Intelsat Reaches Deals with Vista, ANZ Teleport

In the midst of its sale, Intelsat Monday unveiled two news deals it struck with customers, namely Vista Satellite Communications and New Zealand-based ANZ Teleport & Broadcast.

Intelsat, the operator of the world’s largest commercial satellite fleet, said it signed a multiyear contract with space-segment and transmission-service provider Vista to provide satellite capacity that supports expansion of Vista’s occasional-use television offerings.

Through the pact, Intelsat is providing domestic and international satellite capacity that allows Vista to deliver more occasional-use satellite time for its clients, including Fortune 500 companies, broadcasters, cable programmers, educational institutions, government agencies and news organizations.

And in a separate multiyear agreement, ANZ Teleport selected the Intelsat platform to launch its new direct-to-home television service. Intelsat will provide ANZ Teleport with capacity on the IS-8 satellite, which has high-performance coverage of ANZ’s initial targeted service region in New Zealand. IS-8 also has the ability to distribute DTH programming to other South Pacific nations as ANZ’s business grows.

ANZ Teleport is now among the more than 25 DTH platforms Intelsat supports worldwide.

Intelsat is on the block and, late last week, it accepted bids in an auction that could conclude Monday. The bidders include a joint offer by Liberty Media and EchoStar Communications, BC Partners and Loral Space & Communications, according to The Wall Street Journal.