Multichoice Takes New Capacity on Eutelsat SESAT 1

[BGonaSTICK]

MultiChoice Africa, the leading pay-TV operator in sub-Saharan Africa, has boosted its capacity leases with Eutelsat Communications (Euronext Paris: ETL) to support further expansion of its pay television and Internet services in sub-Saharan Africa. With the lease of four new Ku-band transponders on Eutelsat's SESAT 1 satellite, MultiChoice Africa will be able to extend the range of digital channels it markets to subscribers in central and East Africa as well as its offer of residential and corporate Internet access.

With this new capacity MultiChoice Africa is using a total of 13 transponders on Eutelsat's W4 and SESAT 1 Ku-band satellites which are co-located at 36 degrees East. Through capacity leases with Eutelsat since 2000, MultiChoice Africa has built a subscriber base of over 450,000 homes across 48 countries in sub-Saharan Africa who already receive its DStv platform of more than 70 television and 40 audio channels catering for English, Portuguese, Indian and French-speaking communities.

MultiChoice Africa CEO Eben Greyling said the agreement put MultiChoice Africa in a strong position to fulfil its commitment to subscribers in ensuring that they receive the world's best channels through DStv. "The new agreement with Eutelsat ensures that we remain at the forefront of content and technology in digital satellite television. Our leadership in using the best technological platforms means we are able to continue delivering the most reliable signal delivering premium services in Africa," Greyling said.

Olivier Millies-Lacroix, Eutelsat Commercial Director said: "We are very pleased to further cement our longstanding relationship with MultiChoice Africa through new capacity leases on the SESAT 1 satellite which, together with our collocated W4 satellite, is ideally located to serve growing video markets in the African continent."

Source: Eutelsat