Kacific broadband satellites, Asia Pacific islands

December 2019

GuarantCo, a Private Infrastructure Development Group (PIDG) company, and the Asian Development Bank are co-financing an investment for Kacific Broadband Satellites International Limited (Kacific) to provide low cost, ‘direct to premises’, high-speed, broadband internet connections across select Asian countries and the Pacific Islands.  This is GuarantCo’s first credit enhancement support to a satellite financing opportunity.

GuarantCo provided a USD 50 million partial credit guarantee to a private sector European institutional investor to support Kacific build, own and operate its first shared geostationary earth orbit, high-throughput satellite. The satellite is targeted to be launched by SpaceX in December 2019 and operational in early 2020 delivering significant development impact to communities living in remote small island countries, larger populous islands like Indonesia, the Philippines and mountainous areas with a low population density where the only viable option to connect communities to broadband services is through satellite. There are currently over two billion people in Asia and the Pacific Islands who do not have access to broadband internet connections because of the high cost and the lack of existing infrastructure due to geographical challenges.

“We are proud to have made a contribution to the Kacific satellite launch which will provide reliable, affordable and high-speed broadband access to people living in remote areas in Asia-Pacific and encourage economic growth in some of the lowest income countries in the world”, says Lasitha Perera, CEO at GuarantCo. “It is another example that aligns with our vision to become a centre of excellence for credit solutions for infrastructure finance in lower income countries thereby assisting with the alleviation of poverty.”

“The co-financing support from GuarantCo and ADB is pivotal in making sure Kacific can develop the necessary infrastructure to support our Kacific1 satellite and its services”, says Kacific Founder and CEO, Christian Patouraux. “This commitment will lead to life-changing outcomes enabling communities to use fast, affordable internet services for education, healthcare, economic development and social inclusion.”