Star Satellite Communications Company, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Al Yah Satellite Communications Company (Yahsat), has contracted Axiom Telecom and Sky Stream to provide Yahsat’s satellite broadband service in the UAE. TradeArabia reports that the new service, dubbed ‘YahClick’, will offer cost-effective broadband services to both consumer and enterprise customers. The service – which will cover an area spanning 27 countries in Africa, the Middle East and South West Asia – is designed to meet the growing connectivity needs of the region and bring reliable, uninterrupted and affordable broadband internet to customers. It will be available through Y1B, Yahsat’s second satellite to be launched in Q4 2011, and will help to fast-track the deployment of affordable broadband services in areas with limited or no internet connectivity. ‘We feel a tremendous sense of pride in fostering wider internet connectivity across much of the developing world. ICT is key to enhancing a country’s social and economic prosperity and affordable internet access is the backbone for ICT development in any country,’ commented Jassem Mohamed Al Zaabi, CEO of Yahsat, adding: ‘Our service agents will provide us with extensive consumer insights, business experience and reach, which gives us great confidence in the successful rollout of the YahClick service.’
According to TeleGeography’s GlobalComms Database, UAE-based Yahsat is wholly owned by Mubadala Development Company, the Abu Dhabi government’s strategic investment company. Both Yahsat and its commercial arm Star Satellite were awarded ten-year concessions by the UAE’s Telecommunications Regulatory Agency (TRA) in August 2010 allowing the pair to install, operate and manage a telecoms network to provide satellite services.