Eutelsat Communications (Euronext Paris: ETL) has commercially launched FRANSAT, the new service giving satellite access in metropolitan France to all French free DTT (Digital Terrestrial Television) channels.
To receive FRANSAT, households can buy a labelled Pack comprising a decoder and a FRANSAT conditional-access smartcard. Packs are already available at typical points of sale for satellite TV (individual suppliers and antenna installers, as well as major DIY centres, specialist retail warehouses, and hypermarkets), with particular emphasis on availability in “white zones”. The new service is principally addressing the 10-15 percent of TV homes in metropolitan France which will be unable to receive terrestrial DTT, or who will have poor reception with the definitive switch-off of terrestrial analogue broadcasting, scheduled for November 30, 2011.
Commenting on the launch, Giuliano Berretta, Chairman and CEO of Eutelsat Communications, said, “The launch of FRANSAT on our ATLANTIC BIRD™ 3 satellite underscores Eutelsat’s objective to support the seamless transition of broadcasting in France into a fully digital environment, as mapped out in the government’s “Digital France 2012” Plan. The Plan expressed the ambition for a solution to switch to digital for the significant number of satellite homes already receiving analogue TV in areas not served terrestrially. Our 5 degrees West orbital position has been delivering French national analogue channels to terrestrial transmitters for more than 20 years. Over this period a large installed base of Direct-to-Home and community satellite antennas has developed to deliver these channels to homes in areas beyond terrestrial reception. Five months before the programme for switch-off of terrestrial analogue broadcasting begins it is natural for Eutelsat to propose a solution which enables these homes to switch to digital without any need to adjust their dish.”
FRANSAT offers access to France’s 18 free DTT channels, plus France Ô and the four HD channels TF1 HD, France 2 HD, M6 HD, ARTE HD. Based on the same model as terrestrial DTT, satellite reception of France’s free DTT channels via FRANSAT is subscription-free and not time-limited. This is a solution for homes unable to receive DTT terrestrially, requiring no dish change for the 1.5 million homes equipped for analogue reception of France’s national French channels. For homes equipped with a dish fitted with a universal LNB to receive France’s six national analog channels via ATLANTIC BIRD™ 3, by replacing their analogue decoder with a digital FRANSAT Pack they will get instant access to France’s free DTT channels with no change to their dish. Four manufacturers and distributors (Aston, Metronic, Servimat, Wisi) are providing labelled FRANSAT decoders tailored to individual needs. This product range will be progressively extended to offer consumers the widest possible choice. Decoder prices depend on the functionality provided (high definition, recording function, and so on). A single cable per home is sufficient to distribute all television and radio channels in a community building, including FRANSAT. Users simply need to connect their FRANSAT decoder into the plug-in socket.
