Intelsat

Intelsat (Intelsat), private body that operates and maintains the satellite system for commercial telecommunication services. It has a network of 30 communications satellites in geosynchronous orbit, providing a global telecommunications service through connections to over 2,000 earth stations, linking over 200 countries, territories, and dependencies. The Organization, founded in 1964, aims to further the development of space equipment and facilities. Intelsat services include an international telephone system; an international television system; the Intelsat Business Service (IBS), which provides such things as telex, fax, e-mail, and video teleconferencing; Intelnet Service, for data transfer, collection, and distribution; Vista Service, a domestic and international telecommunications service for remote and rural areas; and the Intelsat Assistance and Development Programme (IADP), which instructs and assists users of Intelsat satellites in developing countries. In 2001 the Organization became a private company, Intelsat Ltd., with over 200 shareholders, principally telecom companies, drawn from its 148 member countries. Intelsat also has over 40 non-signatory users.

Intelsat is structured as follows: the assembly of parties (signatories to the Intelsat Agreement) meets every two years to decide objectives; the annual meeting of signatories discusses recommendations raised by the assembly and matters relating to the operation and financing of the system; the board of governors, which has 28 members representing 102 of the signatories, meets at least four times a year. The headquarters are in Washington, D.C.