"When we launched PAS-1, Intelsat was the global monopoly and PanAmSat had no customers, no revenue and few prospects. Pundits scoffed at the viability of private-sector international satellite providers, particularly serving emerging markets such as Latin America," said Frederick A. Landman, PanAmSat's president and chief executive officer.

"Today, the global satellite services industry is one of the fastest-growing telecommunications markets in the world with commercial companies and their customers leading the industry's development."

The PAS-1 satellite provides coverage of the Americas and Europe. It is located in geostationary orbit at 43 degrees West Longitude and is expected to provide service until 2001. Among the firsts marked by PAS-1 are:

• The first private-sector international satellite;
• The first cable television satellite in Latin America, delivering a range of international programming that has fostered the exponential growth of cable television services in the region.
• The first commercial satellite to transmit digital television channels, which were introduced in 1991;
• The first and only commercial communications satellite ever owned and bankrolled by an individual (Rene Anselmo, PanAmSat's late founder); and
• The first satellite launched on an Ariane 4 rocket, which now has conducted more than 75 missions.

When PAS-1 was launched in 1988, PanAmSat had no customers and had regulatory approval only to provide international service between the United States and Peru. The company faced substantial obstacles at home and abroad, including a boycott against private satellite operators instituted by Intelsat and its member countries. CNN became PanAmSat's first PAS-1 customer for program distribution to Latin America. PAS-1 attracted additional full-time programmers from such countries as Argentina, Chile, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Peru and the United States. With the addition of telecommunications traffic from emerging carriers in the region, the satellite was effectively sold out by 1992.

PanAmSat

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