Hessa Al-Jaber, Chairperson, Qatar Satellite Company (Es’hailSat) • Interview
Es’hailSat is a key part of Qatar’s space sector, and is proud to operate from a country known for its broadcast independence.
Es’hailSat has been working for more than 10 years, during which Qatar has grown as an economy despite external pressures. How would you describe the last decade for Es’hailSat?
Es’hailSat was established in 2010 by ictQATAR as an independent operating company to manage and develop Qatar’s presence in space. We knew then that the Es’hailSat program would play an important role as Qatar worked toward meeting the rapidly growing communications needs in the region. With the spotlight on Qatar and the region, we anticipated that our broadcast independence would be of high value for the region, and that Es’hailSat had huge potential to become a leader in the satellite industry in the Gulf region. Our successes over the past 10+years have vindicated our decision to establish the company. We have been able to operate and support our customers to continue transmitting news and sports channels uninterrupted even during the multiple illegal blockades and other challenges faced by Qatar and Qatari companies. Since the establishment of Es’hailSat, we launched two satellites, which are operating at a high utilization rate, and established our own state-of-the-art teleport in Doha, from where we monitor and control our satellites and provide services to customers. We have also moved from being a pure satellite capacity provider to a service provider.
Qatar has become a hub in the region for news services and the country is becoming increasingly specialized in the sports industry. What opportunities does this offer to Es’hailSat?
The primary reason to set up Es’hailSat as an independent company was to provide advanced satellite services to strategic stakeholders and commercial customers who valued broadcasting and communications independence, quality service, and wide geographical coverage. Our anchor customer for broadcasting when we started operating Es’hail-1 was Al Jazeera Networks. Supporting an independent news network was important for us, as Qatar was and is an important news hub in the region. As Al Jazeera expanded into sports broadcasting with beIN, we were again there to support its growth in the region. beIN now has become a major sports rights holder and has also added movies and entertainment channels to its bouquet of channels. One of the key aspects broadcasters look for is the security of their content and at Es’hailSat we consider this an extremely important element when provisioning services to broadcasters. We have anti-jamming capabilities built into our satellites, geolocation systems to identify and help overcome any intentional or unintentional interference, and a highly secure teleport facility. In addition, we actively participate in the regional anti-piracy coalition to address and mitigate all forms of content piracy.
How well digitalized is Qatar and what is your outlook?
The government has, over the years, implemented several initiatives to spur the growth of the ICT sector, with major infrastructure projects such as International Airport, Doha Port, Lusail City, and 2022 FIFA World Cup projects accelerating the growth of the sector. These projects enabled the implementation of smart technologies for e-records management and bio-metric systems at the airport, vessel management, and operating systems at the port, smart stadiums, and athlete management for the World Cup, to name a few. There has been wide acceptance of e-commerce in Qatar and a digital transformation has been happening for some time now, although it is accelerating at a faster rate due to COVID-19.