SES Astra Signs First
Deal At New Orbital Position With German Cable Operators
(16 July 2008) SES Astra, an SES
company, today announced that it has signed a long-term agreement with a
company representing the independent German cable operators to transmit digital
Free-to-Air TV to their
networks.
KabelDienstLeistungsgesellschaft (KDL), which was set
up specifically to provide services to the independent cable operators, has
contracted two transponders on SES Astra's new orbital position at 31.5 degrees
East. KDL is the first customer using transponder capacity at this position. In
addition to the contracted capacity, Astra Platform Services (APS) will provide
technical services to KDL via its play-out centre in Unterföhring, near
Munich.
The independent cable operators provide TV-signals from their
own head ends to several million German households. The co-operation with SES
Astra enables KDL to offer them an optimised access to digital TV channels
called TOPP (Transponder optimised program packages). The service allows a
simple and efficient feed of 22 digital free-to-air TV channels into the
networks. TOPP also includes the offer by KDL to distribute digital TV
receivers to the connected cable households. TOPP is scheduled for launch on
8th of October at the FRK cable congress in Leipzig, Germany.
Alexander
Oudendijk, Chief Commercial Officer of SES Astra, said: "SES Astra has
established itself as the prime supplier of signals to cable head-ends in
Germany. With this co-operation, we have found a strong partner to drive the
necessary digitalisation of the cable networks. We are also very pleased to
have closed the first capacity contract for our new orbital position at 31.5
degrees East. This new position will allow us to significantly enlarge and
diversify our offer to customers across Europe."
Heinz-Peter Labonte,
Managing Director of the Federal German Association of Private and Independent
Cable Operators (FRK), said: "The FRK initiated and supported TOPP, because it
wanted to offer to the private and independent cable operators who have their
own head-ends a solution to provide digital free-to-air programs to their
customers, independently from the large regional cable operators such as KDG,
Unity Media, KBW or TC/PC/Orion. TOPP helps the private and independent cable
operators to compete with the bigger operators and secures competition in the
German cable market."
Anett Klose, Managing Director of KDL said: "SES
Astra has a proven track record as a signal provider for cable head-ends and as
a neutral, technical infrastructure provider. The new partnership and the
launch of TOPP allow us to offer an attractive selection of digital channels,
defined by us in co-operation with the private and independent cable operators
to the cable market. This will significantly push the digitalisation of the
cable networks in Germany and will help the private and independent cable
companies to compete with bigger operators."
About SES Astra
SES
Astra is the leading Direct-to-Home (DTH) satellite system in Europe. The
satellite fleet currently comprises 14 Astra and two Sirius satellites. The
combined satellite system delivers services to more than 117 million DTH and
cable households and transmits a total of 2,295 analogue and digital television
and radio channels. SES Astra also provides satellite-based multimedia,
internet and telecommunication services to enterprises, governments and their
agencies. With 42 High Definition (HD) channels available via its satellites
today, Astra and Sirius represent the most important HDTV broadcasting platform
in Europe. The prime orbital positions for Astra and Sirius are 19.2° East,
28.2° East, 23.5° East, 5° East and 31.5° East.
SES
Astra is an SES company. SES owns three market-leading satellite operators, SES
Astra in Europe, SES Americom in North America, and SES New Skies which
provides global coverage and connectivity. The company owns 90 percent of SES
Sirius in Europe, as well as strategic participations in Ciel in Canada and
Quetzsat in Mexico. SES provides outstanding satellite communications solutions
via a fleet of 38 satellites in 25 orbital positions around the
globe.
(source: SES Astra)
