SES WORLD SKIES, a division of SES S.A. (Paris:SESG)(LUxX:SESG), has announced Astel has tapped its NSS-6 satellite to deliver the first high-speed mobile broadband and phone services to train passengers traveling the busiest commuter rail in Kazakhstan. As part of the historic deployment, Astel is using the Middle East beam on SES WORLD SKIES’ NSS-6 spacecraft to deliver Internet access, email and VoIP telephony services to National Railway Company passengers traveling the 1,300 kilometer route between Kazakhstan’s largest city Almaty and its capital, Astana.

Astel has contracted more than 100 MHz of transponder capacity with SES WORLD SKIES in a long-term deal to provide VSAT networks and government services in Kazakhstan. Part of that capacity is being used to provide the innovative new service in collaboration with Transtelecom, the service company for Kazakhstan’s national railway. The mobile communications, featuring transmission speeds of up to 2048 Kbps, are being offered free of charge to passengers along the popular rail line. Other rail routes are expected to be added in the near future. Launched in December of 2002 and located at 95 degrees East, NSS-6 supports key telecom infrastructure and broadband networks across the Middle East and Asia.