Cali, Colombia — June 6, 2024 — Speedcast, a leading communications and IT services provider, hosted an inaugural event today to celebrate the new purpose-built teleport facility in Cali, Colombia that now serves as the ground infrastructure gateway in Latin America for Eutelsat OneWeb. Speedcast secured a long-term agreement with Eutelsat OneWeb to develop and operate the facility, located in Zonamerica, a free-trade zone in Colombia to support services for the company’s low Earth orbit (LEO) constellation.
The agreement between Eutelsat OneWeb and Speedcast’s local entity, Speedcast Free Zone Colombia SAS, began in January 2022, and final antenna installations were completed in late 2023, with the site fully operational in December. The facility includes 15 antennae critical to supporting OneWeb LEO services for customers. The facility also holds a Tier 4 Data Center classification, which is recognized as the best-performing level based on internationally standardized rankings that indicate the reliability of data center infrastructure. The unique location provides unrestricted line of sight for tracking spacecraft across the sky, as well as redundant power and connection with the main telecom companies of the region.
The facility celebration culminates in a special event on June 6 at the Zonamerica site, where Eutelsat OneWeb and Speedcast will host a teleport tour, followed by a private reception nearby in the city of Cali.
“This celebration recognizes the tremendous work by our local team members in Colombia who led complete build, development and staffing efforts, from architecture design and layout to site surveys, procurement, utilities, and regulatory and license management,” said James Trevelyan, Executive Vice President, Global Sales & Marketing at Speedcast. “It also highlights our strong collaboration with Eutelsat OneWeb and the trust placed in Speedcast to deliver ground infrastructure critical to their constellation expansion.”
“We are delighted to commemorate the hard work and collaborative efforts that led to the launch of this ground station site in Colombia. This site is enabling our LEO constellation to deliver high-speed, low latency connectivity services to Andean and Central American countries, and we are thrilled to see our services starting in this region. Speedcast brings a wealth of experience in ground infrastructure operation in addition to being a trusted provider of our LEO services. We look forward to a bright future with our continued collaboration in Cali and beyond,” said Juan Pablo Cofino, Regional Vice President, Americas, Eutelsat OneWeb.
Eutelsat OneWeb’s LEO connectivity service enables delivery of a high-speed, low-latency, globally consistent experience for customers – even in the most remote locations. In addition to their ground infrastructure partnership, Speedcast is also a leading Eutelsat OneWeb Distribution Partner, having added the LEO service to its global connectivity portfolio for customers in 2023.
Speedcast has long-standing expertise in delivering ground infrastructure services across the satellite network operator space. The company maintains more than 35 teleports globally, including six teleport facilities certified by the World Teleport Organization (WTA) across five continents. This underscores the company’s first place ranking on WTA’s 2023 Independent Top 10 Teleport Operators list, as well as recognition as WTA’s 2022 Independent Teleport Operator of the Year.
“As constellations expand and require global ground networks, satellite operators often look to partners for ground infrastructure development and deployment, especially in challenging jurisdictions,” said James Trevelyan. “Speedcast’s key operating locations and critical expertise navigating regulatory requirements and licensing across those locations make us a strong ground infrastructure partner for satellite network operators.”
To learn more, view the ground infrastructure project overview video on Speedcast’s YouTube Channel, or watch the Spanish-language podcast about the Zonamerica project.
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About Speedcast
Speedcast is a leading communications and IT services provider, delivering critical communications services to the Maritime, Energy, Mining, Media, Telecom, Cruise, NGO, Government, and Enterprise sectors. The company leverages its global network platform to provide fully connected systems that harness technologies and applications to transform what remote operations can achieve. With the world’s most comprehensive network, Speedcast enables faster, seamless pole-to-pole coverage from a global hybrid satellite, fiber, cellular, microwave, MPLS, and IP transport network with direct access to public cloud platforms. The company integrates differentiated technology offerings that provide smarter ways to communicate and distribute content, manage network and remote operations, protect and secure investments, and improve the crew and guest experience. With a passionate customer focus and a strong safety culture, Speedcast serves more than 3,200 customers in over 140 countries. Learn more at www.speedcast.com.
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About Eutelsat Group
Eutelsat Group is a global leader in satellite communications, delivering connectivity and broadcast services worldwide. The Group was formed through the combination of the Company and OneWeb in 2023, becoming the first fully integrated GEO-LEO satellite operator with a fleet of 35 Geostationary satellites and a Low Earth Orbit (LEO) constellation of more than 600 satellites. The Group addresses the needs of customers in four key verticals of Video, where it distributes more than 6,500 television channels, and the high-growth connectivity markets of Mobile Connectivity, Fixed Connectivity, and Government Services. Eutelsat Group’s unique suite of in-orbit assets enables it to deliver integrated solutions to meet the needs of global customers. The Company is headquartered in Paris and the Eutelsat Group employs more than 1,700 people across more than 50 countries. The Group is committed to delivering safe, resilient, and environmentally sustainable connectivity to help bridge the digital divide. The Company is listed on the Euronext Paris Stock Exchange (ticker: ETL) and the London Stock Exchange (ticker: ETL).
About Zonamerica Colombia
Zonamerica is a free trade zone and a platform that connects companies with the world. Located at the south of Cali, Valle del Cauca. They are also based in Uruguay and with a history of 30 years in that country, they began operations in 2018 in alliance with Grupo Carvajal. They currently have more than 10,000 square meters built between offices, collaborative spaces, common areas, commercial premises, high availability of parking and even charging points for electric vehicles. Their value promise is to deliver offices with world-class infrastructure with integrated services that facilitate the growth of companies and their teams.