Congratulations to the 2010 award winners: iWay Africa, STM Group, Gateway Communications, AFSAT Communications, Multichoice, Intersat Africa Limited and ARABSAT!

Leading executives in the African satellite communications sector were rewarded for their contributions to this sector at an exclusive awards function, Tuesday 13th in Sandton.

The SatCom Star Awards, now in it’s 3rd year, was hosted by Terrapinn’s SatCom Africa show and featured Mark Pilgrim as MC. The awards strive to recognise excellence and innovation in the satellite communications sector throughout Africa. And the winners are...

This award is for an organisation that has pushed the technology envelope in a new direction. A key criteria is that the application is offered at a reasonable price that puts the technology at reach and that it helps bring communication to the previous “not haves” of society. Nominees in this category were Intersat Africa, O3B Networks and STM Group.

The winner is STM GROUP!

One of the most integral factors to success is the support you offer to your customers, and their level of satisfaction with the services you render. And that is what makes this next award a vital indicator of success Nominees for first class customer service were Gateway Communications, Satellite Communications and Bharti Learning systems. The winner of this category owns and operates the largest and most advanced pan-African telecommunications network and has a well established wholesale business servicing GSM, fixed line and wireless operators across the continent. Connecting over 583 million people in over 40 African countries, their Customer service department is a hub of activity that looks after their broad base of business and carrier customers. The winner of first class customer service is Gateway Communications! 

This award was sponsored by SES Astra. This is awarded to the company who is involved in sponsoring, enhancing, and contributing to the training of their staff.  They have gone the extra mile to advance their staff knowledge by way of training. And an extra effort has been made to implement a skills development programme. Nominees included Afsat Services Ltd, Q-Kon, MTN Nigeria Communications, Gateway Communications and Global VSAT Forum – Geoff Daniels. The winner of this category has been quoted by one of its employees as “creating a space for people to try… [this company has] always believed in building the capacity of its partners and people”. The winner is AFSAT Communications!

This award has been judged on eth following criteria: the company has found innovative ways to provide backhaul capacity to its clients, Above average customer satisfaction levels, provides exceptional quality of service and coverage to clients and is innovative in responding to market needs. As growth in GSM markets is achieved by establishing customer bases in previous unconnected areas, this winning company is confident that its GSM backhaul service to operators is making a significant contribution to connectivity in Africa. With more than 50 transponders of capacity, this comapny carries more satellite cellular backhaul in Africa than any other operator… and is responsible for over 20% of Africa’s satellite cellular backhaul market. The winner is Gateway Communications!

This award was sponsored by Eutelsat. This award has been awarded to the company which has pushed the technology envelope in a new direction; whilst remaining competitive and affordable.  Most importantly, this winning company has helped to bring communication to the previous “not haves” of society. The winner of this award is a multi-channel pay television platform providing services to 47 countries and reaching into more than 1 Million homes across the African continent and adjacent Indian Ocean islands. For nearly 20 years, they have remained committed to providing the best home television experience in Africa. Through their pioneering digital technology, the company connects African homes to the global information highway, thus ensuring they have up to the minute news and financial information, and remains dedicated to delivering the best in television entertainment. The company operates from two satellites over Africa, including Eutelsat’s KU Band W7 satellite which stretches from Senegal in the West to Mauritius in the East and the KU Band IS 7 satellite which covers Southern Africa. The winner is Multichoice!
 

This award has been given to the person whose role has advanced, and has expanded access to satellite communications in Africa. This individual promotes the use of innovative approaches. In 2009, The winner of this years award led Intersat Africa to signed contracts with 9 satellite companies to bring Internet access to Africa. Although Intersat is predominately a satellite company, this individual’s foresight made Intersat the first East and Central Africa Company to supply capacity to the sub marine fibre optic cable that landed in Kenya in June 2009. Over the last 8 years, Intersat now operates from modern offices in Nairobi & Dubai and Abdul's vision of a fully connected Africa has come to fruition as Intersat Africa is now a commendable force to be reckoned with in Africa and Middle East. The winner of Africa’s satellite personality of the Year is Abdul Bakhrani from Intersat Africa Limited!

The nominees for this award were AST, Infrasat, Arabsat, Intersat Africa Limited, iWay Africa, DCC Networks and Eutelsat. The criteria used to judge this award was: the service provider who has made a difference to the satellite industry in Africa, exceptional customer satisfaction levels, made new and innovative services available  and the extent to which the service provider has accommodated the changing needs of the system in Africa. The winning company is ARABSAT!