SES ASTRA, an SES company (Paris:SESG) (LuxX:SESG), announced today that the Slovakian telecommunications and TV operator Towercom has doubled its capacity on ASTRA and contracted one more transponder at the orbital position 23.5 degrees East. Towercom, which owns and operates the Skylink TV platform in Slovakia and the Czech Republic, will use the additional capacity for different local channels for Direct–to–Home (DTH) reception including High Definition (HD). Towercom is successfully developing its Skylink platform via ASTRA´s 23.5 degrees East orbital position which is becoming a new prime position for Direct–to–Home (DTH) services in Central and Eastern Europe.
"The Central and Eastern European markets continue to show strong demand and a dynamic development," says Alexander Oudendijk, Chief Commercial Officer of SES ASTRA. "Our 23.5 degrees East orbital position is benefiting from that and is increasingly developing into a top slot for broadcasters in this region. The new contract with Towercom, one of the most innovative Slovakian telecommunications and television companies, is further evidence of that."
"The ASTRA satellite system is a strong basis allowing us to extend our offer in the Central and Eastern European markets," says Roman Fischer, CEO of Towercom, operator of the Skylink platform. "The new capacity agreement with SES ASTRA allows us to embed our programs in a very attractive neighbourhood of channels in Standard as well as in High Definition format. It also allows us to combine the offer with the large international free–to–air channel choice which can be received from ASTRA 19.2 degrees East with a simple dual reception device on the satellite dish."
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 14 ASTRA and two 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 and radio channels. SES ASTRA also provides satellite–based multimedia, internet and telecommunication services to enterprises, governments and their agencies. With 46 High Definition (HD) channels concentrated on its main orbital positions, ASTRA and SIRIUS represent the most important HDTV platform for Europe´s leading broadcasters. The prime orbital positions for ASTRA and SIRIUS are 19.2° East, 28.2° East, 23.5° East, 5° East and 31.5° 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 provides global coverage and connectivity. The company owns 90 percent of SES SIRIUS in Europe, as well as strategic participations in 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
About Towercom www.skylink.sk
Towercom, Inc. is privately–owned TV and telecommunications operator based in Bratislava, Slovakia. Towercom serves Slovakian and Czech Free–to–Air and encrypted TV channels, mobile phone operators, incumbent and alternative fix telecommunications operators, state authorities, utility providers and other entrerprises. Towercom, Inc. is operating the digital satellite platform Skylink as well as the pay–TV package MULTI.
