Telenor Satellite Services and Sky Catcher Communications, Inc. have entered a business partnership to offer Digital Video Broadcast - Return Channel Satellite (DVB-RCS) services.
Under the agreement, Sky Catcher will use the DVB-RCS hub recently installed at Telenor's Southbury, Connecticut teleport to provide service for North America.
Telenor DVB-RCS service, powered by Terralink(TM), Telenor's exclusive network of IP infrastructure and applications, provides broadband communications via satellite to and from fixed and semi-fixed land-based locations where cable connections are unavailable or where satellite service is the preferred communications technology. The service is asymmetrical, meaning uplink and downlink transmission speeds differ. Asymmetrical service is a highly efficient and economical use of satellite capacity, since customers often need dramatically faster transmission speeds to receive a high volume of data, such as downloading a Web site.
Sky Catcher's DVB-RCS solution will offer a high performance, two-way, satellite based service enabling interactive Broadband IP and multicasting applications including Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), video, and virtual private networks (VPN).
Sky Catcher will arrange leasing programs for modems and equipment required by corporate and business customers through its nationwide network of more than 40 distributors. Sky Catcher's network of Satellite Broadcasting and Communications Association of America (SBCA)-certified distributors are responsible for selling, installing and servicing all DVB-RCS platforms provided through Telenor.
"Telenor is delighted to work with Sky Catcher Communications to expand our global portfolio of Broadband IP services via satellite," said Tore Hilde, chief executive officer of Telenor Satellite Services. "Sky Catcher is a market leader in providing high quality, broadband satellite services to rural enterprise customers and government agencies."
"The DVB-RCS platform has become the accepted standard for enterprise and government agencies in Europe during the past three years and it only stands to reason that this proven and reliable standard should be offered in the U.S.," said Don Thompson, chief executive officer of Sky Catcher Communications. "We believe the relationship between Telenor Satellite Services and Sky Catcher forms a foundation that will allow us to expand broadband satellite communications to benefit customers in other regions of the globe."
Telenor Satellite Services, Inc. is the Rockville, Maryland-based mobile satellite services subsidiary of Telenor ASA of Norway, listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange (TEL) and NASDAQ (TELN).
© 2005 Business Wire
