SES ASTRA Satellite Leads European Digitalisation

SES ASTRA, an SES company (Paris:SESG) (LuxX:SESG), today
announced that according to its most recent annual reach study 83 per
cent of the satellite TV households in Europe and North Africa are
digitalized. This is more than four times more than in cable where in
average 20 per cent of all households are digital. With a share of 58
per cent of all(1) digital households satellite represents the most
popular digital reception mode. These are the results of the new SES
ASTRA Satellite Monitor which has been presented today in London.

Of the 239 million analogue and digital TV households counted
across the examined 35 countries in Europe and North Africa, nearly
100 million are digital out of which 56.8 million are digital
satellite households. 41.1 million of these homes receive digital
services directly from ASTRA or SIRIUS satellites. Over 99 per cent of
European satellite TV channels are digital. Overall the combined
satellite systems of SES ASTRA and SES SIRIUS serve 117.2 million
analogue and digital homes in Europe and North Africa. 50.3 million of
these homes receive their signals directly from ASTRA or SIRIUS
satellites (Direct to home, DTH). The other 66.9 million homes receive
signals through a satellite feed to cable head-ends.

The SES ASTRA Satellite Monitor is conducted annually by leading
market research institutes in the respective countries and on behalf
of SES ASTRA. For the monitoring, more than 70,000 telephone and
face-to-face interviews were conducted all over Europe at the end of
last year. The methodology and the results are controlled by
independent institutes. The ASTRA and SIRIUS satellite platforms in
Europe include Sky in the UK, Canal + in France, Premiere in Germany,
Sogecable in Spain, Canal Digitaal in the Netherlands, UPC, Czech Link
and Sky Link in Central and Eastern Europe.

"Our new Satellite Monitor clearly confirms that satellite is
leading the digitalisation across Europe and remains the most
attractive digital reception mode," said Alexander Oudendijk, Chief
Commercial Officer of SES ASTRA. "Satellite remains one of the fastest
growing TV infrastructures and has increased its reach over the last
five years across the 35 countries that we measure by 50 per cent. The
ASTRA and SIRIUS satellites have again proven to be the leading
European system for direct TV reception."

About SES ASTRA www.ses-astra.com

SES ASTRA is the leading Direct-to-Home (DTH) satellite system in
Europe. The satellite fleet currently comprises 12 ASTRA and three
SIRIUS satellites. The combined satellite system delivers services to
more than 117 million DTH and cable households and transmits a total
of 2,295 analogue and digital television as well as radio channels.
SES ASTRA also provides satellite-based multimedia, internet and
telecommunication services to enterprises, governments and their
agencies. With 30 High Definition (HD) channels available via its
satellites today, ASTRA and SIRIUS represent the most important HDTV
broadcasting platform in Europe. The prime orbital positions for ASTRA
and SIRIUS are 19.2degrees East, 28.2degrees East, 23.5degrees East
and 5degrees East.

SES ASTRA is an SES company (Paris:SESG) (LuxX:SESG). SES owns
three market-leading satellite operators, SES ASTRA in Europe, SES
AMERICOM in North America, and SES NEW SKIES, which provide global
coverage and connectivity. The Company also holds strategic
participations in SES SIRIUS in Europe, Ciel in Canada and Quetzsat in
Mexico. SES provides outstanding satellite communications solutions
via a fleet of 38 satellites in 25 orbital positions around the globe.
Additional information on SES is available at: www.ses.com

(1) Including satellite, cable, terrestrial TV and TV over DSL.