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FordStar Network to Use GE-4 Satellite
Video/Data Network Will Serve Canada, Mexico and United States
PRINCETON, NJ, August 31, 1999
GE American Communications, Inc. (GE Americom), a subsidiary of GE Capital, announced today that the Ford Motor Company has selected Americom's GE-4 satellite to provide the distribution for its Ford North American VSAT Network (FORDSTAR). With more than 6,200 receive sites in the network, Ford will distribute video and ISDN data services to affiliate dealers throughout Canada, Mexico and the United States via two GE-4 Ku-band transponders. The primary video and data transmissions will originate from Ford's uplink center in Dearborn, Michigan.
In the past, the FORDSTAR network was segmented along national borders, requiring the utilization of transponders on multiple national satellites. Upon full implementation of recent international policy changes eliminating barriers to two-way data communications across the mutual borders of Canada, Mexico and the USA, Ford will more efficiently deliver its programming and data services to the VSAT network sites by consolidating its transponder and hub requirements on a single satellite, GE-4.
"We are pleased that one of America's greatest industrial companies has entrusted such an important resource as their FORDSTAR network services to Americom." said Andreas Georghiou, GE Americom's Senior Vice President Global Satellite Services. "We manage the satellite resources in the Americom fleet so that protected services are always available to companies like the Ford Motor Company for mission critical applications; it has been a driving feature of our spacecraft operations and planning processes for more than two decades," said Walter Braun, Senior Vice President, Engineering, Operations and Vendor Management.
GE-4 will be launched and operational by year-end 1999 at 101º W.L., replacing Americom's Spacenet 4 spacecraft. The satellite will meet the distribution needs of VSAT, business television, broadband data, and broadcast and cable customers. GE-4 will carry twenty-four 36 MHz 110-watt Ku-band transponders providing 50 state, Canadian, Mexican, Caribbean and Central America coverage; each of these Ku-band transponders is individually switchable between North America and South America fully supporting two-way communication throughout the Americas. In addition, GE-4 will have four extended 72 MHz Ku-band transponders. GE-4 will have twenty-four 36 MHz 20-watt C-band transponders providing fifty state, Canadian, Mexican and Caribbean coverage. GE-4 C-band transponders, along with the GE-1 C-band payload at 103ºW.L., will be the home of GE Americom's Cable2 Neighborhood that reaches over 41 million U.S. cable households.
Ford Motor Company is the world's second largest automaker, with more than 370,000 employees in 200 markets on six continents. Its automotive brands include Aston Martin, Ford, Jaguar, Lincoln, Mazda, Mercury and Volvo. Its automotive-related services include Ford Credit, Quality Care, Hertz and Visteon Automotive Systems.
With over twenty years' experience, GE American Communications, Inc. is recognized as a pioneer and a leading provider of global satellite communications solutions. These solutions primarily provide the distribution of broadcast and cable television programming and digital/Broadband Data Services over satellite. GE Americom currently operates twelve satellites providing satellite-based solutions to North America. In Europe, GE-1E provides high-powered Ku-band service for European and Middle Eastern television markets. With the launch of GE-4 and as an owner of Argentine satellite operator NahuelSAt, GE Americom is committed to the delivery of satellite-based communications services throughout South and Latin America. And with the launch next year of its first Asia satellite, GE-1A, GE Americom's satellite interests will reach more than 90% of the world's population. Some of GE Americom's key international customers include Viacom, Time Warner/Turner Broadcasting, Discovery, NBC, NHK, Disney, Deutsche Welle and Merlin.
GE Capital, with assets of over US$300 billion, is a global, diversified financial services company with 28 specialized businesses. A wholly-owned subsidiary of General Electric Company, GE Capital based in Stamford, CT., provides equipment management, mid-market and specialized financing, specialty insurance and a variety of consumer services, such as car leasing, home mortgages and credit cards, to businesses and individuals around the world. GE is a diversified technology, services and manufacturing company with operations worldwide.
Contact: Monica Morgan
609-987-4143
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