By now Umoya customers would be aware of the failure of IS-4, a satellite which Umoya has used extensively to date to provide connectivity to a number of our customers.  This is the first of what is likely to be a number of updates on progress with restoring service.

* What happened?

- Intelsat announced on Monday 1 February 2010 that its Intelsat 4 satellite (IS-4), located at 72° East Longitude, experienced an anomaly at 00:18 GMT that morning. Intelsat has stated that it is working with affected customers to identify restoration capacity.  It is not yet clear why the geostationary satellite went into a spin.  IS-4 is scheduled to go out of service later this year, having been launched in 1995.

* Can it be fixed?

- Early indiactions from Intelsat are that it will not be possible to rectify the problem and that alternative satellites will need to be used until such time as the scheduled replacement satellite called “New Dawn” is launched later this year.

* What is Umoya doing to restore service to its customers?

- Umoya is working with a number of upstream service providers to identify available bandwidth on satellites covering similar terrestrial footprints to IS-4.  A number of repair teams are on standby to make the necessary adjustments to the VSAT terminals on the ground once new or revised contracts have been concluded.

* How long will that take?

- We envisage being in a position to send repair teams within the week of 8 February 2010 at the latest.

* What redundancy plans does Umoya have in cases like this?

- While it is just not practical to purchase spare capacity on permanent standby on neighbouring satellites, Umoya has ensured that relationships with a number of satellite service providers are in place such that transitioning to new satellites is possible.  Relationships with competent local technical contractors who can assist with adjustments to site equipment enhance our ability to respond in such circumstances.

* How often does this happen to satellites?

- Anomalies such as this are in general very rare.

* What impact does this have on Umoya's business?

- This obviously has a significant impact on Umoya's business as most of our customers rely on VSAT for connectivity.  We will be working around the clock to have all of our customers back on the air as soon as we possibly can.

* What other organisations are affected? 

- Anyone who was utilising transponders on IS-4 has been affected.  To the best of our knowledge there are a number of South African entities which are also striving to find alternatives.  In a market which is as under resourced as it is and eagerly awaiting the launch of new satellites over the next few years, this is no easy task.

* What can be done to avoid service interruptions like this?

- Apart from reserving and paying for space segments on alternate satellites, which dramatically increases costs, there is little one can do to prepare for satellite failures.  Umoya are in the process of planning an Earth Station to be built in Cape Town, partly to increase capacity and partly as redundancy protection for possible outages on the Midrand hub.  We will continue to maintain our good relationships with satellite service providers which allows us options in times like these.