Advanced Television

SES moves ahead with Isle of Man teleport

March 31, 2017

By Colin Mann

Satellite operator SES is moving ahead with its plans to build a teleport on the Isle of Man by contracting local firms Sure and Stewart Clague Services (SCS) to provide the construction, maintenance and connectivity for the new facility that will have several earth stations on the island.

Scheduled to enter service by the end of 2017, the teleport will be a state-of-the-art facility providing satellite telemetry, tracking and commanding (TT&C) facilities and capacity management, together with a wide range of teleport services such as uplink, downlink and contribution services for broadcasters and data centres.

“I am delighted that SES is moving forward with its plans to build a new teleport on the Isle of Man and it’s exciting to see local companies involved in this new venture,” declared Laurence Skelly, Minister for the Department of Economic Development, Isle of Man Government. “Our world class technical infrastructure and supportive business environment provides the perfect home for new and expanding businesses, giving the Island its reputation as a test bed for new and innovative technology. We have a strong pedigree in media and data intensive businesses and attracting future investment to the Island is at the core of the work of the department.”

“We are pleased to tap into local talent to help build a state-of-the-art teleport,” said Jim Hughes, Managing Director at SES Satellite Leasing. “We have absolute confidence in the two partners we have decided to work with. Globally, Sure already manages teleport operations, so they clearly understood our requirements and have a very highly skilled local team. SCS’s breadth of experience meant that they were able to offer the construction as well as the mechanical and electrical works in-house.”

“Sure has been working with SES for more than 18 months on this exciting project, providing a wide range of local services and expertise as the project’s design and requirements have evolved. During the current construction phase, Sure will provide extensive programme management support and, once the facility is operational, we will be responsible for the ongoing support of the Teleport, its connectivity to SES locations both local and international and providing on-island data centre hosting,” said Mike Phillips, CEO of Sure in the Isle of Man.

“This is an exciting and challenging project for the SCS team and we are delighted to be appointed as principal contractor. Our experience in delivering specialist buildings such as Data Centres – from construction to maintenance – meant we are able to meet SES’s exacting requirements in terms of specification and budget, whilst ensuring that the project can be delivered almost entirely with local labour,” said Gary Crittenden, Projects Director at Stewart Clague Services.

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