A consortium of South African investors led by Convergence Partners, and comprising Altirah Telecoms and the Convergence Partners Foundation, has recently disposed of its 25.1% interest in the New Dawn joint venture to Intelsat S.A, its joint venture partner and the majority shareholder of New Dawn.
Convergence Partners released its Annual Report for 2011 financial year, celebrating an exciting and successful first five years of investing in the fast growing African ICT market.
In his Chairman’s report , Andile Ngcaba highlights the beneficially disruptive effects that the flood of broadband infrastructure (international submarine, wireless and satellite infrastructure) will have on the African market. In addition, new technology developments such as LTE, digital terrestrial broadcasting and social media will be making a significant impact on the African ICT landscape.
Intelsat, the world’s leading provider of satellite services, and GlobeCast, a leading global content management and delivery company, today announced the launch of the Intelsat New Dawn Ku-band Multi-Channel Per Carrier (MCPC) media platform for Africa. The MCPC platform is being hosted on Intelsat New Dawn, Africa’s first commercial communications satellite, situated directly over Africa at the 33°East orbital slot.
Convergence Partners Chairman, Andile Ngcaba, was named as TechCentral’s newsmaker of 2011 for his significant impact on South Africa’s technology sector over the past 12 months, topping an impressive list consisting of Pieter Uys, Mamodupi Mohlala, Karel Pienaar, Robert Gumede, Roy Padayachie, Lars Reichelt, Michael Jordaan, Pinky Moholi and Mteto Nyati.
Co-author of Convergence Partners’ first research report, Russell Southwood of Balancing Act, reports back on the optimism surrounding the ICT sector during the 14th annual AfricaCom conference held in Cape Town in November 2011.
Russell reported that AfricaCom, expanded this year to include Enterprise ICT and Africast streams, has become a necessary meeting place for the role-players in the industry. He identified the following key threads at the conference:
On 22 April 2011?Intelsat S.A., the world’s leading provider of fixed satellite services, announced that Arianespace successfully launched the Intelsat New Dawn satellite. The Ariane 5 vehicle lifted off from Kourou, French Guiana, at 5:37 p.m. (EDT), followed by spacecraft separation from the launch vehicle at 6:12 p.m. and signal acquisition at 6:29 p.m.
The Intelsat New Dawn satellite is owned by a joint venture between a consortium led by Convergence Partners and Intelsat. The satellite’s 28 C-band and 24 Ku-band 36 MHz transponder units are designed specifically to supply critical communications infrastructure for African customers, who have experienced exceptional growth along with the development of the region.
Convergence Partners is pleased to announce that the New Dawn Satellite has been rescheduled to Friday, April 22 at 17:37 p.m. (EDT) 23:37 p.m (SA time). The satellite, loaded on an Ariane 5 rocket, will be launched from the Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana.
The countdown has begun for the launch of the New Dawn satellite tonight. Intelsat has confirmed that everything is so far on schedule for the satellite’s launch aboard an Ariane 5 rocket from the Arianespace Launch Complex in Kourou, French Guiana, at about 23:45 South African time.
The Intelsat New Dawn satellite is owned by a joint venture between Intelsat and a consortium led by Convergence Partners.
Preparations on Track for March 30 Lift-Off of First African Private Sector Communications Satellite
Final preparations for the historic Intelsat New Dawn satellite launch are on track. On Wednesday, March 30, the satellite, loaded in an Ariane 5 rocket, is expected to be rolled from the Spaceport’s Final Assembly Building to the ELA-3 launch zone. It will be readied for lift-off that day during a launch window that opens at 6:45 p.m. local time in French Guiana (11:45 p.m. in South Africa), and continues to 7:52 p.m. (12:52 a.m. in South Africa). The project has also received a symbolic ‘boost’ from the image of Nelson Mandela’s signature, which is featured on the rocket’s fairing.
The New Dawn project was created through a unique joint venture between Intelsat and a South African investor group led by Convergence Partners, which also includes Altirah Telecoms and the not-for-profit Convergence Partners Foundation. The project was funded though a combination of equity from Intelsat and the Convergence Partners Consortium, and debt funding via an innovative structure that has maximized African participation in the project. Debt providers comprise Nedbank, the Industrial Development Corporation and the African Development Bank.
The Arianespace technician is finalizing the seam between the fairing and the Ariane 5 launcher.
This interface is composed of 420 bolts which hold the fairing onto the launcher.
Once the launcher reaches an altitude where the air density will not damage the satellite, the fairing is separated longitudinally along the slice line.
This splice line has an explosive device that allows the fairing to “peel away” as the launcher approaches the frontier of space.
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