SES ASTRA, an SES GLOBAL company (Paris:SESG)
(LuxX:SESG), played an important and successful role in the content
delivery and distribution of the 2006 FIFA World Cup(TM) hosted in
Germany in June and July.
On the basis of a framework agreement concluded last year, SES
ASTRA and T-Systems cooperated in providing a variety of transmission
solutions and worldwide content delivery packages to help facilitate
the TV coverage of the 2006 FIFA World Cup(TM) for a number of
international broadcasters. These packages consisted of signal
delivery, temporary satellite transponder capacity as well as uplink
and downlink services. T-Systems is the business customer division of
Deutsche Telekom and one of Europe's leading providers of information
and communications technology.
The ASTRA satellite system, which reaches 107 million households
across Europe, also served as a major hub for the distribution of TV
coverage for the 2006 FIFA World Cup(TM), transmitting TV signals from
ASTRA`s orbital positions at 19.2(degree) East, 28.2(degree) East and
23.5(degree) East and serving more than 20 major TV operators and
resellers across Europe and in Japan. Signals were also broadcast in
High Definition (HD) format to operators in Germany, France, United
Kingdom, Belgium and Japan.
"SES ASTRA has again benefited from its role as a leading
satellite operator and from its international experience in high
quality transmissions", said Alexander Oudendijk, Chief Commercial
Officer of SES ASTRA. "The transmission of the 2006 FIFA World Cup(TM)
has shown that we are committed to maintain the highest standards in
service and technology for our customers around the world."
About SES ASTRA www.ses-astra.com
The ASTRA Satellite System 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 13 satellites, transmitting in excess of 1600
analogue and digital television and radio channels as well as
multimedia and Internet services. ASTRA's two prime orbital positions
for DTH services are 19.2(degree) East and 28.2(degree) East.
Professional services such as Direct-to cable (DTC), Satellite
Newsgathering (SNG) and Occasional Use are offered from the orbital
position of 23.5(degree) East.
SES ASTRA is an SES GLOBAL company (Paris:SESG) (LuxX:SESG). SES
GLOBAL wholly owns three market-leading satellite operators, SES ASTRA
in Europe, SES AMERICOM in the US and New Skies Satellites in regions
other than North America and Europe. 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 GLOBAL provides outstanding
satellite communications solutions via a fleet of 43 satellites across
the globe. Additional information on SES GLOBAL is available at:
www.ses-global.com
