Secretary General Javier Perez de Cuellar signed a five-year agreement today with the International Telecommunications Satellite Organization (INTELSAT) providing satellite communication for UN peacekeeping and emergency relief activities around the world. The agreement will go into effect September 8.
As a result of the agreement, the UN will have at its disposal reliable satellite communications facilities linking all of its present peacekeeping activities. For that purpose, the UN earth stations in Jerusalem, Naqoura in Lebanon and Geneva, have been adapted to meet the INTELSAT technical requirements.
According to Richard Colino, director general of INTELSAT, the satellite system will provide the UN peacekeeping forces with “instant reliable communications.” He said that the service would cost the UN $200,000 a year.
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