Intelsat… Global Gold (SATCOM)

[SatNews] Several new contracts have been awarded to the Company for its satellite services…

Intelsat S.A. now has several new contracts with media customers using their premier video distribution neighborhoods. The agreements provide programmers the ability to deliver content to customers across vast geographic regions and the globe.

New Contracts in Europe
Intelsat has entered into a multi-year, multi-transponder agreement with Orion Express LLC, a DTH television services provider in Russia, for SD + HD content. To support this agreement, Intelsat will move a Ku-band satellite to 85 degrees East by the first quarter of 2012, leveraging its fleet to deliver extended capacity to Orion. Once moved to 85 degrees East, the satellite is expected to remain in service through 2023. Its wide beam ensures consistent signal reception from Russia’s western borders to Irkutsk, a major city in Siberia. Then, in Eastern Europe, DigiTVs’ owner, S.C. RCS and RDS S.A., renewed its contract for capacity at Intelsat’s 1 degree West video neighborhood. As the leading DTH services operator in Central and Eastern Europe, RCS serves more than 2 million subscribers across five countries.

New Commitments in the Americas
STN, Ltd., a leading broadcast-over-satellite provider, recently entered into an agreement to offer international content to its customers in North America, greatly expanding the reach of its programming platform. The multi-year, multi-transponder deal will allow STN to offer the direct-to-home content on Intelsat’s Galaxy 19 at 97 degrees West. Additionally, Portugal Telecom renewed its multi-year contract recently for the distribution of Rádio e Televisão de Portugal, the nation’s public television channel, across Latin America and Africa. The content will be provided via Intelsat 805 at 304.5 degrees East and in Africa on Intelsat 907 at 332.5 degrees East.

Intelsat also announced it has signed a multi-transponder contract with Avail-TVN for C-band services on Galaxy 28 at 89 degrees West. The multi-year agreement will allow Avail-TVN to provide a suite of IPTV, HD and VoD services to its customers across North America and the Caribbean. Anhanguera, Brazil’s leading for-profit professional education company, is migrating all of its services on C-band capacity to Intelsat 1R at 310 degrees East. The multi-transponder deal will allow Anhanguera to broadcast up to 50 channels from its uplink centers in Brazil, which will be received by more than 500 distance learning centers nationwide. Also on Intelsat 1R, Casablanca, Brazil’s largest SNG service provider, recently signed a deal for C-band service with Intelsat to provide “Cinelive,” HD, live content to 65 movie theaters across 23 cities. The agreement lets Casablanca create a live satellite network in Brazilian digital movie theaters that allows for alternative content distribution, including operas, sporting events, and corporate training. Intelsat 1R has established itself as one of the best options for linear C-band contribution and distribution in Brazil.

Intelsat and TIBA, Latin America’s leading video carrier and content management provider, recently announced a contract extension for C-band capacity on Intelsat 27 at 304.5 degrees East, replacing Intelsat 805 in late 2012 or early 2013. The multiyear, multi-transponder agreement will allow TIBA to provide standard- and high-definition video programming to tier 1 broadcasters in the Americas and in Western Europe for the 15-year life of the satellite. TIBA bundles its satellite broadcast services with the space segment to provide turnkey solutions to broadcasters for distribution of their video programming.

New Contracts in Asia-Pacific
In Asia-Pacific, Canal + Overseas S.A.S., the largest French-speaking pay-TV operator in the French Overseas Territories, signed a multi-transponder, long-term agreement on Intelsat 18, set to launch in October. The satellite will provide high power Ku-band capacity to enable high-definition DTH programming, in this case for New Caledonia, and is Intelsat’s growing neighborhood of largely French language programming for the Pacific Ocean region. Bharti Teleports Limited recently signed a multi-year capacity agreement to provide video services in India and throughout Asia on Intelsat 17 at 66 degrees East. The multi-transponder deal gives Bharti continued access to India’s growing cable headend community.

Intelsat has also signed two contracts with SkyStream FZ LLC, a Dubai-based provider of connectivity and satellite services solutions. SkyStream has contracted for nearly 40 MHz of new C-band capacity on Intelsat 17 at 66 degrees East to offer GSM backhaul, Internet access and On-Demand video service to its maritime and terrestrial customers. SkyStream will offer Internet and On-Demand services to luxury yachts across the Persian Gulf, the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean, and to fixed sites in Asia, the Middle East and Africa. SkyStream will provide these services via Intelsat 17 and the IntelsatONE(sm) advanced terrestrial network, with connectivity support from Intelsat’s teleport in Fuchsstadt, Germany. SkyStream is also using part of the capacity to offer GSM backhaul services from the yachts and terrestrial sites back to its customers in the United Arab Emirates.

For more information, visit the Intelsat booth (1.C71) at IBC 2011 in Amsterdam, Holland, Sept. 8-14.