8th Nov 2007 16:26
Inmarsat PLC08 November 2007 Inmarsat signs agreements to be commercial operator for the Alphasat satelliteproject Thursday 8 November 2007: Inmarsat plc (LSE: ISAT), the leading provider ofglobal mobile satellite communications services, is pleased to announce that itsprincipal operating subsidiary, Inmarsat Global Limited, has entered into anagreement with the European Space Agency ("ESA") to become the commercialoperator for the Alphasat project. Alphasat is an ESA initiative for the development of Alphabus, a new platformcapable of carrying a large communications payload. This new satellite willsupplement the existing Inmarsat-4 satellites. The Alphasat satellite willprovide service over Europe, the Middle East and Africa allowing the companyaccess to a new allocation of L-Band spectrum across those regions. Concurrentwith the award from ESA, Inmarsat Global Limited has entered into an agreementto procure the satellite from Astrium Satellites, a subsidiary of EADS. Thesatellite is scheduled to be completed early in 2012. The Alphasat project represents an important collaboration with ESA which iscontributing a significant amount to the acquisition costs of the satellite, itslauncher and the development of new processor technology in partnership withAstrium Satellites. The satellite payload work will be carried out inPortsmouth and Stevenage and has attracted funds of over €50 million from Eastof England Development Agency, South East England Development Agency and theLondon Development Agency. Inmarsat expects its investment, for the satellitein orbit (excluding insurance), to be in the region of €260 million with thecapital payments being phased over the period 2008 to 2013. Andrew Sukawaty, Inmarsat's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer said "We aredelighted we have been able to successfully conclude our negotiations with bothESA and Astrium Satellites to deliver the Alphasat project and we look forwardto working closely with them over the coming years. We believe this projectrepresents an incremental opportunity for our company to grow its business byfurther expanding the reach and use of our global broadband and handheld phoneservices." - ends - About Inmarsat Inmarsat plc (LSE: ISAT) is the leading provider of global mobile satellitecommunications. Since 1979, Inmarsat has been providing reliable voice andhigh-speed data communications to governments, enterprises and otherorganisations, with a range of services that can be used on land, at sea or inthe air. The company's services are delivered through a global network of morethan 500 distribution partners and service providers operating in 180 countries.For the year ended 31 December 2006, Inmarsat plc had total revenue of US$500.1million. More information can be found at www.inmarsat.com. For more information, please contact: Inmarsat, London, UK Investor EnquiriesSimon Ailes, +44 20 7728 [email protected] Media EnquiriesChristopher McLaughlin, +44 20 7728 [email protected] This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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