Intelsat, Ltd.
today announced that it is pursuing a recovery mission of the Intelsat
Americas(TM) 7 satellite, which experienced a sudden and unusual
electrical distribution anomaly on November 28. As a result of an
intensive recovery effort by the Intelsat technical team, contact and
control of the satellite has been regained. Service restoration is
underway, with several key customers expected to be operational on
IA-7 by the end of the day. Although testing of the satellite’s
capabilities is still underway, operations have been restored on a
portion of the satellite’s transponders.
Prior to IA-7’s reactivation last night, the affected Intelsat
customers had all been offered alternate capacity at different orbital
locations, with many customers restored on alternate Intelsat capacity
within hours of Sunday morning’s anomaly. The exact cause of the
anomaly is still being investigated, in cooperation with Space
Systems/ Loral, the satellite’s manufacturer, and Loral Skynet, each
of whom participated in the recovery effort.
“Our first priority in this event was to address the needs of our
existing customers and their end-users,” said Conny Kullman, Chief
Executive Officer of Intelsat, Ltd. “As a global operator with 28
satellites in our network, Intelsat’s overall flexibility and ability
to match available capacity to customer requirements served us well in
quickly providing alternate solutions. We are keeping Zeus Holdings
Limited, Intelsat’s prospective acquirer, fully apprised of
developments as they occur with respect to the IA-7 satellite and we
understand Zeus is continuing its evaluation of the situation.”
About Intelsat
Building on 40 Years of Leadership. As a global communications
leader with 40 years of experience, Intelsat helps service providers,
broadcasters, corporations and governments deliver information and
entertainment anywhere in the world, instantly, securely and reliably.
Intelsat’s global reach and expanding solutions portfolio enable
customers to enhance their communications networks, venture into new
markets and grow their businesses with confidence. For further
information, please contact us at media.relations@intelsat.com or at
+1 202-944-7500.
Safe Harbor Statement
Some of the statements in this news release constitute
“forward-looking statements” that do not directly or exclusively
relate to historical facts. The forward-looking statements made in
this release reflect Intelsat’s intentions, plans, expectations,
assumptions and beliefs about future events and are subject to risks,
uncertainties and other factors, many of which are outside of
Intelsat’s control. Important factors that could cause actual results
to differ materially from the expectations expressed or implied in the
forward-looking statements include known and unknown risks. Known
factors include, but are not limited to, the financial impact of the
anomaly experienced by the IA-7 satellite, the continued testing of
the IA-7 satellite and the continued investigation into the causes of
the anomaly experienced by the IA-7 satellite. In connection with the
proposed acquisition of Intelsat by Zeus Holdings Limited, known
factors include, but are not limited to, the impact of the anomaly
experienced by the IA-7 on the proposed acquisition and the need to
modify aspects of the proposed transaction as a result thereof, the
inability to obtain required regulatory approvals or the need to
modify aspects of the proposed transaction in order to obtain these
approvals; the inability of Zeus Holdings Limited to obtain financing
on the terms contemplated in the agreements relating to the proposed
transaction or at all; a change in the health of any of Intelsat’s
other satellites or a catastrophic loss occurring during the in-orbit
operations of any of Intelsat’s other satellites that causes a
condition precedent to the proposed transaction to fail to be
satisfied; and the inability to consummate the proposed transaction
for any other reason. Detailed information about other known risks is
included in Intelsat’s annual report on Form 20-F for the year ended
December 31, 2003 on file with the U.S. Securities and Exchange
Commission. Because actual results could differ materially from
Intelsat’s intentions, plans, expectations, assumptions and beliefs
about the future, you are urged to view all forward-looking statements
contained in this news release with caution. Intelsat does not
undertake any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking
statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or
otherwise.
Contact:
Intelsat, Ltd.
Jodi Katz, 202-944-8223
jodi.katz@intelsat.com
or
Dianne VanBeber, 202-944-7406
dianne.vanbeber@intelsat.com
