Intelsat S.A. (NYSE: I), the world’s leading provider of satellite services, announced today that General Communication, Inc. (GCI), the largest telecommunications company in Alaska, has signed a long term agreement for extended C- and Ku-band capacity on Intelsat’s Horizons 1 and Galaxy 18 satellites.

GCI uses Intelsat’s capacity for infrastructure to provide telephony, high speed Internet and video services to customers across Alaska. In particular, the agreement enables GCI to support broadband services to schools and medical clinics, as well as telemedicine applications for hospitals that are located in underserved areas of Alaska.

"We continue to rely on Intelsat for seamless, reliable and robust coverage across Alaska, a region that presents very complicated topographic and climatic challenges,” said Jimmy Sipes, GCI VP of Network Services and Chief Engineer. “Intelsat enables GCI to help close the digital divide in Alaska, bringing much-needed connectivity that supports mission-critical applications in remote communities.”

“GCI understands the importance of fully optimizing its technology for extremely advanced, high modulation solutions,” said Mark Rasmussen, Intelsat RVP of North America Sales. “GCI makes an important difference in providing life-line communication services to Alaskan consumers in areas where there would not have been any other options.”

About GCI

GCI is the largest telecommunications company in Alaska. GCI's cable plant, which provides broadband data services, video, and voice, passes 78 percent of Alaska households. GCI operates Alaska's most extensive terrestrial/subsea fiber optic network, which connects not only Anchorage but also Fairbanks and Juneau/Southeast Alaska to the lower 48 states with a diversely routed, protected fiber network. GCI's TERRA-Southwest fiber/microwave system links 65 communities in the Bristol Bay and Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta to Anchorage bringing terrestrial broadband Internet access to the region for the first time. GCI's satellite network provides communications services to small towns and communities throughout rural Alaska. GCI's statewide mobile wireless network seamlessly links urban and rural Alaska.

About Intelsat

Intelsat is the leading provider of satellite services worldwide. For nearly 50 years, Intelsat has been delivering information and entertainment for many of the world’s leading media and network companies, multinational corporations, Internet Service Providers and governmental agencies. Intelsat’s satellite, teleport and fiber infrastructure is unmatched in the industry, setting the standard for transmissions of video, data and voice services. From the globalization of content and the proliferation of HD, to the expansion of cellular networks and broadband access, with Intelsat, advanced communications anywhere in the world are closer, by far.