Airbus has added Planet Communications Asia Public Co., Ltd. (PlanetComm) to its channel partner programme for Skynet 5 military satellite communication services and expanded the partnership with Speedcast. Under this channel partner agreement, both PlanetComm and Speedcast will be offering Skynet X-band and UHF services as part of their extensive satellite communications portfolios.
Speedcast has been delivering tactical secure communications services to the Australian and New Zealand governments since September 2016 and the partnership has now been extended to cover customers in the Philippines. In addition, on behalf of Airbus, Speedcast manages the Asia anchor station facility for the Skynet 5A military satellite, based at Speedcast’s teleport in Adelaide, Australia.
The newly signed partnership with PlanetComm covers Thailand, and expands their product offering into the military market. PlanetComm are one of the leaders of telecommunications and digital TV technologies in ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) region and have over twenty years of experience in delivering resilient communications.
Airbus continues to work with service providers to develop new partnerships to deliver highly resilient Skynet military satellite communication services to the Asia Pacific region, following the move of its Skynet 5A satellite from 6° East to 95° East to provide global X-band and UHF coverage in this region. Since the move of Skynet 5A in September 2015, Airbus Defence and Space has signed ten channel partner agreements with companies in the Asia Pacific region and in the USA.
Richard Franklin, Head of Secure Communications at Airbus Defence and Space, said: “It is a really positive step to further increase our relationship with SpeedCast, and also PlanetComm within countries that can really benefit from the unique capabilities of the Skynet fleet.”
The relocation of Skynet 5A was initiated to extend the X-band coverage and services from 178 West to 163 East, including the Indian Ocean and Western Pacific region. The Skynet network now offers global military coverage, expanding core service reach for the UK military and augmenting coalition capabilities in the region.
“PlanetComm is truly honored to become an authorised Airbus Channel Partner”, said Trevor Thompson, President and Chief Technology Officer, PlanetComm. “ Since the relocation of Skynet 5 to 95 ° East, which is ideally suited for Thailand and Southeast Asia in achieving high earth station look angles, we have been actively promoting Skynet-5’s X-Band and UHF satcom services to the Thai Defence Forces and Government agencies. We are pleased that we have now formalized our business relationship and can continue to actively promote Airbus Skynet services in Thailand.”
“We are proud to expand our service agreement with Airbus into this new region”, said Andrew Burdall, Executive Vice President, Enterprise & Emerging Markets, Speedcast. “The extension is a testament to the hard work and dedication the Speedcast and Airbus teams have put into creating a trusted partnership.”
Airbus owns and operates the hardened Skynet X-band satellite constellation of seven satellites and the ground network to provide all Beyond Line of Sight (BLOS) communications to the UK Ministry of Defence. The contract also allows other NATO and allied governments such as members of the five-eyes community (besides UK, the USA, Australia, New Zealand and Canada) to use the Skynet system to augment their existing services.
Military and governmental users worldwide benefit from the unique expertise developed by Airbus in the field of satellite communications. Besides covering the complete range of frequency bands (L, C, Ku, Ka, X and UHF), the company provides military satellite communications to some of the most high-tech armed forces in the world.