SES ASTRA, an SES company (Paris:SESG)(LuxX:SESG) has announced
today that it has started to transmit the "Europe by Satellite"
service, a multilingual TV news service from the European Commission.
SES ASTRA transmits the service from SES satellites at two orbital
positions. It uses the Sirius-2 satellite positioned at 5 degrees East
to broadcast over the European continent, North Africa and the Middle
East. It also uses the NSS-806 satellite positioned at 319.5 degrees
East to provide extended coverage to the East Coast of the United
States, to Latin America, the Caribbean and the Canary Islands. The
contract with the European Union (EU) also includes providing the
technical infrastructure required for the service.
"The transmission of this service by the SES satellite fleet gives
it a wider multi regional coverage and allows the European Commission
to reach all EU countries as well as other continents", says Alexander
Oudendijk, Chief Commercial Officer of SES ASTRA. "Our contract with
the EU shows that SES can combine its global space assets with
additional services and offer international customers and institutions
a broad range of technical solutions for information and data
transmission around the globe. We are proud to start this new
collaboration with the European Union."
About SES ASTRA www.ses-astra.com
SES ASTRA is the leading Direct-to-Home (DTH) satellite system in
Europe, delivering services to some 107 million Direct-to-Home and
cable households. The ASTRA satellite fleet currently comprises 12
satellites, transmitting more than 1,860 analogue and digital
television and radio channels. SES ASTRA also provides satellite-based
multimedia, internet and telecommunication services to enterprises,
governments and their agencies. With 26 High Definition (HD) channels
available via its satellites today, ASTRA is also the most important
HDTV broadcasting platform in Europe. ASTRA's prime orbital positions
are 19.2 degrees East, 28.2 degrees East and 23.5 degrees East.
SES ASTRA is an SES company (Paris:SESG)(LuxX:SESG). SES wholly
owns three market-leading satellite operators, SES ASTRA in Europe,
SES AMERICOM in North America, and SES NEW SKIES, which provides
global connectivity as well as coverage. The Company also holds
strategic participations in AsiaSat in Asia, Star One in Latin
America, SES Sirius in Europe, Ciel in Canada and Quetzsat in Mexico.
Americom Government Services provides network solutions and bandwidth
to the US government and its contractors. SES provides outstanding
satellite communications solutions via a fleet of 44 satellites on 33
orbital positions around the globe. Additional information on SES is
available at: www.ses-global.com.
