Our satellites benefit from
increased exchange of
content via the networks they
interconnect, feed or complement
with direct reception.

Data and broadband services, Eutelsat's second main business, recorded 13.4% growth in 2008-2009, reaching
173 M€. Growth of data services and value added services stands respectively at 13.9% and 11.9%.

While today’s major international data routes are dominated by cable, including fibre, satellites are strengthening their presence with the opening of new resources for domestic network markets, Internet access in white areas and securing communication in the event of breakdown of terrestrial infrastructure. Installed worldwide on thousands of GSM transmitters, Internet access platforms and corporate network headends, VSAT terminals increased in number by 10% in one year, to more than 1.5 million. Deployed in just a few hours, these terminals can establish broadband connectivity with no need for terrestrial networks.

In most of the emerging markets covered by Eutelsat's fleet, less than 25% of consumers and businesses have the possibility of connecting to broadband via a terrestrial network. For these markets, the continuous drop in equipment prices is opening up the use of satellites to an increasing number of businesses, schools and administrations. State budgets and international funds for development aid see universal broadband access as a priority for transforming progress in digital technology into economic progress for all.

In addition to professional services, Eutelsat is continuing to develop a new generation of value added services that can make broadband satellite technology available to the general public with speeds and price conditions that are comparable to ADSL. Operating on the HOT BIRD™ 6 and EUROBIRD™ 3 multibeam satellites, the Tooway™ service is now available through 40 distributors in 22 countries, serving a potential extended European market of more than 15 million homes beyond range of terrestrial networks.

Because the wide coverage provided by Eutelsat's satellites makes it possible to share information simultaneously among an unlimited number of sites, they sit at the heart of major data transmission networks. Over 15 pentabytes of information are produced each day for thousands of businesses around the world, covering stock market trading, regulatory environments, legal decisions or registered patents. A major part of the satellite capacity of these networks is dedicated to news feeds which provide quasi real time information to editorial desks of broadcasters, newspapers and agencies as well as Internet information sites. The growing share of video in these exchanges is also a powerful factor driving demand. Thomson Reuters, the leading provider of financial information, supplies its European network using the W3A satellite to provide for 250 000 data updates per second.

With a global market for satellite capacity for data transmission growing by 7.3% in 2008, Eutelsat recorded growth at twice that rate. This commercial performance reflects its longstanding presence in Africa, Central Asia and the Middle East, markets which are driving the overall expansion of this segment.

Eutelsat works closely with major telecom operators who associate turnkey applications for their clients with its space segment. The main applications are interconnection between fixed and mobile telephony networks, supplying call centres and Internet access platforms, network management for international corporations, connecting isolated industrial sites and shipping fleets.

On these markets, and thanks to the strong coverage provided by satellites positioned at 10° East, 7° East, 21.5° East and 12.5° West, Eutelsat has this year strengthened long term capacity lease contracts with major players including Algérie Télécom, Hughes Network Systems, Telespazio, Horizon Satellite Services, GT&T, IABG, ORG and Etisalat.

Sales in this dynamic business sector were further strengthened when the W2A satellite entered commercial service during the fourth quarter. Providing exceptional coverage in Europe and Africa, the opening of the payload in the Ku and C bands of W2A immediately activated a set of new contracts with major operators such as France Telecom, London Satellite Exchange and PCCW Global.

In the Multi-Usage segment, capacities leased by Eutelsat to operators serving government and administration markets grew by 29.8% over the year, to 75.4 M€. Excluding the appreciation of the US dollar to euro, these services recorded an 18% growth at constant exchange rates.

Confirming a trend initiated a few years ago, this growth is driven by the ambition of civilian and military administrations to strengthen the weight of commercial satellites in order to optimise the management of their resources and complete their proprietary infrastructures.

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