PARIS, November 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Eutelsat Communications (Euronext Paris: ETL) and Asia Broadcast Satellite (ABS) today announced the execution of a strategic agreement for commercial cooperation at the 75 degrees East orbital location. Within the framework of this agreement Eutelsat is colocating its EUROBIRD(TM) 4 satellite at 75 degrees East with the ABS-1 and ABS-1A satellites operated by ABS. This redeployment will inject an additional eight Ku-band transponders to 75 degrees East to address markets in the Middle East, central Asia and Russia. Renamed W75/ABS-1B, Eutelsat's satellite will also provide possible redundancy to customers until the arrival of ABS-2, which is expected in 2012.

Michel de Rosen, Chief Executive Officer of Eutelsat commented: "This strategic agreement with ABS underscores once again Eutelsat's commitment to developing partnerships with satellite operators that enable valuable in-orbit resources to be fully optimised for the benefit of our community of users. We are delighted to initiate commercial activity at 75 degrees East through this new collaboration with ABS, and look forward to building a strong and lasting relationship with an operator of reference in the Asian continent."

"This marks a historical moment for ABS to enter into a strategic agreement with Eutelsat for cooperation at 75 degrees East. W75/ABS-1B will bring increased Ku-band capacity to 75 degrees East for the Middle East and CIS regions where the supply of Ku-band capacity is scarce and in high demand. This strategic cooperation will greatly benefit the customers of both Eutelsat and ABS who have been seeking expansion capacity in these regions. We will also bring forward the additional Ku-band capacity which will be provided on ABS-2 planned for 2012, two and a half years early. Our customers will be able to jump start their expansion plans in 2009 instead of having to wait until 2012," said Tom Choi, Chief Executive Officer of ABS. "We are extremely proud to enter into this relationship with Eutelsat, one of the biggest operators in the world. We sincerely hope that this will be the first one of many opportunities that we can pursue with Eutelsat in the Asia Pacific Region."

About Asia Broadcast Satellite

Asia Broadcast Satellite (ABS) is one of the fastest growing premium satellite operators in the world. Operating the ABS-1 and ABS-1A satellites at 75degrees East, it connects 4/5th of the world's population covering all of Asia, the CIS region, the Middle East, most of Africa and Eastern Europe. Leveraging its extensive coverage and operating its own full service, redundant teleport facilities in both Hong Kong and Germany, ABS is able to strategically and effectively offer a broad range of End-to-End solutions including CATV distribution, Direct to Home, Cellular Backhaul, VSAT and Internet Backbone services with diverse IP transit through its European and Asian internet gateways. ABS currently hosts over 90 channels on ABS-1, making it as one of the fastest growing and top satellite distribution platforms for CATV distribution in the Indian Ocean Region.

ABS is rapidly expanding its satellite fleet and business worldwide through the recent acquisitions of the Koreasat-2 satellite (renamed ABS-1A) and the Mabuhay Satellite Corporation's Agila-2 satellite (renamed Agila-2/ABS-5). In addition, ABS has completed the procurement process for a new state-of-the-art high powered satellite, ABS-2, that is scheduled to become operational during the first half of 2012. The ABS-2 satellite will be one of the largest FSS satellites to be launched over the Eastern Hemisphere with 78 active transponders delivering over 14 kW of payload power. Together with ABS-1, the 75degrees East Longitude position will be the most powerful orbital location in the Asia Pacific / Indian Ocean region with over 22kW of power and expansive coverage with 122 active C, Ku and Ka-band transponders.

http://www.absatellite.net

About Eutelsat Communications

Eutelsat Communications (Euronext Paris: ETL, ISIN code: FR0010221234) is the holding company of Eutelsat S.A.. With capacity commercialised on 27 satellites that provide coverage over the entire European continent, as well as the Middle East, Africa, India and significant parts of Asia and the Americas, Eutelsat is one of the world's three leading satellite operators in terms of revenues. At 30 September 2009, Eutelsat's satellites were broadcasting 3,300 television channels and 1,100 radio stations. More than 1,000 channels broadcast via its HOT BIRD(TM) video neighbourhood at 13 degrees East which serves over 123 million cable and satellite homes in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. The Group's satellites also serve a wide range of fixed and mobile telecommunications services, TV contribution markets, corporate networks, and broadband markets for Internet Service Providers and for transport, maritime and in-flight markets. Eutelsat's broadband subsidiary, Skylogic, markets and operates services through teleports in France and Italy that serve enterprises, local communities, government agencies and aid organisations in Europe, Africa, Asia and the Americas. Headquartered in Paris, Eutelsat and its subsidiaries employ 615 commercial, technical and operational employees from 28 countries.

    http://www.eutelsat.com

    For further information
    Press
    Vanessa O'Connor     Tel: +33-1-53-98-38-88  voconnor@eutelsat.fr
    Frederique Gautier   Tel: +33-1-53-98-38-88  fgautier@eutelsat.fr

    Investors
    Gilles Janvier       Tel: +33-1-53-98-35-30
                         investors@eutelsat-communications.com

    Penny Hill
    Email: penny@absatellite.net
    Tel: +65-81898835

SOURCE Eutelsat Communications

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