Yahsat and Hughes Launch Satellite Services Joint Venture in Brazil
Germantown, MD, December 6, 2019 — Hughes Network Systems and Al Yah Satellite Communications Company (Yahsat), a satellite operator based in the United Arab Emirates and wholly owned by Mubadala Investment Company, today announced the commencement of a joint venture to provide satellite broadband services in Brazil. Now operational under the established Hughes do Brasil name, the new venture combines Hughes decades of experience delivering satellite networks and services in Brazil with Yahsat’s strong position and capabilities in the region.
“We are pleased to commence our Brazilian joint venture with Yahsat, our longstanding partner, in this important market,” said Pradman Kaul, president, Hughes. “The partnership further leverages our commitment to bringing unserved and underserved communities and businesses throughout Brazil the many essential advantages of connectivity,” he aded.
Masood M. Sharif Mahmood, Yahsat’s Chief Executive Officer, added: “The start of this joint venture with Hughes will enable people across Brazil to realize economic and social benefits from both Hughes and Yahsat’s high-performance satellite broadband services. We look forward to working together with Hughes to deliver superior connectivity solutions to all customer segments by leveraging the power of our combined missions, and look forward to growing this business together in the future.”
The agreement to form the joint venture was announced in May 2019, during the SATELLITE 2019 conference held in Washington, D.C., and was subject to regulatory and other approvals which have now been obtained. Resulting ownership of Hughes do Brasil is now 80% by Hughes and 20% by Yahsat.
In addition to delivering services over the Hughes 65 West and Hughes 63 West satellites, Hughes do Brasil now offers services over Yahsat’s Al Yah 3 Ka-band satellite. The company will deploy additional JUPITER™ System ground network technology – the de facto industry standard – to deliver high efficiency services over the Yahsat satellite across the country, optimizing performance and throughput.
Services offered by Hughes do Brasil include HughesNet®, the number-one choice for high-speed satellite Internet for consumers and small- to medium-sized businesses; managed network services for enterprises, including all types of transport technologies; Community Wi-Fi Hotspots that bring affordable, pay-per-use Internet access to rural towns; and cellular backhaul solutions to help mobile network operators (MNOs) extend connectivity to people and communities throughout Brazil either unserved or underserved by terrestrial access.
Yahsat is a global satellite operator, providing multipurpose satellite solutions for broadband, broadcast and government communications use across the Middle East, Africa, Europe, and Central and southwest Asia. Headquartered in Abu Dhabi, UAE, and wholly owned by Mubadala Investment Company, the investment vehicle of the Government of Abu Dhabi, Yahsat was the first company in the Middle East and Africa to offer Ka-band services including YahClick, Yahsat Government Solutions, YahLink and Yahlive via its Al Yah 1 and Al Yah 2 satellites.
With the launch of Al Yah 3 satellite, Yahsat’s commercial Ka-band coverage has been extended to 20 additional markets, reaching 60% of Africa’s population and over 95% of Brazil’s population.
In August 2018, Yahsat acquired a majority and controlling stake in Thuraya, UAE’s first home-grown mobile satellite services operator. The acquisition enables Yahsat to provide a broad range of Fixed and Mobile Satellite Services to over 160 countries.
