Stephen Rich appointed Vice President & General Manager of ASTRA African region

Stephen Rich has been appointed Vice President & General Manager responsible for the African region of SES ASTRA, the SES GLOBAL company (Luxemburg and Frankfurt Stock Exchanges: SESG) operator of ASTRA, Europe's leading DTH satellite system. The appointment took effect on November 1st, 2003. Stephen Rich reports to Alexander Oudendijk, Senior Vice President Sales & Marketing of SES ASTRA.

Steve Rich joins SES ASTRA from the satellite operator PanAmSat, where he held the position of Regional Vice President - EMEA for PanAmSat Africa Ltd since 1998.

Alexander Oudendijk, Senior Vice President Sales & Marketing of SES ASTRA, comments: "We appreciate Steve's in depth market knowledge. He combines more then 10 years professional experience in the satellite industry with extensive market intelligence of the African markets. In his new role, Steve will be responsible for building the company's core Broadband and Broadcast businesses throughout the African region. He will work in close cooperation with the marketing department of SES ASTRA. Steve will also be strongly involved in the further rollout of IP Direct, a new partner company of SES ASTRA, based in Johannesburg, South Africa."

Prior to joining PanAmSat (1997 - 1998), Steve gained extensive professional experience as Chief Engineer and Founder Member of ELCOR - an established satellite network over Africa for rural telephony. From 1991 - 1997, he served as Technical Director and General Manager within Plessey South Africa Limited where he managed the design, market development and sales of VSAT networks.

Steve, a South African national aged 49, holds a Bachelor degree in Science, Electrical Engineering from the University of Natal, Durban, South Africa. He is married and father of two children.

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