Intelsat General Corp., a wholly owned subsidiary of Intelsat (NYSE: "I"), the world's leading provider of satellite services, has been awarded a contract to provide satellite services to U.S. Air Forces Central Command (AFCENT).

The one-year contract calls for 144 MHz of Ku-bandwidth to support U.S. military operations in the Central Command (CENTCOM) Area of Responsibility (AOR).

The service, which began in September 2015, has three one-year renewal option periods and one six-month renewal option period.

"The deployed Airmen are operating satellite ground terminals supporting C4ISR networks at numerous remote and expeditionary locations requiring a single-satellite solution that was not readily available," said Skot Butler, Vice-President, Satellite Networks and Space Services, at Intelsat General.

"With our vast global network we had the ability to re-groom capacity, creating a unique solution that precisely accommodates the customer's single-satellite requirement."

Under the previously disclosed contract, Intelsat General will provide coverage all across the Middle East as far eastward as Afghanistan and Pakistan, including reach-back to European teleport facilities.

Intelsat General Corp. provides satellite communications solutions to military, commercial and government customers over Intelsat's fleet of approximately 50 satellites and a global terrestrial network of teleports and fiber infrastructure.

Intelsat General also offers these customers the option of placing a dedicated hosted communications payload aboard an Intelsat satellite.