RascomStar-QAF Meeting in Tunis, TUNISIA
APRIL 28 – 29 2009
Abidjan, May 4, 2009. The first RascomStar-QAF African Telecommunications Operators’ Meeting (RTM) was held in Tunis, Tunisia from April 28-29, 2009. It was officially opened by the Representative of the Director General/CEO of Tunisia Telecom which is a Signatory in RASCOMand the Government of Tunisia is a Party to RASCOM.
In his opening remarks, the representative of the Director General/CEO of Tunisia Telecom, Mr. Jallouli, thanked the organisers for choosing Tunisia as the host country for the first RTM and urged all African Telecommunications Operators to use the RASCOM Pan African Satellite System, which he said, “…is not only facilitating the connectivity of all rural and isolated areas in Africa but more especially ensuring interconnectivity among all African Telecommunications Operators as well as meeting the objectives of the WISIS and ITU Connect Africa”.
It will also be recalled that the Government of Tunisia hosted the 5th Ordinary Meeting of the RASCOM Assembly of Parties in Tunis, Tunisia in 1999where major decisions for the financing of the RASCOM project were adopted including the holding of an extraordinary meeting of the RASCOM Assembly of Parties in Tripoli, Libya in 2000.
Dr. Jones A. Killimbe, Director General/CEO of RASCOM, in his opening remarks highlighted the complementarity role that satellite technology interplays with submarine fibre optic cable systems and assured African Telecommunications Operators that the RASCOM Pan African Satellite System is going to offer very competitive services in terms of quality and price and further informed participants that “…the services of RascomStar-QAF satellite are already being enjoyed by the Pan African e-Network project, where about twenty African countries are already connected by the RASCOM satellite for e-education and e-health applications.” This is a project being sponsored by the Indian Government through the African Union cooperation and shall be connecting all the 53 African countries.
Mr. Faraj, El Amari, CEO of RascomStar-QAF in his opening remarks thanked the Tunisian Government for facilitating the hosting of the first RTM in Tunisia and assured all African telecommunications operators that RascomStar-QAF will leave no stone unturned in ensuring that the services being offered by RascomStar-QAF meet their requirements in terms of quality and price.
In his closing remarks, the CEO of RascomStar-QAF, Mr. Faraj ElAmari, thanked all participants for attending the first RascomStar-QAF Telcos’ meeting (RTM) in Tunis, Tunisia, which he said, “…though it is going to be a yearly event, RascomStar-QAF still intend to organise at least one RTM in 2009 to get all African Telecommunications Operators to be used to RTM workshops”.
Among many participants at the meeting were representatives of the African Development Bank (ADB) and ViaSat, which won the bid to manufacture the proprietory RASCOM Gateways (GWs) and the RASCOM Multimedia Terminals (RTs).
About RASCOM
RASCOM, is an intergovernmental, commercial satellite organization and the expression of the strong willingness of the African Governments and telecommunications operators to pool their efforts in a view to providing the African continent with telecommunications infrastructure based on space technology which is not only leading to a global response for all telecommunications requirements identified in Africa, but more especially it is going to provide telecommunications services at very low costs, thus making universal service a reality in Africa. RASCOM has a membership of 45 African countries as of now and others are soon to join. To achieve its mission, RASCOM has established strategic partners in RascomStar-QAF Company, which has, under an Execution Agreement, the responsibility to implement the RASCOM telecommunications satellite system dedicated to the African continent being launched in December 2007. For more information on RASCOM, please visit the RASCOM Website: