W2M :: 16° EAST
W2M was deployed at the beginning of January 2010 to 16° East in order to enter commercial service. It has been co-located with the EUROBIRD™ 16 and SESAT 1 satellites to provide continuity of services at one of Eutelsat's most long-standing orbital positions, which was previously home to the W2 satellite.
16 degrees East is an important video location for satellite TV broadcasting to homes in Central and Eastern Europe, the Mediterranean Basin and the Middle East, as well as to islands in the Indian Ocean region. Seven pay-TV platforms and almost 400 TV channels are already broadcasting from this orbital location.
These markets are witnessing dynamic expansion. Cable and satellite reception in Central and Eastern Europe has been recording double digit growth over the last five years and in the Balkans, the number of subscribers to pay-TV platforms has grown more than fourfold over the last two years. These markets have rapidly adopted digital TV and more recently HDTV.
Launch date: 20/12/08
Launch details: Ariane 5 ECA
Satellite construction: EADS Astrium/ISRO (Indian Space Agency)
