Intelsat, S.A. has announced Etisalat UAE has signed a multi-year capacity contract on Intelsat’s recently launched Intelsat 15 satellite (IS-15), located at 85 degrees East. Etisalat will use this capacity to expand its network platform beyond the United Arab Emirates and provide higher-bandwidth broadband services to its enterprise customers throughout the Gulf region.

IS-15, launched November 30th, is expected to enter service during 21 2010. Once on station, IS-15 will replace the Intelsat 709 satellite. IS-15’s high power Ku-band payload will serve the Middle East, Russia, and the Indian Ocean region to distribute high growth applications that include cellular backhaul for wireless communications to remote locations; broadband networks for enterprise applications; IP Trunking for robust Internet connectivity; and video services for DTH programming.