Eutelsat at IBC 2012: Satellites Ready for Ultra HD, Triple-play, Digital Cinema, New-generation Newsgathering and More...

AMSTERDAM, September 5, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

7-11 September, RAI Amsterdam, Stand H1 - D59

Highlights

• NewsSpotter service via KA-SAT: a new way to transmit video from the field using IP Streaming
• Satellite Triple-play: transforming broadcast and broadband in the home
• Ultra HD: satellites partnering 2k and 4k
• Sky Italia showcases latest innovation: Sky on Demand using satellite for on demand content delivery direct to the MySky HD STB
• New Eutelsat satellites to support fast growing markets

Eutelsat Communications (Euronext Paris: ETL), one of the world's top satellite operators, will display solutions at the heart of broadcast and broadband markets at this year's IBC, the premier annual conference and exhibition for professionals engaged in the creation, management and delivery of entertainment and media content.

KA-SAT High Throughput Satellite: Expanding the Satellite Universe

Services continue to roll out on Eutelsat's KA-SAT satellite, including NewsSpotter, which has caught the attention of broadcasters and television service providers across Europe. They include Denmark's TV2 that added NewsSpotter to the broadcast infrastructure deployed to send TV reports of the French presidential elections and the UK Diamond Jubilee back to studios in Copenhagen.

With airtime booked online, NewsSpotter delivers live video in HD and SD from the field via high-speed IP streaming using lightweight compact equipment. The service is equivalent to providing a dedicated fibre which connects crew on the field directly with broadcast centres. Three types of NewsSpotter antenna will be shown at IBC.

KA-SAT is also transforming the broadband market across Europe and the Mediterranean Basin with the Tooway™ service which will be on display. Major user enhancements were announced in July, enabled by the upgrade of the digital modulation scheme of the KA-SAT infrastructure from 8PSK to 16APSK that has increased the system's total throughput. Offering download speeds of up to 18 Mbps and upload speeds of up to 6Mbps, with consumption profiles of up to 50 Gigabytes per month and lower entry costs, the latest generation of Tooway™ broadband services is accelerating the move to broadband for the many still struggling with poor Internet connectivity.

Full Satellite Triple-play: Changing the Face of Consumer TV and Internet Services

The consumer satellite market is poised to undergo a transformation into a fully interactive environment as users get the message that they can benefit from TV, broadband and telephony via a single dish.

Using the 77cm Tooway™ dish and a Ku-band LNB trained towards one of up to six TV satellites over Europe, consumers in white and grey areas can have the same triple play experience as those with access to high-speed terrestrial networks.

The satellite triple-play market is gaining traction in Europe, with Forthnet Group, Greece's pay-TV service provider, and Serbia Broadband (SBB) the first operators to bundle Tooway™ with their pay-TV portfolio to offer triple-play with a single subscription. Eutelsat will show just how easy this is on its stand throughout the show.

Ultra HD: Ready for the New TV Revolution with Eutelsat

Eutelsat has a recognised industry track record for supporting formats, including HD and 3D that further raise the bar of video and audio resolution. This commitment drove Eutelsat's support of NHK at IBC in 2008 for the first satellite transmission of Super Hi-Vision with an image resolution of 7680 pixels on 4320 lines and an immersive 22.2 channel surround sound system.

The market for Ultra HD transmission has gained speed since 2008 and Eutelsat's satellites have demonstrated their ability on multiple occasions to transport a number of channels per transponder in the Quad HDTV / 4k TV format which is expected to be the most likely common Ultra HD format. Two Eutelsat satellites are also used on a regular basis to transmit 2k and 4k feature films to over 700 cinema screens across Europe.

A Quad HDTV monitor (3840 pixels x 2160 lines) and a 4k cinema player provided by Doremi with block converters to convert the 4k content into four HDTV signals will be shown on the Eutelsat stand.

The monitor will also show images from a JVC 4k camcorder with four HD outputs coming from four SDHC cards.

Sky Italia Showcases Its Latest Innovation; Sky on Demand

Sky Italia, Italy's leading pay-TV platform that broadcasts exclusively from Eutelsat's HOT BIRD position continues to bring the most innovative technology into Italian homes to give viewers the best of premium services.

Sky Italia is now broadcasting 52 HD channels and a regular 3D channel. Using a MySky HD Digital Video Recorder, viewers can also store content and pause and resume viewing with maximum flexibility.

Sky on Demand is Sky Italia's newest innovation. Launched in July, it enables subscribers to My Sky HD to have even more control over what they watch and when, with downloads proposed from an initial 1,200 titles, including films, series, documentaries, children's programmes and sports.

Sky on Demand will be demonstrated on the Eutelsat stand using satellite for on-demand content delivery direct to the MySky HD STB.

New Satellites to Support Customers in Fast-Growing Markets

Eutelsat continues to expand and enhance its in-orbit resources with new satellites that will further enhance operational flexibility, capacity and reach. Six satellites are under construction, and a seventh is about to be commissioned. All are scheduled to be launched between fourth quarter 2012 and first half 2015 to deliver 28% expansion of capacity. They will fuel Eutelsat's goal to pursue expansion in fast-growing markets in the Middle East, Africa, Asia and Latin America, while reinforcing presence in vibrant European markets.

Three new innovative and highly flexible satellite programmes will be highlighted at IBC 2012: EUTELSAT 21B and EUTELSAT 70B, which are both due for launch by end 2012, and EUTELSAT 3B, to be launched in early 2014.

• EUTELSAT 21B will offer high flexibility via an enhanced footprint sweeping across Europe into North Africa and Central Asia and two high-power beams with regional coverage of North Africa and the Middle East. Designed for data and government communications, video file exchanges, GSM and Internet backhauling, the satellite's 40 Ku-band transponders will increase capacity at 21.5° East by 50%.
• Unique of its kind, EUTELSAT 70B is designed to optimise resources from a single orbital slot at the crossroads between Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia. With high frequency reuse, four powerful regional beams connected to 48 Ku-band transponders will be located on a single platform. EUTELSAT 70B will more than double current capacity at 70.5° East for data and government services, broadband access, GSM backhauling and professional video exchanges.
• EUTELSAT 3B is a tri-band satellite (C, Ku, Ka) designed to increase and diversify resources for markets in Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia and South America. Users will select the most relevant frequency band for different types of service. Ku and C-band capacity will further consolidate response to broadcast and data markets. High throughput beams in the Ka-band, that will be individually steerable to regional and national markets and operated with scalable allocation of power and spectrum, will support innovative applications in bandwidth-demanding markets.

About Eutelsat http://www.eutelsat.com

Eutelsat Communications (Euronext Paris: ETL, ISIN code: FR0010221234) is the holding company of Eutelsat S.A. With capacity commercialised on 28 satellites that provide coverage across Europe, as well as the Middle East, Africa and significant parts of Asia and the Americas, Eutelsat is one of the world's three leading satellite operators. As of 30 June 2012 Eutelsat's satellites were broadcasting more than 4,250 television channels to over 200 million cable and satellite homes in Europe, the Middle East and 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 high-speed Internet services through teleports in France and Italy that serve consumers, enterprises, local communities, government agencies and aid organisations in Europe, Africa, Asia and the Americas. Headquartered in Paris, Eutelsat and its subsidiaries employ just over 750 commercial, technical and operational professionals. This culturally diverse staff comprises employees from 30 countries. http://www.eutelsat.com

SOURCE Eutelsat Communications