(EMAILWIRE.COM, September 13, 2011 ) Luxembourg/ Paris -- SES (Euronext Paris and Luxembourg Stock Exchange: SESG) announced today that Canal+ Overseas, the international subsidiary of French Pay-TV operator Canal+, has contracted multiple transponders and signed a long-term agreement for its subsidiary CANAL+ AFRIQUE in order to distribute the CANAL+/CANALSAT pay-TV bouquet of channels in Africa over the SES-4 satellite at the orbital location of 338 degrees East.
CANAL+/CANALSAT is the first French-speaking pay-TV offer in Africa, distributed by CANAL+ AFRIQUE. The new contract with SES includes includes renewed and additional capacity and will allow Canal+ Overseas to extend its offer and migrate the pay-TV bouquet from the current NSS-7 spacecraft to the upcoming SES-4 satellite, without changing the orbital position and without a repointing of customer dishes. It ensures the long-term availability of the entire Canal+ Overseas programme line-up, standard definition as well as high-definition, via a single orbital position and to all of Canal+ OverseasÂ’ target markets in Africa.
The 338 degrees East position is one of the most highly demanded orbital locations for trans-Atlantic traffic serving Africa, Europe and the Americas. SES-4 has been built by Space System/Loral and will be launched on board an ILS/Proton booster from Baikonur, Kazakhstan, in the fourth quarter of this year. The massive spacecraft carries 52 C-band transponders as well as 72 Ku-band transponders and as such will be the largest satellite in the SES satellite fleet. SES-4 will replace the NSS-7 spacecraft, releasing this satellite for new missions at other orbital positions.
States Ferdinand Kayser, Chief Commercial Officer of SES: “We are delighted to offer Canal+ Overseas a new satellite at 338 degrees East and extend our existing collaboration. This orbital location is already a well-established SES neighborhood over Africa and will offer our customers considerable incremental capacity for growth with SES-4. As Canal+ Overseas aims to increase the number of channels and services on offer and plans to introduce new HDTV services, SES will be pleased to provide the required state-of-the-art satellite capacity optimally covering all target markets in Africa.”
For further information please contact:
Markus Payer
SES
Tel + 352 710 725 500
markus.payer@ses.com
About SES
SES is a world-leading satellite operator with a fleet of 47 geostationary satellites. The company provides satellite communications services to broadcasters, content and internet service providers, mobile and fixed network operators and business and governmental organisations worldwide.
SES stands for long-lasting business relationships, high-quality service and excellence in the broadcasting industry. The culturally diverse regional teams of SES are located around the globe and work closely with customers to meet their specific satellite bandwidth and service requirements.
SES (Euronext Paris and Luxembourg Stock Exchange: SESG) holds participations in Ciel in Canada and QuetzSat in Mexico, as well as a strategic participation in satellite infrastructure start-up O3b Networks.
