Eutelsat's W3C Satellite in Full Commercial Service - New W3C and ATLANTIC BIRD 7 Satellites Inject Additional Resources and Flexibility Into Eutelsat's Fleet

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Nov 09, 2011, 10:47 ET

PARIS, November 9, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --

Eutelsat Communications (Euronext Paris: ETL) today announced the full entry into commercial service of the powerful W3C satellite at 16° East.

The transfer of all traffic, including over 480 television channels, onto W3C from the EUROBIRD™ 16, W2M and SESAT 1 satellites was completed this morning by Eutelsat's control centre, working in close collaboration with clients and providers of uplink services.

With the high-capacity W3C going on-line at 16° East, Eutelsat is further equipped to service dynamic satellite broadcasting markets in Central Europe and Indian Ocean islands. Over 11 million homes in Central Europe and 500,000 in Indian Ocean islands are already equipped to receive broadcast services from this longstanding Eutelsat neighbourhood.

Pay-TV platforms and public and private broadcasters using W3C include SBB, Digitalb, TV Max, Tring and TV Romania that are addressing Central Europe via a high-power footprint optimised for the region. A second regional footprint centred over Madagascar and Indian Ocean islands is serving the Canal+ Overseas, Parabole Réunion and Orange platforms as well as France Télévisions to support digital switchover in Reunion Island and Mayotte.

SBB, operator of Total TV, the leading DTH platform in the Adriatic region, is taking immediate benefit from W3C's increased capacity to add two transponders to the six already leased at 16° East. SBB's additional capacity, leased to 2020, will be used to support a number of new channels in all of Total TV's markets.

W3C also opens a new route to Africa, in a region stretching from Senegal to Madagascar for Direct-To-Home TV broadcasting as well as data and broadband services. To address high demand for broadband, a new platform using Sat3Play® hub technology provided by Newtec is currently being installed at Eutelsat's Sardinia teleport. Due to enter commercial service in early 2012, the new hub will provide broadband services for SOHOs, SMEs and consumers in western and central Africa.

With a scheduled in-orbit lifetime exceeding 15 years, W3C is based on the Thales Alenia Space Spacebus 4000 platform. Eutelsat's EUROBIRD™ 16 and SESAT 1 and W2M satellites remain in commercial service.

The new satellite enters service two weeks after Eutelsat's ATLANTIC BIRD™ 7 satellite, and forms part of an in-orbit expansion programme that will continue with the launches of six additional spacecraft from 2012 to 2014.

Click on the link below for W3C's frequencies for TV reception:

http://www.eutelsat.com/satellites/pdf/W3C_16E_FreqChanges.pdf

About Eutelsat Communications

Eutelsat Communications (Euronext Paris: ETL, ISIN code: FR0010221234) is the holding company of Eutelsat S.A.. With capacity commercialised on 29 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. As of 30 June 2011, Eutelsat's satellites were broadcasting more than 3,800 television channels. More than 1,100 channels are broadcast via its HOT BIRD™ video neighbourhood at 13 degrees East alone which serves over 120 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 access to high speed internet 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 just over 700 commercial, technical and operational professionals from 30 countries.