NEW DELHI: Rajiv Khattar, until recently Dish TV president projects, has joined as president- south Asia in Asia Broadcast Satellite (ABS) in a newly created role that makes him responsible for business development and sales for the region.

The announcement was made in Washington by ABS CEO Tom Choi, who said, “We are delighted to have Rajiv onboard as the new head for this region. Rajiv brings along a wealth of experience of the cable and satellite industry with extensive knowledge of the direct-to-home (DTH) and broadcast sector in the India market. His expertise and leadership skills will greatly contribute to our development of new business for the market.”

Confirming the news and the fact that he had already taken over, Khattar told indiantelevision.com that he would be based out of Delhi. He said it was too early to comment on the future plans of ABS in south Asia.

Khattar has over 20 years of experience in the cable and satellite industry. Before joining ABS, he spent 10 years at Dish TV as president projects. In this role, he gained a wide range of experiences covering business, operations, regulatory procedures and strategy development. Prior to this, he held various leading positions with other cable and telecommunication companies.

He holds a Diploma in Production Engineering (Delhi Board of Technical Education), a Diploma in Business Management (Rajendera Prasad Institute of Communication and Management, Mumbai) and a Diploma in Materials Management (Faridabad Productivity Council).

ABS is one of the fastest growing global satellite operators in the world, offering a complete range of tailored solutions including broadcasting, data and telecommunication services to broadcasters, service providers, enterprises and government organisations.

ABS operates a fleet of six satellites; ABS-1A, ABS-2, ABS-3, ABS-4/Mobisat-1, ABS-6 and ABS-7. The satellite fleet covers 80 per cent of the world’s population across Africa, Asia Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, CIS and Russia.

ABS has also procured two Boeing 702SP satellites (ABS-3A & ABS-2A) planned for early and late 2015 with the options to add more satellites over the next 2-3 years to its growing satellite fleet.

Headquartered in Bermuda, ABS has offices in the United States, Dubai, South Africa, Germany, Philippines, Indonesia and Hong Kong.