NAB: SES Americom, New Skies to combine

LAS VEGAS -- SES Americom and SES New Skies, both divisions of SES SA, are combining their organizations to create a single global satellite entity selling services to telecom service providers, enterprises and governments globally.

The new SES Americom-New Skies has already combined its executive teams and will be announcing a new name shortly, said Andrew Ruszkowski, vice president of enterprise services for the new company.  Today SES Americom-New Skies announced that New Jersey-based DRS Technologies -- which provides military services, intelligence agencies and prime contractors with integrated network services and support -- has renewed an agreement for 160 megahertz of satellite capacity and connectivity.

"The new company has a combined fleet of 24 satellites in key positions that can provide seamless service to anywhere," Ruszkowski said.  "Our combined team of satellite professionals is focused on enterprises, telecom providers and government integrators. They have applications – telemedicine, private networks, and extending Internet broadband to points without fiber -- that we can support from one organization. In the past, companies had to deal with two different teams – one from North America and one global. Now there is one team with deep expertise."

One reason for combining the two units is that a growing number of multinational corporations have headquarters in one country and manufacturing or outsourced customer service in another, Ruszkowski said. Telecom service providers trying to meet those needs also face growing demands for far-flung connections in areas of the world where fiber is scarce.

"We are taking a new market approach – 'our satellites, your ambition,'" Ruszkowski said. "We will follow the lead of our customers and where they need us to support their business."

In addition to satellite services, SES Americom-New Skies can provide connections to third-party teleports and collocation for connection into Internet backbones, Ruszkowski said. "We will do that in the most efficient manner for our customers," he said.