DUBLIN-BASED Solaris Mobile, which has invested €150 million in launching a satellite to support mobile data services, has said an “anomaly” has been detected in the performance of the satellite payload which it launched from Kazakhstan last month.
The W2A satellite launched on April 3rd belongs to Eutelsat Communications and carries two other payloads – one relating to digital TV and the other for the provision of telecommunications in Africa – which are both functioning fine.
Solaris Mobile is a joint venture between satellite operators, Eutelsat Communications and SES Astra. It opened its headquarters in Dublin last June with support from IDA Ireland and plans to create 50 jobs.
Speaking to The Irish Timeslast night Yassine Dahbi, a spokesman for Solaris, said the announcement was based on an "interim report". The company is carrying out analysis with the satellite's prime contractor, Italian firm Thales Alenia Space, in order to identify the cause of the anomaly.
Mr Dahbi said Solaris had always had a deadline of May 31st to have the “S-band” capability of the satellite operational. However, Eutlesat reported its third-quarter results yesterday and so was required to provide an operational update on the W2A satellite.
“There’s no reason to panic,” said Mr Dahbi. “Thales Alenia, who built the payload, feel quite confident we can get to the bottom of this.” This is only the second time a satellite has been launched carrying this technology.
Solaris will provide satellite services in the 2.00 GHz frequency band, the S-band, reserved by the European Commission for the exclusive use of hybrid satellite and terrestrial mobile services. Solaris will enable content providers to offer services such as live TV, broadband internet access and location-based services.
Yesterday the European Commission announced that Solaris and British satellite operator Inmarsat had been awarded 18-year licences to offer S-band services.
Mr Dahbi said the commission had been informed in advance of the anomaly but both sides were confident that Solaris would still be able to meet its commitments.
He said it was now likely to be early 2010 before Solaris was able to offer a commercial service. It will sell its services to broadcasters, telecoms operators, the car industry, internet service providers and others who want to be able to offer Europe-wide high-speed mobile data services.
