By Stuart Thomson

Israel-based satellite operator Spacecom, owner-operator of the Amos satellite fleet, has signed a two-year extension deal with D.B.S. Satellite Services, owner of pay TV operator Yes DTH in Israel.

The deal, worth US$14 million, will continue the DTH service’s operations from the Amos-7 and Amos-3 satellites at Spacecom’s 4° West orbital position.

The deal means that Yes’s order backlog increases to US$100 million, according to Spacecom, which said that the contract represented a vote of confidence in its satellites, services, technologies and leadership team.

The agreement with Yes has an additional two potential extensions of six-months each, starting at the end date of the new agreement. If realized, the extensions will result in an additional US$7 million of revenue for Spacecom.

Spacecom has also reported the extension of its lease agreement with AsiaSAT, the owner of the Amos-7 satellite, for an additional two years until 2024 for a reduced annual lease fee of US$14 million.

Spacecom reported last month that it was in negotiations with 4iG, a Hungarian information technology and telecommunications company for the latter to take a majority 51 per cent stake in the operator. 4iG recently won a contract to build a Hungarian national satellite.

Spacecom CEO Dan Zajicek said: “Signing this two-year extension with Yes allows them to simultaneously use both Amos-3 and Amos-7 and continues the recent positive momentum accelerating Spacecom’s development. This includes significant deals such as our investment in Canada’s NuRAN Wireless and the approximately US$9 million extension of services agreement on Amos-3 with Magyar Telekom, from the Deutsche Telekom group.”