NEWSLETTERS

EUTELSAT BREAKS THE BARRIER OF 100 HDTV CHANNELS

Eutelsat has broken the barrier of 100 High-Definition TV channels broadcasting through its satellites from eight video neighbourhoods. Sky Sport 1HD, the flagship channel of the latest HD package from the SKY Italia pay-TV platform, was the 100th channel to take to the skies, broadcasting via the HOT BIRD™ satellites at 13° East. Eutelsat’s premium HOT BIRD™ video neighbourhood, accounts for 40% of HD channels broadcast by the Group’s satellites, closely followed by EUROBIRD™ 9A, which hosts Platforma HD and Hello HD, two all-HD platforms. Other expanding HD video locations include ATLANTIC BIRD™ 3, ATLANTIC BIRD™ 4A, W4, W3A and W2/ EUROBIRD™ 16.

HDTV has taken great strides since Euro 1080 started transmissions on Eutelsat’s satellites in 2005, with channels increasing tenfold since mid-2006 and more than doubling since June 2008. A total of 42% of the 243 HD satellite channel streams in Europe and the Middle East are broadcast through a Eutelsat satellite, establishing the company’s video neighbourhoods as a coveted address in this rapidly-developing video market.

The accelerating pace of HDTV launches across Europe and the Middle East reflects the increasing penetration in consumer homes of HD-Ready displays, estimated by Screen Digest to have reached 70 million. Consumer appetite for HD is also underscored by Eutelsat’s own analysis, conducted by industry-leading market research firms (GfK, TNS, CSA), in 37 countries, which shows that over 10 million households intend to move into an HD environment over the next year.

Find out more about HDTV via Eutelsat, or see the list of HD channels broadcasting via Eutelsat.

FRANCE TELEVISIONS CHOOSES ATLANTIC BIRD™ 3 TO BROADCAST ALL FRANCE 3 REGIONAL CHANNELS

France Télévisions has chosen ATLANTIC BIRD™ 3 to broadcast France 3’s regional channels. From 28 October, all homes in France equipped with a dish to receive the ATLANTIC BIRD™ 3 satellite and a subscription-free FRANSAT decoder can have access to digital reception of all 24 of France 3’s regional channels. Part of the progressive digitisation of France’s broadcasting network, this new initiative enables viewers to access the regional window of their choice. It will benefit viewers beyond range of terrestrial reception after analogue switch-off, as well as homes already equipped for Direct-to-Home analogue TV reception from ATLANTIC BIRD™ 3 and who will simply need to change their decoder to switch to digital.

The 24 regional channels produced by France 3 will join the 18 national channels in Standard Digital and the four channels in HD that are already available on a subscription-free basis via FRANSAT. Launched by Eutelsat in June, FRANSAT complements coverage of France’s DTT (Digital Terrestrial Television) channels and aims in particular to serve homes already equipped with a dish pointing to ATLANTIC BIRD™ 3 at 5° West. This orbital position has been used for more than 20 years to deliver France’s national channels in analogue to terrestrial transmitters and to complement the terrestrial network for homes in “shadow” areas.

For more information: www.france3.fr

EUTELSAT REACHES 40% OF FRENCH DTH HOUSEHOLDS

A Eutelsat survey published in September has shown that the number of homes equipped for direct-to home (DTH) reception in France has increased by 2% over the last 12 months, to 7 million households. This represents almost one in four of the 25.6 million TV homes in the country. The number of homes equipped for DTH reception from Eutelsat’s HOT BIRD™ satellites has remained stable at 2 million, representing a 23% market share of the satellite installed base. ATLANTIC BIRD™ 3 reaches an audience of 1.5 million homes, a 16% market share of DTH households.

ATLANTIC BIRD™ 3 hosts Eutelsat’s FRANSAT service. Facilitating the switch from analogue to digital for homes beyond terrestrial DTT reception, foreseen for November 2011, FRANSAT enables homes receiving French analogue TV via ATLANTIC BIRD™ 3 to access the French free DTT channels without moving their satellite dish. Pay-TV platforms Bis and Orange are also available via ATLANTIC BIRD™ 3 as well as via the HOT BIRD™ satellites, which also broadcast almost 500 free-to-air TV channels.

The survey was conducted by leading market research firm TNS with face-to-face interviews in June 2009, throughout mainland France.

CYFROWY POLSAT PAY-TV PLATFORM CONSOLIDATES RESOURCES ON HOT BIRD™

Cyfrowy Polsat, Poland’s leading pay-TV operator has further extended its multi-year relationship with Eutelsat, with the renewal of a contract for three transponders at the HOT BIRD™ video neighbourhood. This new lease with Eutelsat follows the contract for a fourth transponder inked by Cyfrowy Polsat in March 2009 to support the on-going expansion of Poland’s leading pay-TV platform with the launch of new TV services.

Launched in 2000 from Eutelsat’s HOT BIRD™ position, Cyfrowy Polsat currently broadcasts over 75 Polish-language channels to more than 2.8 million subscribers. Three new channels launched this month: Polsat HD, new Polish cinema channel Polsat Film and Polsat Futbol, offering coverage of European football leagues and programming from individual clubs. In 2007 Cyfrowy Polsat introduced HDTV to its platform and now offers six channels: Polsat HD, Polsat Sport HD, Eurosport HD, HBO HD, MTVNHD and Discovery HD.

For further information: www.cyfrowypolsat.pl

MAGYAR TELEVIZIO SELECTS EUROBIRD™ 9A FOR BROADCASTING ACROSS EUROPE

Eutelsat, in a consortium with Magyar Telekom and eVision, has been selected by Hungary’s national public broadcaster, Magyar Televízió, to broadcast its Magyar TV2 channel across Europe using the EUROBIRD™ 9A satellite. The flagship general entertainment channel is now available on a free-to-air basis in both Standard Digital and High-Definition versions.

The multi-year contract was signed by Hungary’s national public broadcaster following an open public procurement procedure. Within the framework of the consortium, Magyar Telekom manages terrestrial activities, including fibre delivery of the broadcast signals to eVision’s teleport in Budapest. The signals are multiplexed and uplinked by e-Vision to one transponder on EUROBIRD™ 9A for reception by satellite homes and terrestrial operators in Hungary and across Europe.

The arrival of Magyar TV2 on EUROBIRD™ 9A adds a new boost to the Hungarian and HD content available from Eutelsat’s 9° East neighbourhood, where the number of channels has almost doubled over the last 12 months to 245. Magyar TV2 notably joins Hungary’s Hello HD, Europe’s first all HD platform, which launched from EUROBIRD™ 9A in 2008.

RRSAT LAUNCHES NEW HD PLATFORM ON EUROBIRD™ 9A

RRsat Global Communications Network has launched a new DVB-S2 HDTV platform on Eutelsat’s EUROBIRD™ 9A satellite, which from 9 degrees East provides coverage of Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. The new service will also extend Eutelsat Germany's KabelKiosk platform, which delivers free and subscription channels to German and European cable network operators.

Four channels are already broadcasting on the RRSat HDTV platform: Fashion TV’s FTV HD, and the children’s channel Bebe TV are broadcast free-to-air. The sport and culture channel, HD1, and live music channel i-concerts HD are encrypted.

RRsat Global Communications Network, a global satellite & fibre distribution service provider, offers end-to-end solutions, including uplink, downlink, turnaround, playout and production services for television, radio and data channels. Their new playout facility provides end-to-end HD playout services, including high resolution graphics and Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound. They have also recently upgraded SNG services, to provide occasional users with the same high quality HD broadcast as TV channels. Through its proprietary "RRsat Global Network," composed of satellite and fibre transmission capacity and the Internet, RRsat offers high-quality, flexible global distribution services for content providers

Innovative HD concepts from i-concerts
i-concerts is Europe’s first high definition live music channel. They have chosen RRsat’s HD platform to expand the international reach of their television channel. Available 24/7, i-concerts brings music fans live music performances from stadiums, clubs and festivals around the world. Launched in 2006, i-concerts HD was previously only available via cable and IPTV networks in France, Switzerland and Belgium. Joining the platform has enabled operators within the satellite’s footprint, such as DU Telecom, to include the channel in their HD packages. I-concerts also offers operators a video-on-demand platform, featuring a library of over 1000 concerts and live TV shows.

For more information:
RRsat: www.rrsat.com
KabelKiosk: www.kabelkiosk.de
i-concerts: www.i-concerts.com

GLOBAL PTN LAUNCHES AFRICA’S FIRST SPANISH-LANGUAGE PLATFORM ON W3A

Global Premium Television Network (Global PTN), a subsidiary of the Cameroonian/American company Camerican has launched Africa’s first Spanish-language television platform on Eutelsat’s W3A satellite. The initial offer includes five encrypted channels from the Mexican television platform Televisa, covering themes including cinema, music and entertainment. Other encrypted and free-to-air channels are to be added over the next few months.

Global PTN’s aim is to provide multi-cultural content for expatriate communities in Africa. Its first television package, targeting Spanish and Portuguese-speaking viewers, also includes a channel from the Philippines for the Filipino community in Africa. Among the audiences targeted by the platform are expatriate communities working on oil rigs.

The channels are multiplexed at Eutelsat’s teleport in Rambouillet and uplinked to W3A at 7 degrees East.

NORTIS CIMECOM DEPLOYS EUTELSAT’S D-STAR SATELLITE BROADBAND SERVICE FOR 470 SCHOOLS ACROSS MOROCCO

As part of a nationwide programme to modernise ICT capabilities in Moroccan schools, Nortis Cimecom, a leading VSAT operator and a longstanding partner of Eutelsat, has been selected by the Ministry for Education and the national telecommunications regulatory authority to deliver a satellite-based broadband service to schools beyond range of terrestrial networks. This deployment programme forms part of a far-reaching national programme called 'Génie', driven by the Moroccan Ministry of Education, to extend ICT infrastructure to schools for on-going teacher training programmes and Internet access to educational content for pupils of all ages.

Using Eutelsat's D-STAR satellite-based broadband solution to complement ADSL and 3G networks serving urban environments, Nortis Cimecom has been selected to equip 25% of schools in the first phase of the national programme, and the company is now deploying the solution in 470 schools across Morocco. The second phase of the programme is currently being assessed by the national telecommunications regulatory authority with the ultimate objective to deliver broadband to a total of 21,000 schools.

D-STAR is a professional satellite broadband service operating totally independently from terrestrial infrastructure. The D-STAR equipment, consisting of a 96cm dish and a DVD-sized D-STAR terminal, will connect up to 10 PCs per school. Using the steerable beam on Eutelsat's W6 satellite, which provides high-power coverage of North-West Africa, each dish will communicate directly with Skylogic's hub in Turin (Italy) which is connected to the Internet backbone.

EUTELSAT’S TOOWAY™ SATELLITE BROADBAND SERVICE TO HELP DELIVER IRELAND’S NATIONAL BROADBAND SCHEME

Eutelsat’s Tooway™ satellite broadband service has been chosen under Ireland’s National Broadband Scheme to deliver high speed broadband connectivity to homes and businesses in rural Ireland. Tooway™ distributor Satellite Broadband Ireland will deliver the service under its recently won contract from 3, the leading Irish mobile broadband provider running the National Broadband Scheme on behalf of the Irish Government.

Under the scheme, Tooway™ will be delivered to up to 5% of the 223,000 targeted buildings across rural Ireland. Those qualifying under the scheme will receive Tooway™’s 3.6 Mbps broadband service for €19.99 per month, following a €49.00 installation & hardware charge. The National Broadband Scheme sees an estimated €223 million investment by 3, of which a maximum of €79.8 million will be contributed by the Irish Government and EU, to provide broadband services to the designated electoral districts covered by the scheme.

Arduino Patacchini, Eutelsat Multimedia Director, said: “The choice of Tooway™ and our partner Satellite Broadband Ireland to deliver broadband services to the most rural homes and businesses in Ireland underlines the core role satellites are actively playing in building an inclusive digital environment across Europe.”

For more information: www.satellitebroadbandireland.ie

SPEEDCAST AND EUTELSAT EXTEND THE AMERICAS NETWORK COVERAGE OF THEIR GLOBAL MARITIME SOLUTION

SpeedCast and Eutelsat have expanded the reach of their Maritime broadband solution, with the extension of coverage across the Atlantic Ocean and the Americas. The Maritime solution now covers all the main shipping lanes over the Pacific Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean and the Indian Ocean, as well as around the Americas and the Panama Canal.

SpeedCast, a major satellite communications service provider in Asia, wholly owned by AsiaSat, and Eutelsat have been partnering since March 2007. Together, in March 2008, they launched the first seamless Auto Beam Switching (ABS) Ku-band maritime service addressing numerous maritime verticals, including commercial shipping. The global Ku-band solution provided by both companies has already brought multiple benefits to crew welfare including Internet access, video and voice services for a reduced fixed fee per month. With the simple installation of a small one meter antenna, the maritime community can benefit from on-board always-on broadband connectivity with unlimited usages.

“Addressing the high market demand from ship-owners for extended coverage of the Americas was a further important step for Eutelsat and SpeedCast” said Laurent Paul, Director of Maritime Services from Eutelsat Communication. “This demand also demonstrates how VSAT services are now fully integrated as a core solution in the worldwide maritime broadband market.”

For more information please visit www.speedcast.com

HOT BIRD™ TV AWARDS 2009: GET YOUR VOTE IN FOR THE PEOPLE’S CHOICE AWARD BY 12 NOVEMBER!

The 2009 edition of the HOT BIRD™ TV Awards are well underway, and a record number of channels broadcasting in Europe, the Middle East and, for the first time, in Africa, have been assessed by the jury of journalists and media experts for this year’s event. Almost 150 channels were judged on the basis of the quality of their programme production and innovative concepts, with 34 nominated in the 11 thematic categories. The People’s Choice Award is given to the channel receiving the most votes from the viewing public. Viewers can vote for their favourite channel via www.hotbirdtvawards.com, www.eutelsat.com and www.lyngsat.com. Voting closes on 12 November.

Organised annually by Eutelsat, with Eurovisioni and Satexpo, the HOT BIRD™ TV Awards is a unique international event celebrating the achievements of thematic satellite channels. Continuing the event’s strong tradition of celebrating technical innovation, an Award will be presented this year, for the first time, for pioneering developments in 3D transmissions.

The winners of the 12th HOT BIRD™ TV Awards, including the People’s Choice, will be announced on 20 November at “The Night of Satellites”, a gala ceremony held at Venice’s prestigious “Scuola Grande di San Giovanni Evangelista”.

To vote for your favourite channel:
People's Choice Award
Shortlist of channels for the HOT BIRD™ TV Awards 2009

W7 READIES FOR LAUNCH

W7, the latest satellite in Eutelsat’s significant expansion programme, has arrived at the Baikonur cosmodrome, where it is scheduled to launch on November 23 by an ILS Proton rocket. Built for Eutelsat by Thales Alenia Space, W7 is a large, powerful satellite featuring a payload of up to 70 Ku-band transponders connected to six high-performance fixed and steerable beams, designed to serve Europe, Russia, Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia.

The satellite will be located at 36 degrees East, one of Eutelsat's fastest-growing neighbourhoods, where it will replace SESAT 1 and significantly expand capacity at the key orbital location, with new resources being introduced through a high-power fixed beam for southern Africa and a steerable beam which is ideally suited for DTH applications. Co-positioned with Eutelsat’s W4 satellite, which already serves anchor pay-TV operators in Russia, the Ukraine and sub-Saharan Africa, W7 will almost double bandwidth for digital video and telecommunications services in these regions. 36 degrees East is a leading neighbourhood for satellite TV homes across Russia, the Ukraine and Africa, with more than 450 TV channels, including more than 10 in high definition.

In addition to serving Eutelsat’s portfolio of video clients, W7 will expand resources for data and telecom services using small ground terminals, in particular for the oil and gas sector in Russia, Central Asia and West Africa.