Abu Dhabi, UAE, 03 March 2015: Al Yah Satellite Communications Company PrJSC (Yahsat) today announced that its satellite broadband service, YahClick, active customer base has recorded significant growth of more than 42% during 2014.
To date, YahClick has acquired almost 34,000 subscribers for its satellite broadband service. The service has so far been rolled out across 12 countries out of its 28-country footprint, seven of which are in sub-Saharan Africa. The service has over 30,000 terminals on the ground providing essential connectivity to SMEs, SOHO, healthcare and education providers, entrepreneurs, high net worth individuals, remote VIP sites, O&G, NGOs, and connectivity deprived populations in disaster zones.
Yahsat gathered its YahClick service partners from across the Middle East, Africa, Central and South West Asia in Abu Dhabi for a two day forum to present the remarkable performance delivered over the course of 2014 and to map out the next phase of growth.
The forum, held last week in Abu Dhabi under the theme ‘Stronger Together’, offered a unique platform for service partners to exchange knowledge and expertise on central issues, discuss opportunities in key markets and plan initiatives that will lead the way in best practice, ultimately building an industry centre of excellence for customers and partners.
Masood M. Sharif Mahmood, CEO, Yahsat said: “Yahsat continues to invest in YahClick and its commercial business. To date, the company has spent well over USD 400 million in Capex and Opex and has taken on Al Yah 3, a program with an additional investment of around USD 400 million, demonstrating commitment to and confidence in our business goals. In line with our aggressive roadmap for success, we are fully committed in executing the right strategies to ensure we both reap the maximum rewards from these investments.”
David Murphy, CCO, Yahsat said in his keynote speech: “Last year was a decisive year for the company on multiple fronts and we successfully managed to expand our business to continue our leading position in satellite broadband, becoming the number one service provider in Africa. This is quite an achievement given that we only started two and a half years ago, operating in complex market conditions against more established competition from both satellite and terrestrial services.
“As 2015 gets underway, we enter our next phase of growth designing new products and expanding in new markets. Our aim is to be a global partner of choice for reliable, innovative and affordable satellite solutions, to drive social and economic growth across continents for both home, business customers and Governments. This can only be done through strong, long term partnerships with our service providers.”
The CEO confirmed that Yahsat’s third satellite Al Yah 3 is on track for launch in the fourth quarter of 2016. Al Yah 3, built by Orbital Sciences Corporation and operating solely in the Ka-band, will provide broadband internet services at affordable prices to nearly 600 million users in Brazil and Africa. It offers a design life of 15 years.
Awards Ceremony
On the first day of the conference, Yahsat held an awards ceremony to recognise and reward Service Partners who exhibited outstanding performance in a variety of service aspects last year.
All submissions received by the services partners were reviewed by an evaluation committee consisting of members from various Yahsat departments involved with the YahClick service.
Award recipients
- Service Partner of the Year – IEC Telecom from the UAE
- YahClick Innovation Award – Supernet from Pakistan
- YahClick Marketing Excellence Award – Delta Communications from Iraq
- YahClick Operational Excellence Award – Sistec from Angola and Neda Telecommunications from Afghanistan
- YahClick Subscriber Growth Award – Coollink from Nigeria.
- YahClick Subscriber Retention Award –VOX Telecom from South Africa