NEWSLETTERS

Action-packed channel launch for Arqiva on EUROBIRD™ 1

Arqiva Satellite Media Solutions, specialists in satellite video and data communications, outside broadcasts, satellite newsgathering, studios, and playout, has launched the extreme sports channel, RUSH HD on Eutelsat’s EUROBIRD™ 1 satellite at 28.5 degrees East. The new channel supports VOOM HD Networks’ expansion of international distribution into the UK HD market. RUSH HD is a 24/7 HD channel delivered in 1080i high-definition format with Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound. Its pulse-pounding programming includes competitions featuring world-class athletes and one-of-a-kind expeditions into remote, uncharted territories.

Arqiva’s Satellite Media Solutions division is a key client for EUROBIRD™ 1 capacity to support DTH services on the BSkyB platform. Arqiva is also a key retailer of HOT BIRD™, W2, ATLANTIC BIRD™ 2, ATLANTIC BIRD™ 3 and SESAT platforms and regularly leases Eutelsat capacity for occasional video customers.

For more information: www.arqiva.com

Hello HD HDTV platform launches in Hungary on EUROBIRD™ 9

Hello HD, Hungary’s first High-Definition television platform, owned by media services company Watchcable Corporation, is gearing up for launch on May 1 from Eutelsat’s EUROBIRD™ 9 satellite. Using two transponders leased on a long-term basis, Hello HD’s new television platform will feature industry-leading HDTV services including Eurosport HD, National Geographic HD, Filmbox HD and HBO HD, complemented by high quality Hungarian channels broadcasting in Standard Digital. The package will be available to viewers on a subscription basis using CONAX encryption.

Hello HD’s choice of EUROBIRD™ 9 will also enable satellite homes in Hungary to receive digital channels broadcasting from Eutelsat’s HOT BIRD™ video neighbourhood. Using off-the-shelf double-feed antennas, Hello HD subscribers will be able to use the same dish to pick up content available free-to-air at the HOT BIRD™ position. In fourth quarter 2008 Hello HD plans to launch video-on-demand and a range of value added interactive services.

For more information: www.Hellohd.tv

TVTEL brings Portuguese viewers the latest in music, video and fashion

TVTEL, Portugal’s satellite pay-TV platform has added the new music and fashion channel MVM TV to its offer of 20 digital channels available from Eutelsat’s EUROBIRD™ 9 satellite. As the first channel dedicated to Portuguese music, video and fashion trends, the new channel underpins TVTELs strategy to increase Portuguese content. The channel is aimed at a young audience and intends to be a launchpad for new, young talent. Broadcasting 16 hours a day, MVM plans to extend its schedule to 24 hours a day.

TVTEL started broadcasting its nationwide Direct-to-Home service in August 2007 on Eutelsat’s EUROBIRD™ 9 satellite, located at 9 degrees East. The platform broadcasts some of Portugal’s most popular channels, including Hollywood, MGM, MTV Portugal, Discovery, Panda as well as the four national terrestrial channels (RTP1, RTP2, SIC, TVI) and news channel RTPN. Targeting Portugal’s two million analogue terrestrial-only homes, TVTEL aims to achieve 90,000 subscribers within three years.

For more information: www.tvtel.pt, www.mvmtv.net

Zakon TV, specialised in legal issues, launches on NTV Plus

The first Russian television channel specialised in legal affairs has started broadcasting via the NTV-Plus pay-TV platform on Eutelsat’s W4 satellite. Called Zakon TV, the new 24-hour channel, created by the Russian Lawyer’s Association targets legal professionals, law students, and the general public. Content includes news, analysis and entertainment such as reviews, films and series based on legal issues. Future programmes will include legal education in Russia, interpreting the law, and examining national and international law.

Russia's leading pay-TV platform, NTV-Plus uses Eutelsat's W4 satellite to broadcast over 100 Russian and international channels to a subscriber base of more than 560,000 homes in Russia and the Ukraine. Three HDTV channels were launched in 2007 and premium HD content will be provided later this year with the UEFA EURO 2008™ and Olympics coverage.

For more information: www.ntvplus.ru

D-STAR broadband terminal brings connectivity to the heart of the Amazonian rainforest

The scientific research centre at Nouragues in the heart of French Guiana’s Amazonian rainforest is now fully connected to the Internet and to the offices of the CNRS (France’s National Centre for Scientific Research) thanks to a D-STAR satellite broadband terminal supplied by Skylogic, Eutelsat's broadband subsidiary.

The Nouragues site is specifically located as far as possible from human activity to monitor biodiversity in tropical forests. Since the beginning of this year a D-STAR terminal has been installed to streamline research initiatives and increase security. Operating independently of terrestrial infrastructure, the D-STAR broadband system is helping the CNRS to reconcile two guiding principles: to increase research efforts in order to improve global understanding of the ecosystem in tropical climates and to control the number of scientific experts entering a site in order to preserve the environment.

For more information www.nouragues.cnrs.fr

New all wireless system in Belgian commune, a pilot project for Internet access in Africa

Mont-Saint-Guibert near Brussels is the location of a groundbreaking fusion of two technologies that can enhance communications in developed countries as well as in developing regions in Africa. An innovative project called TRIPLE (Telecommunications by Radio for Internet Provision Locally Everywhere), driven by Systemics Network International, SpecterCAT, Icoms Detections, MAC Telecom and Vitrociset with the support of Eutelsat, is linking a Wireless Mesh Network (WMN) to the Internet using a broadband satellite terminal. In Mont-Saint-Guibert the network is being used to demonstrate public video surveillance deployed by Group 4 Securicor on the WMN network.

As a twin town to a suburb of Kigali in Rwanda, Mont-St-Guibert is also showcasing technologies that can benefit rural communities. A demonstration of TRIPLE near Kigali aims to demonstrate how an Internet desert can be quickly and securely covered at relatively little cost for security, healthcare and education purposes. TRIPLE is for the moment privately funded through contributions by partnering organisations that include leading Eutelsat, Group4 Securicor, Icoms Detections, the Catholic University of Louvain's IT engineering department, investment group ISSAL and Vitrociset.

For more information www.triplenet.eu

Eutelsat and SpeedCast to launch a new global maritime broadband service

SpeedCast, a major satellite communications service provider in Asia, owned by AsiaSat, is joining forces with Eutelsat to launch a new maritime broadband communications service. Serving key shipping routes, the service will use Ku-band satellite capacity, mostly on Eutelsat and AsiaSat satellites. In addition to a fixed flat fee per ship, irrespective of usage, the system will provide an improved customer experience, automatically switching from one satellite coverage beam to another with no manual intervention. A major innovation of the service is the use of small one metre stabilised satellite antennas, reducing equipment costs by more than 50% and the space occupied on deck by more than 60%, compared with current C-band systems.

Merchant shipping and fishing fleets wishing to use enhanced on-board applications to optimise productivity and improve crew welfare will be particularly interested in the service. Enabling secure offshore Virtual Private Networks to be established with land-based offices, ships become mobile offices fully integrated into an overall network. The provision of additional services to crew such as Internet access, GSM connectivity, Video-on-Demand and IPTV could also be carried through the same satellite connection. The service will be provided via a 24/7 Network Operations Centre operated by SpeedCast in Hong Kong connecting with a network of teleports, including the Turin teleport operated by Eutelsat’s broadband affiliate, Skylogic.

For more information: www.speedcast.com