New Skies Satellites N.V. (AEX, NYSE: NSK), the global satellite communications company, is now providing its IPsys® Internet backbone service to IPKOnet, Kosovo’s leading ISP. The two-way link connects IPKOnet customers to the U.S. Internet backbone using New Skies’ NSS-K satellite located at 338.5 degrees East longitude and routes the links via its Washington DC mediaport.
Based in Prishtina and in operation since 1999, IPKOnet’s customers include all of the UN agencies operating in Kosovo, NATO, the World Bank and other national banks, government offices as well as Internet cafes and other businesses throughout the country. IPKOnet also provides dial-up service for around 3000 Kosovars, and is playing a crucial role in supporting the process of reconstruction and democratization of the region with free service to the local civic society sector, University of Prishtina, hospitals, cultural and art institutions, and high schools.
IPKOnet has also established the IPKO Institute of Information Technology to educate young Kosovars in IT-related subjects.
Bujar Musa, the chief financial officer of IPKOnet, said: “We are convinced that Kosovo has a critical need for direct access to the great pool of information that the Internet provides. Future generations of people who will shape the IT sector in Kosovo are sitting on high school benches today. The cooperation with New Skies is an important step towards creating a stable, high quality and high capacity wireless network throughout Kosovo.”
Howard Farr, New Skies’ vice president of sales for Europe said: “It isn’t often that a customer’s requirements dovetail with basic humanitarian needs. We are delighted to support IPKOnet and look forward to working with them in the future.”
About IPsys®
IPsys® creates a direct connection from the Internet backbone to an ISP’s local service point using a high-speed Digital Video Broadcast (DVB) or Single Channel per Carrier (SCPC) connections.
Multi-homing satellite links enable ISPs to offer their customers one-hop connections from the global Internet backbone, thus reducing latency and IP packet loss. The IPsys® service makes use of direct peering with Tier 1 Internet backbone providers for more direct and thus more robust connections.
Currently, New Skies provides over 700 Mbps of Internet connectivity directly to ISP customers around the world through seven DVB platforms and SCPC carrier services covering India, South and East Africa, Central Africa, Asia and Latin America, making New Skies one of the largest Internet-over-satellite players in the industry.
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For any further information, please contact:
Daniëlle Keukenmeester, Corporate Communications, New Skies Satellites
Tel: +31 70 3064227, dkeukenmeester@newskies.com
ABOUT NEW SKIES SATELLITES (AEX, NYSE: NSK)
New Skies is a global satellite communications company with five satellites in geosynchronous orbit and ground facilities around the world. New Skies has three new spacecraft under construction, which are planned to serve the Atlantic Ocean Region, Asia and the Americas. Headquartered in The Hague, The Netherlands, and with offices in Johannesburg, London, New Delhi, São Paulo, Singapore, Sydney and Washington, D.C., New Skies is one of only three fixed satellite services companies with truly global satellite coverage. New Skies offers video, voice, data and Internet communications services to a range of telecommunications carriers, broadcasters, large corporations and Internet service providers around the world.
By combining its satellite resources with terrestrial communications facilities, New Skies is developing a broadening range of state-of-the-art, value-added, high-quality satellite communications services. New Skies’ fastest growing revenue stream comes from data transmissions, including Internet traffic and corporate networks. New Skies estimates that approximately 51% of new business in the first half of 2001 was for Internet services. The company completed its Initial Public Offering in October 2000, listing on both the Euronext Amsterdam exchange and the New York Stock Exchange.
