Avanti Announces Launch Date for HYLAS 2 Satellite
– Ka-band technology will drive enterprise growth across emerging market economies of Africa, Middle East and the Caucuses
London – 28 June 2012. Avanti Communications Group plc (AIM: AVN, “Avanti” or “the Company”), the satellite operator, announces that HYLAS 2, its second satellite, will launch at approximately 9.50pm UK-time on 2 August 2012 upon an Ariane 5 launch vehicle.
HYLAS 2, which has almost three times the bandwidth capacity of HYLAS 1, will substantially increase the Company’s international coverage. It will provide high speed data capacity to a growing range of telecoms, enterprise and government customers in fast growing markets in Eastern and Southern Africa, the Middle East and across the Caucasus.
HYLAS 2 will deploy 24 fixed beams and one steerable beam utilising pioneering Ka-band technology, offering customers flexibility and significantly improved use of spectrum, delivering increased speeds and data throughput at a much lower cost.
David Williams, Avanti founder and CEO, said: “HYLAS 2 services are already in great demand across The Middle East & Africa. The supply of capacity falls greatly short of this demand. In sub Saharan Africa, where there are more than 1Ž2 billion people who live more the 25km away from a fibre network, the GDP growth in that region is running at 6% per annum. Seven of the world’s top ten fastest growing economies are to be found in Africa, therefore we are delighted to be doing business on a continent where economic growth is not constrained by economic factors. We are also pleased to be bringing the freedom of communications to a new generation of public sector, business and consumer customers.”
For more information on the HYLAS 2 launch please go to http://www.avantiplc.com/hylas2.
This gives you access to a full multi-media press kit including an image bank, videos as well as to an embeddable animation explaining how our satellite works, an interactive launch timeline (endorsed by Arianespace), and application examples of HYLAS 2’s Ka-band technology.
About Avanti
Avanti sells satellite data communications services to telecoms companies which use them to supply residential, enterprise and institutional users. Avanti’s first satellite, called HYLAS 1, launched on November 26th 2010 and was the first Ka-band satellite launched in Europe. Avanti’s second satellite, HYLAS 2, will extend Avanti’s coverage to Africa and the Middle East. Avanti’s third satellite HYLAS 3, to be launched in partnership with ESA in 2015, will provide further capacity in the EMEA region. Some 80% of Avanti’s fleet capacity will address the emerging telecommunications markets of Africa and the Middle East.
