Satellite services company Intelsat has entered into an organization that is operated to boost underserved communities by providing technological resources.
Going forward, Intelsat’s team will work with the Partner2Connect Digital Coalition to bring about positive change through telecommunications services, including by filling in gaps where internet access is scarce and providing disaster relief, the Tysons Corner, Virginia-based company said Wednesday.
“The Partner2Connect Digital Coalition is a great initiative to accelerate and promote digital inclusion. Contributing to this common goal is part of Intelsat’s mission – and developing innovative, space-based technology that solves complex communications issues is central to our work,” commented Dave Wajsgras, CEO of Intelsat.
Wajsgras, who is a six-time Wash100 Award winner, also said that the collaboration with Partner2Connect is an important cause due to the billions of people internationally who remain without a network connection and thus unable to utilize its benefits, such as work or communication, or health, education and government services.
In their work with the International Telecommunication Union and the United Nations, who founded the multistakeholder alliance that is Partner2Connect, Intelsat has made three pledges. The first is to use the company’s software-rooted, multi-orbit 5G unified network to amplify connectivity for communities across the globe. The architecture would reportedly be applicable to various technologies and endpoints.
Intelsat’s second pledge is to install internet access for rurally and remotely located schools over the next two years, hopefully encouraging digital literacy in children at a young age. They plan to ensure connectivity for 100 schools in support of the GIGA endeavor, put forth by UNICEF and the ITU.
Additionally, the second pledge holds that Intelsat is in favor of a memorandum of understanding that will lend a total of $500,000 worth of airtime, along with equipment that could assist during a natural disaster.
Lastly, through its third pledge with Partner2Connect, Intelsat will conduct studies and draw conclusions surrounding space sustainability and satellites as a mechanism for helping with digital transformation.
Wasjgras joined Intelsat from Raytheon Technologies this March.
In April, the company launched a service called Cloud Connect Media aimed to assist programmers securely access Amazon Web Services and the IntelsatOne Media Network.
