NEWSLETTERS

DIGITURK activates capacity on W3A for HD

DIGITURK has initiated broadcasts of two HDTV channels on the new transponder recently leased on Eutelsat’s W3A satellite located at 7 degrees East. Launched in 2000, Turkey’s leading pay-TV platform today broadcasts more than 150 TV and radio channels as well as interactive services to 1.8 million subscribers. DIGITURK plans next year to launch two further HD channels and eight Standard Digital channels, boosting its offer to almost 170 channels in 2008.

The first live HD broadcasts using MPEG4 compression started in August 2007 with Lig TV, which is showing Turkey Football League matches played in Istanbul. Lig TV plans to progressively increase the number of live games shown in HD. The second HD channel to join the platform is Fox Sports Turkey, which began test broadcasting this month. A documentary channel and a film channel will also join the HD offer which is available in the DIGITURK Plus option.

Subscribers will require a newly-designed set-top box to receive DIGITURK Plus. In addition to delivering HD, the new box has a push-VOD option, enabling DIGITURK to upload content to the receiver’s hard disk during the day, for viewers to purchase and watch over the following 24 hours.

For more information: www.digiturk.tv

KabelKiosk adds new family and literary channels

KabelKiosk, the Direct-to-Cable platform commercialised by Eutelsat’s German affiliate, has added Your Family and lettra to the mix of television and radio channels provided to over 260 independent cable networks in Germany, Austria, Denmark, Liechenstein, Luxembourg and Switzerland.

Broadcasting in German, Your Family specialises in educational programmes for pre-school children, quality animation series and family entertainment. With copyright stock comprising over 3,500 half-hour programmes, Your Family Entertainment AG (YFE), Munich, is one of the most experienced companies in producing and licensing entertainment programmes in Germany for children, teenagers and families. Meanwhile, lettra addresses the world of books, writers and readers. Its flagship programme is a live two-hour evening show featuring interviews with authors, new publications and news from the world of books. With the addition of the two new channels to the KabelKiosk platform, Eutelsat Germany is now marketing over 60 channels in nine languages to cable operators in continental Europe.

For more information: www.yfe-ag.de, www.lettra.de

Two new channels join Poland’s 'n' platform

The Polish DTH platform 'n' has added two new channels to the offer broadcast from Eutelsat’s HOT BIRD™ 7A satellite at 13 degrees East. The new thematic channel, religia.tv, is available in the "information and entertainment" package offered to 'n' subscribers. Religia.tv's extensive programming offer, specialising in religious programmes, includes interactive shows, documentaries, classic movies, culture and popular science, talkshows as well as cooking and travel. Owsiak TV also recently joined the 'n' line-up. Targeting 16-22 year olds, almost half Owsiak TV's programmes are music-based. The channel is owned by Jurek Owsiak, a broadcast journalist and founder of the Polish national children's charity Wielka Orkiestra Swiatecznej Pomocy (WOSP).

Launched in October 2006 'n' belongs to ITI Neovision, one of Poland's leading media and entertainment groups. Available exclusively from the HOT BIRD™ neighbourhood, the platform today broadcasts 48 Standard Definition channels and four HDTV channels, including the recently launched HD version of the commercial television channel TVN. The platform also recently expanded its video-on-demand offer. Just 12 months after launch, ITI Neovision says that 'n' has attracted over 200,000 subscribers.

For more information: www.iti.pl

SAFE demonstrates satellite-based health and epidemiology early warning system via ATLANTIC BIRDT 1

On 5-6 November, in Crete, the SAFE (SAtellites For Epidemiology) project used Eutelsat's ATLANTIC BIRDT 1 satellite to demonstrate the benefit of satellites in emergency operations. Led by ESA, in collaboration with WHO (the World Health Organisation), the objective of SAFE is to develop and demonstrate the added value of satellite communication services, including low and high bandwidth access to the Internet, co-operative working and geolocalisation for all phases of biological crisis including prevention, early warning and crisis management. The event in Crete was based on an earthquake readiness exercise, with scenarios including buildings destroyed, a major fire at a power plant, casualties, no power supply or telecommunications and an environmental threat.

Satellite-enabled applications for post-crisis management included assessing and communicating medical requirements to health authorities, treating patients via videoconference, and analysis of biological and environmental samples to prevent epidemics and ecological disasters. Participants included local authorities, WHO, ECDC (European Centre for Disease Control), ESA, SAFE partner-organisations from France, Spain and Italy, and 100 volunteers.

A SAFE coordination van was equipped with a D-STAR two-way broadband terminal to provide Internet access, data transfer and videoconferencing services during the exercise. A Wi-Fi network ensured communications between the local coordinator and mobile teams in the field, enabling emergency services to transmit data in real time via laptops or PDAs. Data from the site, including live images from mobile cameras, was transmitted via ATLANTIC BIRDT 1 to an operations centre coordinating rescue operations and epidemiological surveillance.

For more information: www.medes.fr/safe
Photo © Remifor

ESOA and UNOSAT collaborate on identifying satellite resources for emergency response

The European Satellite Operators' Association (ESOA) and UNOSAT, the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) Operational Satellite Applications Programme, signed a Memorandum of Understanding in Brussels this month. The objective of the agreement is to identify satellite resources that can optimise deployment and use of satellite solutions for international development and emergency response. Eutelsat is a member of ESOA and during the presentation in Brussels, Stefano Agnelli, Head of Value-Added Services Development at Eutelsat and Coordinator of Space Policy  within ESOA, presented Eutelsat's most recent exerience on using satellites for disaster recovery operations.

With this agreement, ESOA members hope to offer the international community a coordinated approach to respond to emergencies with the best and often the only telecoms solution when others are overloaded or destroyed, and also to support UN humanitarian missions with reliable and cost-effective satellite communications. The agreement with UNOSAT will also raise awareness within user communities of the unique ability of satellite technology in the prevention, preparedness, response and recovery phases of the crisis management cycle.

For more information: www.esoa.net