Brian Jakins, Regional Vice President, Africa at Intelsat. He leads Intelsat’s sales activities in a, overseeing a sales team with offices in South Africa, Kenya and Senegal. Jakins supports the growth of Intelsat’s broadband, mobility and media customers in the region, and as well responsible for the design and implementation of the company’s sales strategy and business development across the continent.
He has more than two decades of experience in the technology sector, including service to enterprises and mobile operators.
Intelsat operates the largest, most advanced satellite fleet and connectivity infrastructure in the world.
In this interview with Nosike Moses, he reveals how Intelsat’s partnership with Africa Mobile Network has deployed mobile connectivity to unserved communities across Africa as its satellite fleet and connectivity infrastructure covers 99 percent of the world’s populated areas. Excerpt:
Tell us what vision is behind Intelsat technology?
Intelsat operates the largest, most advanced satellite fleet and connectivity infrastructure in the world. We apply our unparalleled expertise and global scale to connect people, devices and networks reliably and seamlessly – even in the most challenging and remote locations.
Intelsat has the largest satellite presence in Africa, and we’re continuing to invest in and enhance the infrastructure that connects broadband and enterprise customers across the continent.
One of our flagship regional partnerships with Africa Mobile Networks has accelerated the deployment of mobile connectivity to unserved communities across Africa that many previously thought were impossible to connect.
In April, we connected the 1,000th remote site and celebrated bringing internet access and connectivity to 3.5 million people in sub-Saharan Africa to date.
How does Intelsat operate globally?
Our administrative headquarters are in the United States of America, and we also have offices in Europe, South America, Asia and, of course, Africa.
Our world-leading satellite fleet and connectivity infrastructure covers 99 percent of the world’s populated areas. The open-architecture design of Intelsat’s global network, including our satellite fleet and land-based teleport and fibre assets, provides our customers with the most flexible and resilient hybrid-connectivity solutions on the market today.
We’re also continually integrating innovative new technologies into our advanced global network to make it as easy and affordable as possible to seamlessly connect people, businesses, and communities when and where they need it.
Who needs your technology services?
Thousands of organizations serving billions of people worldwide rely on Intelsat to provide ubiquitous broadband connectivity, multi-format video broadcasting, secure satellite communications and seamless mobility services.
For instance, we deliver TV and radio content to more than 2 billion people worldwide on 6,445 channels; we serve the biggest telcos of the world – including seven of the top 10 global MNOs, and all the major MNOs in Africa.
We provide the largest percentage of connectivity for the offshore oil & gas market, estimated at around 50-60 percent of all offshore supply vessels, rigs and platforms.
Why is Intelsat in a partnership with Mindset?
Our partnership with Mindset helps to ensure that critical educational materials reach students across the continent. This collaboration is incredibly important today with nearly 300 million students throughout Africa impacted by school closures and other learning disruptions due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Intelsat has partnered Mindset since the nonprofit was founded in 2002, providing free access to satellite capacity and technology.
Mindset realized earlier on that satellite technology would allow them to reach more people rapidly and efficiently across their targeted regions. As a founding partner with Mindset, coupled with a long heritage of serving the region, Intelsat was uniquely positioned to assist Mindset in fulfilling its mission to deliver education programs throughout South Africa and beyond.
What has Intelsat achieved, partnering Mindset?
Mindset is providing comprehensive educational content to help African youth secure sustainable livelihoods in their countries. Intelsat is proud to enable Mindset to meet its critical mission. We are committed to Africa’s digital transformation, and we exist to connect people, so they can realize their true human potential. Our partnership with Mindset is a great example of that.
What are Intelsat’s global operational challenges?
The global COVID-19 pandemic is obviously having ripple effects on the entire economy and many of the customers and industries we serve. Despite these headwinds, the pandemic has demonstrated how critical connectivity and communications are in today’s hyper-connected world, and that’s ultimately good news for a company like ours.
Otherwise, I really don’t see challenges ahead for us – I see opportunity. For instance, we’re seeing long-term growth potential for our networks business and increased demand for our flexible network solutions, especially as businesses and governments look for more resilient communications solutions in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis.
At the precipice of the 5G revolution, satellite stands ready to fully integrate with the broader telecommunications infrastructure – there’s tremendous opportunity for us as that’s realized.
Ultimately, we’re optimistic, and opportunistic, because we believe the infrastructure of the future will be fuelled by the investments we’re making now in integrated, standards-based design, high-throughput satellite architecture, making universal modems a reality and delivering a fully integrated land-space connectivity experience for our customers.
Source: Vanguard
