April 24, 2019
Installed over a 30,000 m2 area that will allow the teleport to be expanded in the future, the new control centre features 33 antennas and cutting-edge technology, requiring an investment of more than 9 million Euros.
From Serviente, HISPAMAR will control the satellites from the Amazonas fleet, which offer a wide range of telecommunications services, such as broadcasting multimedia content, hosting corporate networks, providing backhaul for mobile telephones and ensuring high-performance connectivity in the Ka band available on the Amazonas 5 satellite.
RIO DE JANEIRO, 24 April 2019. HISPAMAR, the Brazilian subsidiary of the Spanish satellite-based communications operator HISPASAT, has unveiled its new teleport and satellite control centre in Serviente (Rio de Janeiro). In recent years, the company has developed an ambitious expansion plan, increasing its satellite fleet and activity in Latin America. This growth has made it necessary for the company to acquire a larger teleport to host all the antennas and control equipment needed for the company's operations, as they no longer fit in the old control centre, which has been located in Guaratiba (Rio de Janeiro) since 2003.
Built on more than 30,000 square metres of surface that will allow the teleport to be expanded in the future, the Serviente control centre features seven high-performance antennas, 3.8-metres in diameter. Five of these antennas are dedicated to monitoring the carriers and two are for telemetry and remote operation of the Amazonas satellite fleet. In addition to these new antennas, another two, each 8.1 metres in diameter, have been transferred from Guaratiba, one for the Ku band and another for the C band, along with another 4.8-metre antenna for the Ku BSS band. To prepare the hubs that allow Internet services to be provided via satellite, 22 VSAT (small size) antennas have been transferred from the old teleport while a new 7.3-metre antenna has been installed. In total, the installations feature 33 antennas, together with two broadband platforms for managed services and cutting-edge technological equipment to control the satellite fleet. A team of 62 professionals, mostly engineers and technicians, will operate the complex which boasts full availability, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.
With an investment close to 40 million Reals (more than 9 million Euros), HISPAMAR's new centre has been designed with an environmentally sustainable focus. A new rainwater harvesting system has been implemented that collects and reuses the water for cleaning and irrigation, while the complex also plans to install solar panels to generate photovoltaic energy.
According to Alexandre Mello, HISPAMAR's technical director, "HISPAMAR's service operations have been completely transferred to Serviente. The migration process has lasted approximately two months and has involved practically all of HISPAMAR's technical team, in addition to other professionals form specialised companies. The operation has been carried out safely and efficiently, while still allowing the company to provide its services". Mello stated that "the new centre is connected to the Arganda del Rey teleport in Spain and to the Guaratiba centre, which will remain operational as a backup centre. That way we offer redundancy and greater security for our clients.”
From Serviente, HISPAMAR will monitor and operate the satellites located in the Brazilian 74º West and 61º West orbital position (where the Amazonas fleet is located). This will make it possible to offer a wide range of telecommunications services, such as broadcasting multimedia content for TV and remote education, hosting corporate networks, providing backhaul for mobile phones and ensuring high-performance connectivity available through the Amazonas 5 satellite, which offers capacity in the Ka HTS band for broadband services in Brazil and the rest of Latin America.
For Sérgio Chaves, HISPAMAR Director of Business for South America, "this new control centre answers the growing demand for connectivity services in Latin America, where satellites are an ideal solution given the lack of the required terrestrial infrastructure. The economic and social development of a country depends in large part on its access to the Internet. However, we have many areas in this region close to large urban centres which still have deficient Internet services as well as totally disconnected rural regions, without any access. We will only manage to change this reality and achieve the necessary digital transformation using satellites, as they can be deployed quickly and require less investment than fibre optic systems".
In order to set up the control centre in Serviente HISPAMAR relied on several well known companies: Sertenge, Creative, PRTI, GlobalSystem, apc/schneiderAPCr and Stemac, were the companies in charge of the construction work; while Indra, General Dynamics, EngSat and Master Service, were in charge of supplying and installing the antennas.
About HISPAMAR
HISPAMAR is the Brazilian subsidiary of HISPASAT. The company operates satellites located in the Brazilian 61º West and 74º orbital positions, in addition to marketing HISPASAT's satellite system, located over the Atlantic. HISPAMAR works not only in the Brazilian telecommunications market, but also across the entire American continent, where HISPASAT earns more than 65% of its revenues due to spatial capacity. With one of the largest capacities on the Latin American satellite market, HISPAMAR has become a leading operator in the region and works with the main telecommunications operators, television broadcasters and governments on the American continent, among other segments. www.hispamar.com.br
About HISPASAT
HISPASAT is comprised of companies that have a presence in Spain as well as in Latin America, where its Brazilian affiliate HISPAMAR is based HISPASAT is a world leader in content distribution in Spanish and Portuguese speaking countries and its satellite fleet is used by important direct-to-home television (DTH) and high-definition television (HDTV) digital platforms. HISPASAT also provides satellite broadband and connectivity services, which include broadband access, mobility and the backhaul networks, in addition to other added value solutions for governments, companies and telecommunication operators in America, Europe and North Africa. HISPASAT is one of the world's largest companies in its sector in terms of revenue, and the main communications bridge between Europe and the Americas. www.hispasat.es
Press contact:
Cristina Domingos – tel. + 55 21 2555 4800 – cdomingos@hispamar.com.br
