Sub-Saharan Africa: A Looming Crash for FSS Operators?

by NSR

Cambridge, Mass., November 30, 2011-- A quick look at the supply numbers seems to indicate that the previously hot satellite market in Sub-Saharan Africa has the potential to become an oversupply fiasco for the FSS industry. During the run up of the African market, satellite operators of every stripe decided to launch new capacity into the region with NSR estimating over 300 TPEs of new and replacement C- and Ku-band capacity will be launched in the coming two years for Sub-Saharan Africa alone. The slew of satellites includes ABS-2, Africasat-1a, Amos-4, Amos-5, Apstar VII, Arabsat 5C, Astra 2E, Astra 2F, Astra 2G, Atlantic Bird 7, Badr-7, Intelsat 20, Intelsat 22, NigComSat-1R, SES-4, SES-5, Thaicom-6, W3C, W3D, W5A, and Yamal-402.