PR/34/07
ENTERTAINMENT HIGHWAY SELECTS EUTELSAT W4 SATELLITE FOR NEW
HiTV PAY-TV PLATFORM FOR NIGERIA
Paris, 13 November 2007
Eutelsat Communications (Euronext Paris: ETL) today announced the conclusion of a
five-year contract on its W4 satellite with Entertainment Highway Ltd (EHL) for a new
pay-TV platform serving Nigeria. The contract covers one high-power Ku-band
transponder connected to a high-power spotbeam that Eutelsat has focused over
Nigeria.
Called HiTV, the new platform comprises 15 digital channels, including three sports
channels showing Barclay’s Premier League football from the UK as well as matches
from Spain’s La Liga and Italy’s Serie A. Other international channels broadcast in the
platform include BBC World, E! Entertainment, God TV, MTV Base, Sky News,
Eurosport News, Nickelodeon as well as new channels produced in Nigeria dedicated
to local and foreign movies, music, children and general entertainment. Having broken
into a highly underserved but hugely potent Nigerian pay TV market, HiTv is adopting
a mass market affordable pricing approach and targeting 100,000 homes in its first
year of operation.
Using its teleport facilities in Rambouillet, near Paris, Eutelsat is encrypting and
multiplexing the platform. It is subsequently uplinked to the W4 satellite by Overon, the
broadcasting subsidiary of Abertis Telecom from the Abertis teleport in Arganda, near
Madrid.
Reception is possible throughout Nigeria with a 60cm dish, a set-top decoder
and smartcard. The service is encrypted using Conax encryption.
“Our relationship with Eutelsat could not have come at a better time,” says Toyin
Subair, CEO of HiTv. “We were operating a regional terrestrial cable network but
needed to achieve nationwide coverage in the shortest possible timeframe. Eutelsat
helped us achieve that seemingly impossible feat. Their world-class team of
professional staff guided us through every step and their contribution to our business
to date is simply invaluable.
Having broken into a hugely potent Nigerian pay TV