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Executive Spotlight: Ali Ahmed Al-Kuwari
CEO, Es’hailSat—The Qatar Satellite Company

 

Ali Ahmed Al-Kuwari is Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Es’hailSat. Prior to this appointment Mr. Al-Kuwari was Assistant Secretary General at ictQATAR. He also held the position of Finance Director at ictQATAR and was a member of the organization’s management team overseeing the strategic investment in the satellite initiative which became Es’hailSat.

Mr. Al-Kuwari has a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and Master’s degree in Financial Decision Analysis. He joined ictQATAR in 2006 following senior financial and managerial positions with Customs & Ports General Authority, RasGas, and the Ministry of Finance. 

SatMagazine
Mr. Al-Kuwari, what is the purpose of the new Es’hail 2 satellite?

Ali Ahmed Al-Kuwari
Es’hail 2 is a high-performance satellite with Ku-band and Ka-band capabilities providing TV distribution, telecommunications and government services to strategic stakeholders and commercial customers who value broadcasting and communications independence, interference resilience, quality of service and wide geographical coverage.

Es’hail 2 will provide additional premium capacity to support the growing 26 degrees East broadcast neighborhood and in-orbit redundancy and backup to the existing transponders at that orbital slot. The satellite will also provide the first AMSAT geostationary service in the S- and X-band.

Es’hail 2 will be positioned at the 26 degrees East hotspot position with wide coverage in Ku- and Ku-band of the entire Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Es’hail 2 also features fixed Ka-band spot beams over the major cities in the MENA region and Western Europe as well as steerable Ku- and Ka-band spot beams for broadcast distribution and special events. The satellite has been designed with specific anti-jamming solutions that will allow customers to provide high quality, premium DTH television content across MENA. 

SatMagazine
Is Es’hail 2 designed mainly for commercial or military use?

Ali Ahmed Al-Kuwari 
Es’hail 2 and Es’hail 1 are commercial satellites which will provide television, Internet, corporate and government services as well as TV broadcasting, newsgathering, business communications and telecommunications and trunking services. A government payload is also onboard.

SatMagazine
What are the main differences between Es’hail 1 and Es’hail 2?

Ali Ahmed Al-Kuwari 
Es’hail 2 will provide similar coverage and services to Es’hail 1 for Direct-To-Home (DTH)  broadcasting. However, Es’hail 2 offers the following enhancements:

• Ka-band uplink possibility offers an uplink frequency band which is not widely used and therefore better resilient to intentional and unintentional interferences
• Customer DTH uplink HUBs will be smaller in size
• A multi-spot solution on Es’hail 2 offers customers that don’t have cost effective and reliable optical fiber infrastructure to uplink their content, a viable alternative for obtaining interference-resiliency against intentional jamming
• Steerable Ku- and Ka-band spot beams offer geographical flexibility for service provision

In addition, Es’hail 2 will provide the first Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT) geostationary communication capability that links Brazil to India in one single hop and in real-time. The satellite will allow the AMSAT community to validate and demonstrate their DVB standard.

SatMagazine
When will the new satellite be launched? By whom? And who will build the satellite?

Ali Ahmed Al-Kuwari
Es’hail 2 is scheduled for launch during Q4 of 2016. We are currently finalizing our review of the various options for Es’hail 2’s launch vehicle and we will soon announce the contract award. Following international consultation, we have selected Mitsubishi Electric Corporation (MELCO) to build Es’hail 2. The Es’hail 2 design activities started on July 17, 2014, and will require approximately 27 months to complete manufacturing and testing.

SatMagazine
In regard to Es’hail 1, how successful has that satellite been? And who are your customers for Es’hail 1?

Ali Ahmed Al-Kuwari
We have seen strong and steady demand for Es’hail 1 from broadcasters in the region and, to date, the satellite capacity is almost completely sold out. Al Jazeera and beIN Sports have both taken significant capacity on Es’hail 1 for the HD broadcast of their premium news and sports channels, including the transmission of the 2014 FIFA World Cup. We also have channel bouquets, which include Fashion TV, Al Rasoul TV and Expomania TV. 

SatMagazine
What services are offered by Es’hail 1 and what has been the satellite’s main success?

Ali Ahmed Al-Kuwari 
Es’hail 1 provides a range of services including TV broadcasting, newsgathering, business communications, telecommunications and government services across the MENA region. We also have a Trunking Service between Qatar and Europe, which is currently fully booked. Our goal is to become a major satellite player, first in the MENA region and then potentially globally—we are well on our way to achieving this realization. Having launched Es’hail 1 a little over one year ago, the satellite is very much in demand and is currently broadcasting channel bouquets for premium broadcasters, such as Al Jazeera and beIN Sports. 

We have just announced the procurement contract for our next satellite, Es’hail 2, and we are working on designs for our own satellite control center in Doha. This is a strong foundation on which we can continue to build a world-class satellite operator and center of excellence in the MENA region.  In recognition of our success, we were recently awarded “Satellite Operator Of The Year” at the World Satellite Business Week in Paris. I am immensely proud of all of the Es’hailSat staff that helped us to achieve our success so far.

SatMagazine
What where the challenges in the build of Es’hail 1?

Ali Ahmed Al-Kuwari
Starting as a satellite operator from scratch in any country without a significant pool of satellite expertise is a major challenge! Building and launching a satellite requires a great deal of effort and is a time consuming task. 

In 2010, we chose to partner with an established operator—Eutelsat—to assist us with the procurement and launch of Es’hail 1. We then worked with Space Systems/Loral (SSL) to establish a training program to help us develop our in-house expertise in satellite manufacturing and launch. 

With the opening of our own satellite capacity Management Center in Doha, we were able to build the capability to coordinate monitoring, problem detection and trouble shooting for customers on our fleet. With a strategic agreement with Arabsat, we were able to strengthen the reach and penetration at the 26 degrees East hot spot for our customers, which ensures future continuity and expansion opportunities. 

SatMagazine
Please describe your experience of the launch of your first satellite.

Ali Ahmed Al-Kuwari
I was immensely proud to witness in Kourou the birth of our new star over Qatar with the successful launch of Es’hail 1. The arrival of Es’hail 1 marked a major milestone in a three year journey and completed the first step in Es’hailSat becoming a center of excellence in the region and in the development of a sustainable, national satellite industry for Qatar.

With the participation of Her Excellency Dr. Hessa Al Jaber, the Minister of Information and Communications Technology and founder of the Es’hailSat project, and a host of VIPs from Qatar, watching our satellite lofted into space on board an Arianespace Ariane 5 rocket was a once in a lifetime—and truly memorable—experience.

SatMagazine
How important is the Es’hailSat program for Qatar and the MENA region?

Ali Ahmed Al-Kuwari
The Es’hailSat program and the successful launch of Es’hail 1 marked a significant milestone for Qatar as part of the country’s 2030 Vision to create a modern balanced economy that is self-sustaining and can grow in the long term. When Es’hail 1 entered service on December 18th, 2013 (Qatar National Day), we became an active satellite operator with the ability to provide independent, high-quality services to our stakeholders and customers in Qatar and the wider MENA region. 

With our goal to become a major satellite player, first in the MENA region and then potentially globally, we have taken a number of steps to ensure we are building a sustainable satellite industry for Qatar with a solid foundation for the future. With Ku-band and Ka-band capacity at the 25.5 and 26 degrees East hotspot positions, we can provide the region with the most advanced and sophisticated services including broadcast, telecommunications and broadband. 

Following the success of Es’hail 1, our expansion plan will continue to grow with our second satellite, Es’hail 2, and our own satellite control center in Doha. We are also adopting the concept of “world-wide footprints” through partnerships with leading regional and international operators around the globe to ensure customers obtain the most flexible and reliable service in the MENA and beyond. In parallel to building the “hardware,” we are also keen to develop the space industry for Qatar. Es’hailSat is investing in local talent and providing training for Qatar’s first generation of satellite operator engineers.

Four Es’hailSat engineers completed a 26-month intensive satellite training program with Space Systems/Loral (SSL) following every state of the production process for Es’hail 1 and a similar program is about to begin with MELCO in Japan for Es’hail 2. We are also sponsor young Qatari undergraduates to develop their skills in satellite engineering. 

We want to ensure that we nurture and grow the satellite industry within Qatar itself so that we have a solid foundation in satellite technology for the future.

The Es’hailSat infosite offers additional information at http://www.eshailsat.qa/