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.

According to TechCentral: “Through his Convergence Partners investment vehicle, Ngcaba launched a US$250m satellite with Intelsat (after a false start) and signed a multibillion-rand deal to build a national fibre network with Cell C and Dimension Data’s Internet Solutions.

“Ngcaba has taken to the business world like a proverbial duck to water. Executive chairman of Dimension Data Middle East and Africa, in which he also holds a sizeable investment through Convergence Partners, Ngcaba is certainly prepared to put his money where his mouth is.”

“Despite his involvement in the launch of the Intelsat New Dawn satellite and FibreCo’s plans to deploy a R5bn national fibre network consisting of up to 14 000km of fibre infrastructure, Ngcaba has stayed largely out of the media spotlight in 2011. But we’ve been tracking his activities closely and we think he’s worthy of the accolade of newsmaker of the year.”

Read more here: http://www.techcentral.co.za/sa-newsmakers-of-the-year-the-top-five/28200/

Co-author of Convergence Partners’ first research report, Russell Southwood of Balancing Act, reports back on the optimism surrounding the ICT sector during the 14^th 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:

• International bandwidth growth. The primary drivers for all this growth are mobile internet and WiMAX;

• ACE making steady progress, although it has not yet funded its South Africa leg. WIOCC has also signed an agreement with WACS to give it a west coast redundancy route;

• The steady growth of national and cross-border terrestrial fibre although price and access still remain issues;

• Liquid Telecom’s and other providers network stretches north, but gaps;

• Satellite operators seem to have weathered the fibre storm, by using broadcasting to fill the gap;

• Yahsat is set to launch its new products early next year which promises to “shake the market up.” 03B is still looking at a 2013 launch date but its business case seems increasingly shaky;

• Mobile content gets more and more interesting;

• Australia’s biNU mobile have a feature phone content platform that has over 2 million users globally;

• OnMobile from India has seen sales in Africa ahead of expectations. Looking to tapi into the independent music labels;

• A steady trickle of VOD content offerings were on display, including LogiWays and Jamii;

• Mobile payment breakthrough still awaited, but lots of offerings tied to a single operator and/or financial institution;

• Nigeria seems to be leading the way with a slightly more open process of platforms getting to market e.g. Paga in Nigeria and Mobipay in Tanzania.

Balancing Act Africa

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.
Operating from a geostationary orbital slot at 32.8° East, Intelsat New Dawn will be ideally positioned to serve Africa through a payload optimized to deliver new capacity for voice, wireless backhaul, fixed line and wireless infrastructure, broadband and media– the fastest growing satellite-based applications in Africa.
Andile Ngcaba, Chairman of Convergence Partners, said, “The satellite will not only deliver crucial services specifically tailored for Africa, it will also herald the dawn of a new era where Africans enjoy far greater involvement in the space communications industry.”
Intelsat New Dawn is the first of eight satellites slated for launch over the next two years and is part of the largest satellite program in Intelsat’s history. The investment program is expected to provide enhanced high-powered capacity to Intelsat’s global fleet. Intelsat’s next launch is expected to be the Intelsat 18 satellite, slated for later in 2011.

Intelsat New Dawn Launch Press Release

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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 launch was initially scheduled to occur on March 30, but was delayed when an abnormal launch vehicle parameter was detected during the automated checkout procedure after startup of the Ariane 5’s cryogenic main engine. The launcher is currently in the Spaceport’s Final Assembly Building being prepared for its mission.

New Dawn Press Release

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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.

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. The satellite will be stationed at 32.8º East longitude, and will be integrated with Intelsat’s global satellite fleet.
The historic launch can be viewed tonight via live stream on www.intelsatnewdawn.com.

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.

Operating from a geostationary orbital slot at 32.8º East, Intelsat New Dawn will serve Africa through a payload optimized to deliver new capacity for wireless backhaul, fixed line and wireless infrastructure, broadband and media– the fastest growing satellite-based applications in Africa. 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.

The historic launch can be viewed via live stream on www.intelsatnewdawn.com.

See attached press release

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DST Welcomes Launch

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.

Read more here!

More Pictures of New Dawn

One week to go to the launch, final preparations are taking place in French Guiana. Update on recent New Dawn activity:

22 March 2011

Technicians from manufacturer, Orbital Sciences Corporation, attached the satellite lift sling to Intelsat New Dawn and handed over the crane operations to launch provider, Arianespace. They lifted the satellite over 100 feet in the air and attached it to the top of the Ariane 5 launcher. Once the satellite was secured onto the adapter, the Orbital technicians powered up the satellite to verify its health. Everything is right on schedule for the 30th of March 2011 launch and the satellite is healthy!

19 March 2011

Today, the Intelsat New Dawn satellite was readied for transport from the Payload Processing Facility (PPF). The satellite is loaded onto the transportation container, which is comprised of two half shells as per attached picture. This “cocoon” will protect the satellite from rain, humidity, and other contamination. Arianespace will transport the cocoon to the Final Assembly Building tonight. On 22 March, the container will be opened up and the satellite will be taken our and lifted via giant crane in order to place it on top of the Ariane 5 launcher.

18 March 2011

The big event of the day was moving the fully-fuelled Intelsat New Dawn satellite and mating it to the Launch Vehicle Adapter (LVA). This LVA is a metal, conical-shaped ring which is the interface between the satellite and the Ariane 5 launcher. This LVA interface holds the satellite securely in place during liftoff. Once the Ariane 5 rocket reaches the drop-off orbit, the adapter has explosive bolts that release a Marman clamp. From there, the satellite is gradually pushed away from the launcher with a mechanical spring. From there, the satellite will complete its orbit-raising to a geosynchronous orbit using its own satellite fuel.

17 March 2011

The Intelsat New Dawn satellite successfully completed all the fueling operations today and will be getting ready to start the combined operations. The satellite weight is 3,000 Kilograms, as per the manufacturer’s exact specification.

Intelsat New Dawn Pictures

The Intelsat New Dawn satellite left Dulles Airport in Washington, D.C., at 9 pm EST on Monday, 28 February, aboard Antonov, the largest transport aircraft in the world. After a six-hour flight, the airplane arrived at Rochambeau airport in Cayenne, French Guiana at 5 am local time on Tuesday, 1 March.

After settling down in the tarmac, the Antonov dramatically flipped up its nose, revealing the shipping container with Intelsat New Dawn inside. A rail system slid the shipping container out of the Antonov and a specially-designed crane loaded it onto a flat bed truck. The loading went smoothly and the spacecraft was ready to be transported to the Guiana Space Center (CSG) around 9 am. Darkness and occasional heavy rain made taking photos and travel a real challenge. The journey of approximately 60 miles took about 2 hours.

The shipping container arrived at building S5 of CSG around 11 am and was moved to the air lock. The spacecraft was removed from the shipping container and lifted to the integration dolly. Orbital began testing at the launch site on Tuesday, 1 March. The Launch Integrated Systems Test (LIST) was conducted to check the health of the spacecraft, beginning with tests on the command and data handling subsystem (C & DH 01).

With only 28 days until launch, the Intelsat New Dawn Satellite was shipped overnight from Washington D.C. to Cayenne, French Guiana. The satellite recently left the Orbital Sciences Corporation manufacturing facility in Dulles, Virginia, and was flown on an Antonov airplane, arriving early morning local time in Cayenne. It will then be transported to Kourou, where it will be launched on an Ariane 5 rocket on 29 March 2011.

See the attached picture of the satellite being loaded for flight from the USA to French Guiana.

ND Satellite in a plane