Solaris Mobile, the joint-venture, satellite-based service company formed by SES ASTRA and Eutelsat, is establishing its corporate headquarters in Dublin. A projected 50 high-skilled jobs will be created by the new company over the next three years.
The company will provide TV, video and radio services, plus two-way communications, to a variety of handheld mobile devices, such as phones, laptops and portable media players, with services scheduled for launch in early 2009.
The company will operate in the 2.0 and 2.2 GHz S-band, which is reserved for the exclusive use of satellite-based and terrestrial mobile services. The S-band sits alongside UMTS frequencies that are already used across Europe for 3G terrestrial services.
The infrastructure will be able to deliver a wide range of broadcast and multimedia services on an anytime, anywhere basis. According to Solaris Mobile, satellite networks will now be able to compete with, and complement, terrestrial networks in the provision of broadcasting services to the mobile sector.   
The Dublin headquarters will handle all corporate responsibilities for Europe, including regulatory support, sales and marketing, brand awareness, finance, and compliance and legal issues. It will identify new business opportunities, and negotiate and manage partnerships with broadcasters, content developers, network operators and handset manufacturers.
This venture is of major strategic importance to our parent companies as it ensures a first mover advantage in Europe for satellite broadcast services to the mobile industry, says  Solaris Mobile CEO, Steve Maine. As this is the first joint venture between SES ASTRA and Eutelsat, it was vital to find the right location for the company HQ. We assessed several possibilities but decided that Dublin would deliver this project to our tight deadlines and with access to the right resources and communication lines
Mary Coughlan TD, Tnaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, has welcomed the investment, noting that this is the first investment in Ireland by international satellite operators, being made by two of the highest profile brand-name companies in the satellite communications business. She says:
The sophisticated technical qualifications, knowledge and experience requirements of the new positions is once again a significant endorsement of Irelands wealth of talent and expertise. It is also a measure of the confidence which leading global companies have in the ability of this country to deliver on projects at the forefront of their industry. This project will provide an important marketing reference for IDAs continuing work to attract new business within the mobile, media and telecommunications sectors.