility, capital investment in this industry could become riskier. Beam flexibility and a network + application agnostic platform demands plug and play distribution channels, that in turn force partnerships into mergers in the long term – producing clear winners and losers. Coupled with a shorter IRR horizon, the traditional satcom business model is surely transforming.

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Gagan Agrawal, NSR

In Satcom industry, no single strand fits all

France-IX, the premier Internet Peering Service Provider in France, has s a i d t h a t A f r i c a n networks peering at France-IX increase by 60 percent; traffic from African ISPs increase by 90% and more than 70% of African countries with French as first language able to reach France-IX v ia remote peer ing solutionsOver the past twelve months, the number of African networks that have joined France-IX in Paris and Marseille has increased by 60 percent and traffic from African ISPs has increased by 90 percent. This significant growth firmly positions France-IX as the leading choice for African ISPs and mobile operators wishing t o p e e r w i t h i t s community of several hundreds of carriers, ISPs, content delivery networks and Internet professionals.Six new African networks – Do lph in Te lecom o p e r a t i n g G h a n a , N i g e r i a , S e n e g a l , Ecoband in Ghana, Guilab, Guinea, Orange

Senegal, Parabole Reunion based Reunion, Maurice, Madagascar, Mayotte, Comores and L i qu i d Telecom operat ing in Botswana, DRC, Kenya, L e s o t h o , M a u r i t i u s , Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe have connected over the past year, bringing the total number of African members in the France-IX Paris and Marseille peering community to 16. This growth is partly due to new connections via France-IX remote peering partners with presence in Africa

AFR-IX, Angola Cables, Telecom Italia Sparkle and BICS enable more than 70 percent of African countries with French as its official first language to reach France-IX via a remote peering solution. Also Africa, which grew at a compound annual rate of 45 percent between 2014 and 2018, is experiencing the most rapid growth of in te rna t iona l In te rne t bandwidth.France-IX has continued its programme of supporting t h e c r e a t i o n a n d development of new IXPs in Africa. IXPs are a crucial

p a r t o f b u i l d i n g a sus ta inab le domes t i c Internet ecosystem, the establishment of which is an important step in fostering Internet-based economic g r o w t h . T h e s u p p o r t F r a n c e - I X p r o v i d e s c o m p r i s e s t r a i n i n g , equipment donation and technical assistance. This France-IX initiative started with the creation of CAS-IX in Morocco followed by SENIX in Senegal. The regional IXP initiative in Congo has been supported by France-IX throughout 2018

“France-IX both contributes to and benefits from Internet bandwidth growth in Africa: 14 percent of our Marseille peers are African ISPs and we aim to support the expansion of Internet connectivity across Africa by offering affordable, reliable, low-latency Internet peering services from France,” adds Delphine Masciopinto; Chief Commercial Officer at France-IX. “Our vision to support initiatives in French-speaking countries has already come to reality in Morocco, Senegal and more recently in Congo.

Hughes Network Systems, t h e g l o b a l l e a d e r i n broadband satellite networks and services, announced t h re e A f r i ca n t e l e co m companies have selected the Hughes JUPITER™ System to power delivery of satellite broadband services for their c u s t o m e r s . B o t s w a n a Te l e c o m m u n i c a t i o n s C o r p o r a t i o n , S a t c o m Networks Africa Limited (SatCoNet) and a leading E a s t A f r i c a n t e l e c o m m u n i c a t i o n s company each chose the JUPITER System based on i t s h i g h p e r f o r m a n c e , operational efficiency and better customer experience.

"Hughes is committed to the growth of our operations in Africa, and we have tripled our

d e d i c a t e d s a l e s a n d engineering support across the continent to serve g r o w i n g b r o a d b a n d demand," said Dharmendra Singh, regional director, International at Hughes. "Our JUPITER System enables service providers to improve their offerings and deliver a wide range of applications supporting e c o n o m i c a n d s o c i a l development across Africa — helping close the digital divide, which is our global m i s s i o n . " B o t s w a n a Te l e c o m m u n i c a t i o n s Corporation is using the JUPITER System to expand its high-speed business b roadband serv ice in Botswana. The first phase of d e p l o y m e n t i n c l u d e s

hundreds of remote terminals connecting businesses and homes.SatCoNet, the only native VSAT operator in Tanzania, also chose the JUPITER System to improve their service offering for the marke t w i th improved p e r f o r m a n c e , b e t t e r throughput and a better e x p e r i e n c e f o r t h e i r customers.O n e o f t h e l a r g e s t t e l e c o m m u n i c a t i o n s companies in East Africa will implement the JUPITER System for v ideo and b roadband se r v i ce i n schools. The technology refresh begins with 1,000 sites, improving high-speed satellite performance and evolving their solution to meet growing demand.

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Egypt to establish satellite assembly and integration centre

Egypt is one of the most advanced countries in the in Africa and Middle East in terms of space technologies capabi l i t ies. I ts Earth Observation Satellites, includes the EgyptSat-1 launched on April 2007 and EgyptSat-2 launched on April 2014 along with a ground control station in New Cairo, 40 Km north east Cairo city, also called the Space city.

According to Prof. Islam Abou El-Magd, Egypt is in the process of establishing an AIT center that could assembly, integrate and test satellite up to mass of 600+ Kg. The AIT center will assemble and test the first satellite, one of EgyptSat series, in the second quarter of 2019. Egypt has also established image receiving station in the south of Egypt at Aswan Its footprint covers North Africa and southern Europe. Other ground stations also in Egypt includes a meteorological NOAA receiving station installed on the roof of NARSS premises in Cairo, a mobile ground receiving station that is in use for specific tasking and applications, Magnetic Field Recording Stations at Fayum and Aswan (Part of MAGDAS Network), Coherent Ionospheric Doppler Receivers (CIDR), at Space Weather Monitoring Center, Helwan University, southern Cairo.

In 2008, the Egyptian satellite company, commences the process leading to the launch of its first two satellites Nilesat-101 and Nilesat-102. This led to the launch of its broadcasting communication satellite and its associated services and ground stations. Since 2010, Nilesat-201 has provided digital Direct-to-Home (DTH) television, radio broadcasting and high-speed data services to users in North Africa and the Middle East, including the Gulf region. In addition, the ground control station in 6th of October City have for several years been serving the NileSat communication and broadcasting Satellites and the backup ground control station near Alexandria city for the NileSat communication and broadcasting Satellites. In Egypt, the Hijri crescent moon observation is a satellite with a unique “state of the art” space mission, which will unify the Hijri calendar worldwide.At present, Egypt experimental satellites are due for launch. One is the NExSat , which is currently under test and will be launched in February 2019.While the other is the UniverSat, which has been tested and ready for launch in December 2018.

Egypt—the world's eighth-largest importer of gas—is on track to become gas self-sufficient, which is a crucial factor for stabilizing the economy and counteracting the impact of reduced fuel, and likely food, subsidies. The offshore Zohr natural gas reserve was discovered in 2015 by the Italian oil company Eni, who maintains the concession. It is estimated to be the largest ever natural gas find in the Mediterranean, far surpassing Israel's Leviathan gas field with an estimated 850 billion cubic meters, estimated to double Egypt's gas reserves.

France-IX reaches new milestones with presence in Africa

Africa's telecom operators select Hughes JUPITER system

Intelsat S.A. operator of the world's first Globalized Network and leader in integrated satellite communications, reported total revenue of $536.9 million and net loss attributable to Intelsat S.A. of $374.6 million for the three months ended September 30, 2018.

Intelsat operates the world's first Globalized Network, delivering high-quality, cost-effective video and broadband services anywhere in the world. Intelsat's Globalized Network combines the world's largest satellite backbone with terrestrial infrastructure, managed se rv i ces and an open , interoperable architecture to enable customers to drive revenue and reach through a new generation of network services. Thousands of organizations serving billions of people worldwide rely on Intelsat to provide ubiqui tous broadband connect iv i ty, multiformat video broadcasting, secure satellite communications and seamless mobility services. The end result is an entirely new world, one that allows us to envision the impossible, connect without boundaries and transform the ways in which we live.Intelsat reported earnings before net interest, gain on early extinguishment of debt, taxes and depreciation and amortization, of $411.5 million and Adjusted EBITDA1 of $416.3 million, or 78 percent of revenue, for the three months ended September 30, 2018. Total Adjusted EBITDA excluding the effects of ASC 606 was $390.0 million, or 76 percent of revenue, for the three months ended September 30, 2018. Free cash flow used in operations1 was $15.7 million. Intelsat's Chief Executive Officer, Stephen Spengler, said, “During the third quarter, Intelsat made important progress on its operational and financial goals. Our stable financial results reflect a continuation of recent trends. Operationally, a major milestone was the successful launch of Horizons 3e, completing the global footprint of our high-throughput satellite fleet. The Intelsat EpicNG fleet powers new services in wireless network extensions, in-flight passenger broadband connectivity, broadband services for maritime fleets and high definition video from small aeronautical surveillance platforms. In the past weeks, we introduced the Intelsat FlexExecSM managed service for the business jet segment, complementing our previously announced government and maritime managed service platforms that leverage the Intelsat EpicNG network. “Further, since July 1 we completed $4.2 billion in capital markets transactions, achieving an improved maturity profile for our capital structure. This, combined with our operational progress, allows us to advance

our business goals,” he said Spengler concluded, “The Comment Phase of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission C-band proceeding has ended, a major milestone as we continue to advance our proposal.

The formation of the C-Band Alliance, demonstrates that the continental U.S. C-band satellite operators are in full agreement on the technical and operational steps necessary to clear 200 MHz of spectrum over the course of the next 18 to 36 months. We wi l l cont inue to advocate for our breakthrough, market-based approach that is the best path to protecting incumbents while repurposing spectrum that will accelerate 5G deployment and innovation in the U.S.”

Business highlights During the third Quarter 2018, Intelsat p rov ides c r i t i ca l commun ica t i ons infrastructure to customers in the network services, media and government sectors. Our customers use our services for broadband connectivity to deliver fixed and mobile telecommunications, enterprise, video distribution and fixed and mobile government applications.

In addition, network services revenue was $199.0 million, about 37 percent of Intelsat's total revenue) for the three months ended September 30, 2018, a decrease of 6 percent compared to the three months ended September 30, 2017. Also, media revenue was $233.1 million approx. 44 percent of Intelsat's total revenue for the three months ended September 30, 2018, a decrease of 2 percent compared to the three months ended September 30, 2017. Media revenue was $216.4 million for the three months ended September 30, 2018, a decrease of 9 percent compared to the three months ended September 30, 2017, a period which benefitted from $13.5 million in revenue related to the partial termination of a contract. However, government revenue was $98.4 million about r 18 percent of Intelsat's total revenue, for the three months ended September 30, 2018, an increase of 16 percent compared to the three months ended September 30, 2017. Excluding the effects of ASC 606, government revenue was $90.1 million for the three months ended September 30, 2018, an increase of 7 percent compared to the three months ended September 30, 2017.

Average fill rateIntelsat's average f i l l rate on our approximately 1,825 36 MHz station-kept

wide-beam transponders was 79 percent at September 30, 2018, compared to 80 percent as of June 30, 2018. In addition, at September 30, 2018 Intelsat's fleet included approximately 1,150 36 MHz units of high-throughput Intelsat EpicNG capacity, stable as compared to June 30, 2018.

So far, Intelsat successfully launched two satellites on September 25, 2018. Intelsat 38, a satellite jointly built with Azerbaijan's commercial satellite operator, Azercosmos, will provide media and broadband services in Central and Eastern Europe, Africa, and Asia. The Horizons 3e satellite, Intelsat's joint venture satellite with Japan's leading satellite operator, SKY Perfect JSAT Corporation, completes the initial buildout of the Intelsat EpicNG global high-throughput network, providing service coverage in the Asia-Pacific region. Both satellites are expected to enter service in the first quarter of 2019. Intelsat EpicNG allows connectivity among multiple spot beams, including star and mesh, as well as loopback within the same user beam. This guarantees backward compatibility with existing networks, and forward compatibility with full flexibility to evolve the network design and technology as and when customers want. The end result: the Intelsat EpicNG design increases cost-effectiveness of the bandwidth, minimizes capital expenditures by providing backward compatibility with existing networks and allows customers full control over the topology and management of their network and the services they provide to the end user.

BUSINESS

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VSAT at Isiolo Girls High School

Media and network services dominate as one of Africa’s leading satellite operator, Intelsat declares third quarter earnings

Intelsat reports strong profitability in Q3 2018

Grant MaraisManaging Director, Intelsat Africa

N i g e r i a ' s P r e s i d e n t Muhammadu Buhari has said that Nigeria is forging s t ra teg ic par tnersh ips towards becoming the main export hub for ICT hardware in Sub-Saharan Africa. The president stated this while speaking at the flag off of the 2018 e-Nigeria international conference and exhibition organised by the National Information Technology D e v e l o p m e n t A g e n c y (NITDA), in Abuja.Elated that the country recorded 11.81% growth in I n f o r m a t i o n C o m m u n i c a t i o n s Technology(ICT) sector of the economy in the second qua r te r o f 2018 , t he President declared that the growth had “challenged the country's reliance on foreign hardware resulting into the importation of about 80% of ICT hardware through local Distributors of Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) by MDAs and other government establishments

as well as the need for concerted efforts aimed at reversing the trend” He said was leveraging on these gains adding that the administration will ensure that government 's ICT p r o c u r e m e n t s r e m a i n transparent and align its IT shared vision and policy.

Government efforts will lead to cost savings through promotion of shared services by avoiding duplication and ensuring compatibility of IT sys tems and improve efficiency in government business. Other measures will include re-enforcement o f t h e p a t r o n a g e o f ind igenous compan ies where capacity exists; and uphold the highest standards for service delivery. Already government in August issued a new circular as part of its efforts at ensuring full realisation of the above objectives. “I am pleased to note that this has been taken seriously and

stakeholders' efforts resulted in ICT emerging as one of the key performers of the second q u a r t e r o f 2 0 1 8 b y recording11.81% growth.“It is pleasing to note the efforts by al l relevant stakeholders in forging s t ra teg ic pa r tne rsh ips towards ensur ing that Nigeria becomes an export hub for ICT hardware in Sub-Saharan Africa.Federal government has put in place several policies, including those of NITDA aimed at reorganizing the registration and certification process for OEMs to ensure adherence to world class s tandards as we l l as guarantee qual i ty and durable devices are highly commendable.H e s a i d g o v e r n m e n t emphasized the need for the public service to be highly competitive, innovative and digitally-enabled to deliver p u b l i c s e r v i c e s a n d effectively drive government programs

Türksat has tested a broadcast in the Ultra HD 8K Super High-Vision format. The test on the Türksat 4B and Turksat-3A satellites (50 degrees East and 42 degrees East was car r ied out w i th the ass i s t ance o f K?z? l Elektronik, Vestel and Socionext.Images of historical and natural Istanbul were captured for the ultra high definition broadcast, which was seen on a Vestel display at the Türksat booth at Globalsatshow Turkey is one of the first countries in the world to transmit broadcasts in the 8K format.With a wealth of benefits including four times higher resolution than HD, faster frame rate, higher dynamic range and a wider colour gamut, television and media industry is on the cusp of a revolutionary transformation in video

transmission.Already millions of Utra High Definition Television has been shipped to countries in Middle East and Africa However, by just listing programs and movie content under Utra High Definition standard, does not mean that it is ready to be deliveredU H D ' s a d v a n c e d technology promises to s u r p a s s c o n s u m e r ' s expectations. By region, its household penetration will reach 33% in Nor th America, 22% in Western Europe and 18% in Asia Pacific and 5 per cent in Africa by 2020. The human vision is one of the most complex parts of the human body. The eye perceives movement, senses depth, and sees a range of colours greater than any current existing video technology is able to display. UHDTV has a

resolution of 3840 x 2160 pixels, which is four times the resolution of HDTV, which implies that there is four times more information displayed on screen, which is one of the factors to

enhance the video quality.

The ideal size of a UHDTV is supposed to be around 5 0 � t o 8 0 I n c h e s respectively.

IN THE NEWS

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Canal Digital launches Netflix service

Canal Digital is to offer Netflix to customers of its OnePlace platform. The Android-based platform made its debut in March. Canal Digital will add Netflix to its services putting the streaming media service alongside Google-originated content.

“We have promised our customers to gather the best and most relevant content in our offering. By adding Netflix to our other content, we are giving our customers access to even more series and films, in addition to all our other content”, says Tone Krohn Clausen, Chief Products & Digital Officer, Canal Digital.The launch of Netflix on OnePlace is to be backed by a major advertising campaign. “We are thrilled to partner with Canal Digital and give their customers a seamless access to their favorite Netflix shows, movies, documentaries, stand-ups kids programming and more,” says Rene Rummel-Mergeryan, Director of Business Development for Netflix EMEA. “Since 4K and HDR are fully supported through Canal Digital, this means our award-winning content can be enjoyed in the best picture quality.”Startover capability has recently been added to the OnePlace platform and the Netflix launch will be accompanied by an improvement in the Search functionality. Canal Digital offers both linear TV and holds approximately 30 000 titles in its streaming service, the largest in Norway as measured by the number of titles.

Canal+ Group is a digital pioneer and a pioneer of new television services, particularly video-on-demand, set-top boxes and multi-screen distribution. So far, the group continued to expand its online presence.Canal+is the leading audiovisual group, providing access to more than 200 channels, primarily in French, via its Canal+ channels, offering its subscribers the best content and services in terms of exclusivity, quality, mobility, consumer choice and customization. Canal+ Group's primary goal is to continue to accelerate its growth in the short and medium term, both in France and Africa.Along with the premium channels, Canal+ Group produces about 20 special-interest pay channels covering major TV segments, including movies with the Ciné+ channels, discovery with Planète+, sports with Sport+, and children's programming with Piwi+, Télétoon and Télétoon+1.Canal+ Group produces the Canal+ pay-TV channels, which are recognized for the originality, creativity, and exclusivity of their content. It also distributes Canalsat, a pay-TV package featuring over 150 channels.

Nigeria develops strategy to lead ICT hardware exports in Africa

Türksat tests 8K Super High-Vision channel

Man's mission to space could not have been by accident since he was originally wired by his creator to work and shape his environment to his comfort and taste, in addition to his primary charge of populating the earth. Epochs of civilizations have revealed man's capacity to reach for the extremes and the desire to attain both excellence and perfection. Man, in his restless nature always want to know what is behind every bend and what is over the next hill with every human being carrying this tendency like a genetic imprint.

This particular nature of man has made the world better in many ways because we are today the beneficiaries of the efforts of the people who lived and thrived by out-achieving the previous generations. If for e x a m p l e , t h e I n f o r m a t i o n a n d Communications Technology have not evolved the way it did right from the early b ig e lec t ron ic modu les to the i r miniaturization/integration and then digitization, it could still have remained the same basic technology whose impact could not have been as tremendous as it is today. Every generation tries to leave behind its footprints and landmarks for the next including generation of scientists. Mankind definitely predicted very well the benefits of space

exploration though he knew it involved great economic investments, massive risks and seemingly impossible objectives. The build ups and breakthroughs in this highly specialized and advanced area of technology like most scientific endeavors and project cycles started as rudimentary research efforts from star gazing to development of telescopes and so on before other early achievements and advancements. The modern world today is driven by technology and space technology is at the cutting edge. Today, we use the Automatic Teller Machines (ATMs) driven by space technology: Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT),We watch news and entertainment with satellite Television and the role of space technology in long

distance communication and special applications cannot be over-emphasized.

Space research as a scientific process has also generated a lot of spin-offs in other scientific endeavors and disciplines. The ultra-sound technology commonly used in medical practice today was a technique developed for space stations. Space technology has also enabled Medicare to become accessible in remote and rural areas by use of satellite-based te lemedic ine. Water pur i f icat ion technology, originally developed for the space station can cater for the displaced and vulnerable people in disaster zones. Development of improved vaccines and high-quality protein crystals have also been largely catalyzed by space technology and research as well as the performance of some complex surgery.

Elements of National SecurityIn today's complex and seriously challenged world, National security can only be seen in a more holistic manner as a concept consisting of many factors. Food security and hunger, drought, pandemics, climate change are threats to national security. In essence, our national security could be threatened by economic security, food security, environmental security, political security, energy security, health security as well as community security.

The primary responsibility of any government is the provision of security which involves securing lives and property as well as the territorial integrity of the country. In recent times, threats have become diverse, non-deterministic, asymmetric and multifaceted thereby making them difficult to detect and contain using conventional means. In Nigeria for instance, Boko haram in the north, kidnapping, child trafficking and hostage taking in the south are today's realities. Our rapidly expanding population makes the issue of food security more topical

than ever before as well as climate change. These, apart from civil unrest and conflicts pose continuous threats to the nation's overall security.

National space policy and securityThe National Space Policy already foresees the impact of space technology and space derived products and services which are capable of providing solutions to the questions of security. There are