CAPE TOWN, South Africa,
November 12, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --
12-14 November 2013, Cape Town
International Convention Centre, Stand D09
Eutelsat showcasing satellite
resources and services to accelerate digital infrastructure
build-out across Africa
- Africa at the core of
Eutelsat's footprint: three new satellites brought into service
over last 12 months
- Three further satellites delivering new resources across
multiple frequency bands by end 2015
- IP Easy broadband service now available across sub-Saharan
Africa
- Continued growth of Eutelsat's leading video neighbourhoods
serving Africa and Indian Ocean
islands: over 720 channels, 40 already in High Definition
With digital infrastructure build-out high on Africa's agenda, leading media and telecoms
players are assembling in Cape
Town this week for the 17th Africacom exhibition
and conference.
The newest satellite technologies and services will be showcased
this year by Eutelsat, one of the world's leading satellite
operators. Eutelsat will present the features of recently launched
and upcoming satellites designed to serve the African continent,
and new solutions to support markets for digital broadcasting, VSAT
networks, mobile backhauling, IP trunking and broadband access.
Eutelsat, the broadest satellite
portfolio over Africa
With its 31 satellites concentrated in the geostationary arc
from 15° West to 172° East, Eutelsat offers an exceptional
footprint of Europe, Africa, the Middle
East and Asia, and
continues to pursue investments that will accompany the growth of
digital services.
A unique portfolio of satellite resources spanning C, Ku and
Ka-bands equips Eutelsat to respond to multiple markets and affords
a high level of commercial flexibility. C-band capacity is
connected to powerful continental footprints offering unrivalled
service availability for robust data networks. Ku-band transponders
are connected to high-power regional beams optimised for
broadcasting and also for data. In the higher Ka-band range of
frequencies, Eutelsat has already deployed capacity over
North Africa with the KA-SAT
satellite for broadband services. This capability will be expanded
in 2014 to sub-Saharan Africa with the EUTELSAT 3B satellite.
Three new innovative and highly
flexible satellites with Africa at
the core of their footprint
These new satellites are designed to provide ISPs, telecom and
mobile phone operators, video companies and government service
providers with national, regional and continental coverage as well
as connectivity with Europe, the
Middle East, the Americas and the
Asia-Pacific region.
- EUTELSAT 21B has increased resources at the established
21° East position by 30% and opened a new service area over
North-West Africa down to the Gulf
of Guinea, combined with
interconnectivity with Europe, the
Middle East and Central Asia;
- Unique of its kind,EUTELSAT 70B has been 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 Ku-band beams are located on a single
platform. EUTELSAT 70B has more than doubled capacity at 70.5° East
for data and government services, broadband access, GSM backhauling
and professional video exchanges.
- EUTELSAT 3D has opened additional Ku-band transponders
with extended coverage of Sub-Saharan Africa at Eutelsat's 3° East
location. Capacity at 3° East will be taken a step further with the
launch of EUTELSAT 3B early 2014. This is a tri-band
satellite (C, Ku, and Ka) enabling operators to choose the
frequency band most adapted to their services. The Ku and C-band
capacity will further consolidate Eutelsat's response to broadcast
and data markets. High throughput beams in the Ka-band, which are
individually steerable to regional and national markets and
operated with scalable allocation of power and spectrum, are ideal
to support innovative applications in bandwidth-demanding
markets.
New resources further boosting support
for clients in Africa
Eutelsat's long-term roadmap is clear: to continue to renew and
increase capacity as well as raise in-orbit security so customers
can boost their business and open paths of expansion. Three
satellites to launch by early 2015 will take resources for
Africa to a new level:
Africa, Europe,
Middle East, Central 30 Ku / 9 Ka
EUTELSAT 3B[1] 3 degree(s)E H1 2014 Asia, Latin America / 12 C
Africa, Middle East,
EUTELSAT 8 West B 7/8 degree(s)W Q3 2015 South America 40 Ku / 10 C
Sub-saharan Africa, Up to 52 Ku
EUTELSAT 36C[2] 36 degree(s)E H2 2015 Russia / 18 Ka
[1]When launched to 3° East,
EUTELSAT 3B will release EUTELSAT 3D to 7° East for video markets
in Turkey
[2]Partnership with RSCC.
Transponders indicated for Eutelsat portion only
IP Easy broadband service now available across
Sub-Saharan Africa
IP Easy is an affordable and easy-to-install two-way broadband
access solution for residential and home office users as well as
small and medium-sized enterprises. Following its first year of
operation, IP Easy is now available across sub-Saharan Africa via
the EUTELSAT 10A satellite.
Combining the strengths of Ku-band capacity with Newtec's
successful Sat3Play® technology, IP Easy delivers downlink speeds
of up to 4Mbps and can support VOIP and reception of TV channels in
triple play mode. The selection of Newtec's Sat3Play® product,
which uses Point&Play self-installation, also enables end users
to autonomously install the complete system with no specific
qualification needed or expensive tooling.
Eutelsat broadcasting over 720 TV
channels in Africa and Indian
Ocean
Over 50% of the 1,400 satellite channels in Africa and Indian Ocean islands broadcast from
one of Eutelsat's market-leading video neighbourhoods. Channels
have increased by 20% over the last two years, with the majority of
video activity concentrated at two Eutelsat positions:
- The 36° East neighbourhood occupied by the EUTELSAT 36A and 36B
satellites is the leading orbital position for satellite TV in
Africa. It is the neighbourhood of
choice for pay-TV platforms that include DStv, operated by
MultiChoice, and ZAP, operated by ZON from Portugal. With new capacity at 36° East over
170 new channels have joined this neighbourhood over the last two
years, taking the count to 300 channels.
- The 16° East neighbourhood - occupied by EUTELSAT 16A - and
selected by Canal+ Overseas, Orange, Parabole Réunion and France
Télévisions, is the point of reference for digital TV in Indian
Ocean islands. EUTELSAT 16A also broadcasts a platform hosting over
30 francophone channels to homes in Western Africa.
EUTELSAT 7A - a new star for
Africa, hosting AzamTV
In addition to these longstanding neighbourhoods, the
sub-Saharan Africa footprint of EUTELSAT 7A has been selected by
Azam Media Ltd. to broadcast its new TV venture, AzamTV, starting
in East Africa, from its base in
Tanzania. To launch on
November 29, AzamTV will offer over
55 African and international channels, including three home-grown
channels, Azam One, Azam Two and Sinema Zetu (films in Kiswahili)
and Tanzania Premier League
matches. In addition to capacity and uplink services, Eutelsat has
developed a training programme for installers called 'Satëlite' to
ensure that subscribers to AzamTV receive the best service for the
installation of their DTH equipment.
Transitioning to digital
The roll-out of Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) is also
driving demand for satellites across Africa. Satellites are already an established
platform for delivering DTT channels to terrestrial retransmitters
and enabling homes beyond range of terrestrial reception to receive
content on a Direct-to-Home basis. Building on the extensive
experience gained in responding to the multiple challenges faced by
mountainous regions, deserts, tropical and equatorial areas,
Eutelsat will be showcasing at Africacom a full range of solutions
including the primary transport of DTT and DTH broadcasting as well
on-ground solutions including encoding, multiplexing, uplink
services, implementation of on-ground stations and training
programmes.
Where to meet Eutelsat at
Africacom:
12 November, 3.00 - 3:20pm
Keynote: How Future Satellite Communications Will Improve
Cost-Efficiency In Africa - Rodney
Benn, Vice President for Africa, Eutelsat
About Eutelsat Communications
With capacity commercialised on 31 satellites delivering reach
of Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia,
significant parts of the Americas and the Asia-Pacific, Eutelsat Communications
(Euronext Paris: ETL, ISIN code: FR0010221234) is one of the
world's leading satellite operators. As of 30 September 2013, Eutelsat's satellites were
broadcasting more than 4,700 television channels to over 200
million cable and satellite homes in Europe, the Middle
East and Africa. The
Group's satellites also provide a wide range of services for TV
contribution, corporate networks and fixed and mobile broadband
markets. Headquartered in Paris,
Eutelsat and its subsidiaries employ over 780 commercial, technical
and operational professionals from 30 countries.
http://www.eutelsat.com
SOURCE Eutelsat Communications
