K-NET Transitions Services to New High-Power Satellite to Support New TV and Ultrafast Broadband Internet Services Across Sub-Saharan Africa
Providing Digital TV services and new Broadband Internet services with speeds of up to 8Mbps and retail prices starting from $30 per month.
ACCRA, Ghana, February 6, 2013/ — K-NET (http://www.knetgh.com), a leading African telecommunications company offering triple-play voice, data and video services across sub-Saharan Africa, is pleased to announce the successful transition of its satellite-based services to a new high-powered digital communications satellite located above the equator in geostationary orbit at a longitude of 28.2 degrees East and providing coverage across West and Central Africa.
The Astra 2F satellite, built by Astrium and operated by SES, was launched on the Ariane 5 launch vehicle from Kourou in French Guiana on September 28, 2012, with commercial services commencing in November 2012 after extensive in-orbit testing. The new 2F satellite has a 15-year life and replaces the Astra 2B satellite which was launched in 2000. K-NET’s state-of-the-art teleport located at McCarthy Hill in Accra, Ghana is used to deliver multichannel digital TV and ultrafast broadband internet services anywhere and everywhere throughout 16 countries within the African contingent. K-NET’s McCarthy Hill teleport connects West Africa to major international internet POPs (Points of Presence) in Europe and the US via multiple high-capacity submarine optical fibre cables.
The new 2F satellite offers higher power, now enabling digital TV reception by every household in West/Central Africa via a 60cm dish and inexpensive DVB decoder. The K-NET digital TV platform is currently enjoyed by over 1 million households, receiving 20 free-to-air (FTA) digital direct-to-home (DTH) TV channels, including 3 of the 4 most-watched TV channels in Ghana – namely GTV, TV3 and TV Africa, as well as the hugely popular MultiTV suite of TV channels.
Digital TV and ultrafast broadband are now available to every home and business using a single compact satellite dish. The new high-powered satellite enables K-NET to launch a new range of broadband internet service packages which offer businesses and consumers unrivalled levels of performance and value for money. These services are available anywhere and everywhere throughout 16 West and Central African countries, from the most densely-populated urban areas to the most sparsely-populated rural locations.
A complete range of service packages is available, designed to meet the wide range of needs and budgets from small businesses and consumers to large enterprises and heavy downloaders.
• The new entry-level CONNECT packages are designed to offer very reliable and very high performance business-grade Internet services at retail pricing starting from just $30 per month with download speeds of 1Mbps.
• The top-of-the-range PREMIUM packages are designed to meet the connectivity needs of the most demanding Internet users, with download speeds of 8Mbps and peak-time download volumes of up to 100GB per month.
All the packages offer unlimited download volumes during off-peak hours. No matter which service package is selected, K-NET delivers the most reliable Internet service available on the African continent, with a service availability of 99.7%. K-NET provides local sales and after-sales support across the whole territory to ensure the highest levels of customer support.
Commenting on the successful transition, K-NET CEO, Michael Darcy, said “K-NET is delighted to have successfully completed this strategic transition of our digital TV and broadband services from the Astra 2B to 2F satellites. The new 2F platform, with its 15-year design life and increased capacity and power, ensures that K-NET’s customers are guaranteed the highest levels of performance and the very best value for money for many years to come”.
K-NET operates a comprehensive structured Partner program which offers qualified Partners with best-in-class levels of technical and sales training and support, together with a 50/50 revenue share. Partners can quickly build substantial recurring monthly revenue streams by growing their subscriber base within their region. To find out more about becoming a qualified partner, contact K-NET at partnerprogram@knetgh.com.
The new TV and broadband internet services from K-NET are available anywhere in Nigeria, DRC, Ghana, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Guinea, Benin, Rwanda, Burundi, Sierra Leone, Togo, Central African Republic, Congo, Liberia, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea.
