Artistic rendition of EUTELSAT’s W3C satellite
Eutelsat Communications (Euronext Paris: ETL) has announced the full entry into commercial service of the powerful W3C satellite at 16 degrees East. The transfer of all traffic, including more than 480 television channels, onto W3C from the EUROBIRD™ 16, W2M and SESAT 1 satellites was completed this morning by Eutelsat’s control center, working in close collaboration with clients and providers of uplink services. With the high-capacity W3C going on-line at 16 degrees East, Eutelsat is further equipped to service satellite broadcasting markets in Central Europe and Indian Ocean islands. More than 11 million homes in Central Europe and 500,000 in Indian Ocean islands are already equipped to receive broadcast services from this longstanding Eutelsat neighbourhood. payTV platforms and public and private broadcasters using W3C include SBB, Digitalb, TV Max, Tring and TV Romania that are addressing Central Europe via a high-power footprint optimised for the region.
A second regional footprint centred over Madagascar and Indian Ocean islands is serving the Canal+ Overseas, Parabole Réunion and Orange platforms as well as France Télévisions to support digital switchover in Reunion Island and Mayotte. SBB, operator of Total TV, the leading DTH platform in the Adriatic region, is taking immediate benefit from W3C’s increased capacity to add two transponders to the six already leased at 16 degrees East. SBB’s additional capacity, leased to 2020, will be used to support a number of new channels in all of Total TV’s markets. W3C also opens a new route to Africa, in a region stretching from Senegal to Madagascar for DTH TV broadcasting as well as data and broadband services.
To address high demand for broadband, a new platform using Sat3Play® hub technology provided by Newtec is currently being installed at Eutelsat’s Sardinia teleport. Due to enter commercial service in early 2012, the new hub will provide broadband services for SOHOs, SMEs and consumers in western and central Africa. With a scheduled in-orbit lifetime exceeding 15 years, W3C is based on the Thales Alenia Space Spacebus 4000 platform. Eutelsat’s EUROBIRD™ 16 and SESAT 1 and W2M satellites remain in commercial service. The new satellite enters service two weeks after Eutelsat’s ATLANTIC BIRD™ 7 satellite, and forms part of an in-orbit expansion program that will continue with the launches of six additional spacecraft from 2012 to 2014.
