Telespazio takes Eutelsat capacity
July 29, 2021
By Chris Forrester
Italy’s Telespazio has taken extra satellite capacity from Eutelsat to serve the company’s rural broadband roll-out in Peru.
The agreement sees Telespazio using Ku-band capacity operated on several transponders on the Eutelsat 117 West B satellite to bring telecommunications access to more than 1,300 underserved public sites, predominantly schools and health care facilities.
Last month Telespazio, a joint venture between Leonardo (67 percent) and Thales (33 per cent), said its Telespazio Argentina subsidiary had been awarded a three-year contract worth around $20 million to bring satellite internet connections to the Peruvian Amazon.
The satellite capacity provides rural backhaul services to the Peruvian government in support of its Programa Nacional de Telecomunicaciones (Pronatel) national telecommunications programme.
The rural backhauling deal signed with Peru’s national telecommunications fund Pronatel will provide satellite connections for a total of 1,316 sites, which will also have hotspots for use by local communities.
“Eutelsat’s 117 West B satellite is located at a prime orbital position for coverage of South America, thus enabling us to access all the sites to be served under the initiative of Pronatel,” Nicolás de Gracia, general manager of Telespazio Peru, said in a statement. “Moreover, this high-performance Ku satellite is fully compatible with our ground infrastructure, enabling us to optimise our existing assets to respond to the demand for connectivity required in the shortest possible timeframe.”