NEWS
Satellites Transmissions
UKRAINE Edited by
Branislav Pekic
EUROPE EUROPE ILS TO LAUNCH EUTELSAT W7 SATELLITE
Eutelsat has signed a contract with International Launch Services (ILS) for the launch in mid-November 2009 of the W7 satellite on an ILS Proton. Although originally scheduled for launch by Sea Launch, the decision to launch with ILS and Khrunichev was taken on the basis of their commitment to meeting Eutelsat’s critical timeframe to launch W7 in mid-November. W7 will be collocated with W4 at 36 degrees East and through a configuration of 70 transponders, the new satellite will provide coverage of Russia, sub-Saharan Africa and central Asia. W7 will also assume all traffic on the SESAT 1 satellite that is currently positioned at 36 degrees East.
EUTELSAT TOPS 100 HDTV CHANNEL MARK
In October, Eutelsat announced that it has broken through the barrier of 100 High-Definition TV channels broadcasting through its video satellites. The 100th channel to take to the skies was Sky Sport 1HD from the Sky Italia pay-TV platform. A total of 42% of the 243 HD satellite channel streams in Europe and the Middle East are broadcast through a Eutelsat satellite. Eutelsat’s Hot Bird position accounts for 40% of HD channels broadcast by the Group’s satellites. According to Eutelsat’s analysis, over 10 million households intend to move into an HD environment over the next year.
UKRAINE TO LAUNCH SATELLITE IN 2011
Ukraine will launch the first domestic communications satellite on September 1, 2011 within the framework of implementation of the program for the creation of a national satellite system, says Director General of the National Space Agency Oleksandr Zinchenko. The satellite will have 20 transponders to be leased out to foreign clients. A backup satellite will be launched in 2018. Currently Ukraine uses telecommunication services of foreign satellites Sirius, Astra, Amos, and Hotbird.
NORTH AMERICA CANADA ILS PROTON LAUNCHES NIMIQ 5 SATELLITE
International Launch Services (ILS) on September 18 successfully launched the Nimiq 5 satellite into orbit for Telesat. Nimiq 5 is equipped with 32 Ku-band transponders to beam DTH programming and HDTV across North America. Echostar is taking all of the capacity on Nimiq 5.
UNITED STATES SIRIUS FM-5 SATELLITE PLACED INTO SERVICE
ITALY
Sirius FM-5, the newest addition to the Sirius XM satellite fleet, was recently placed into service on the Sirius network. The new satellite, which was manufactured by Space Systems/Loral, provides improved signal penetration and reception to millions of Sirius subscribers in North America. The satellite, launched on 30 June, was guided to its final orbit position and has successfully completed all post-launch testing. Its location in a geostationary orbit position at 96 degrees west.
EUTELSAT, OPENSKY AND DBW LAUNCH 3D GROUP
OVATION TV TO LAUNCH HD CHANNEL IN 2010
Italy’s OpenSky and DBW Communications have teamed up with Eutelsat to launch the 3D Stereoscopic Group. As part of the project, Eutelsat has been airing experimental content for the past six months on its first tri-dimensional satellite channel, the 3D Sat TV, simoultaneously with the first satellite transmission of live 2D and 3D events in cinemas. The partners have now introduced 3D events in 40 cinemas throughout Italy, which has now the biggest European network of this type.
THE NETHERLANDS CANAL DIGITAAL TO LAUNCH NEW HD CHANNELS ON ASTRA
SES Astra has signed a long-term contract extension for one transponder with Canal Digitaal for its digital services and the launch of new HD channels at Astra’s orbital position 23.5 degrees East. Canal Digitaal thus increases its already large HDTV offering for the Dutch and Flemish DTH market. Canal Digitaal has a total of six transponders on Astra providing services to over 900,000 DTH subscribers.
Arts channel Ovation TV plans to launch a simulcast High-Definition channel in July 2010. The channel offers a mix of programming, including concerts, documentaries and classic foreign films. Ovation executives have expressed hope that the HD edition will be picked by the nation’s TV providers.
MORE THAN 70% OF HOUSEHOLDS TO OWN HDTV SETS IN 2009
Renewed consumer spending on HDTVs should push the percentage of HD households to 71% this year, or about 82.3 million U.S. homes, according to a new forecast from SNL Kagan. In comparison, only 16% of U.S. homes owned HDTVs in 2005. The latest projection forecasts the HDTV set market will pick up in the second half of the year and continue advancing into 2010 with total sales this year reaching 29 million units, up 2.8 million from the last year’s level. By 20102011, mass adoption will take hold and 80-90% of U.S. homes will have HDTVs, said SNL Kagan.
POLAND
LATIN AMERICA
ADB DELIVERS HYBRID HD BOX TO ITI NEOVISION
AMAZONAS 2 LAUNCHED
Advanced Digital Broadcast (ADB) will deliver one of its next-generation hybrid set-top boxes to ITI Neovision to help strengthen its satellite pay-TV service “n”. Using the ADB-5720SX, “n” will create a new enhanced consumer TV experience to more than 500,000 subscribers. This will include access to a broader range of channels in high definition, VOD and gaming.
On October 2, an Ariane 5 ECA launcher launched the Amazonas 2 satellite into geostationary transfer orbits. Amazonas 2 is the fourth satellite to be built by Astrium for Hispasat. This powerful satellite, based on the Eurostar E3000 satellite platform, will increase the Spanish operator’s capacity to meet the growing market demand for telecommunication services in Brazil, as well as other parts of the Americas from a geostation-
90 TELE-satellite — Global Digital TV Magazine — 12-01/2010 — www.TELE-satellite.com
ary orbit position of 61° West. Amazonas 2 will operate 54 in the Ku band and 10 in the C band.
LATIN AMERICA COULD FACE LACK OF SATELLITE CAPACITY
Although 17 launches of new satellites that will cover by Latin America are planned by 2012, Latin American consultancy Convergência Research believes that this increased offer will not be enough to halt the upward trend in price caused by insufficient capacity. HDTV services, whether on free or pay-TV, are the main factors for the increase in demand for satellite capacity that, according to Convegência Research, will be responsible for raising the price per MHz. The consultancy estimates that HD on broadcast TV accounts for about 5% of capacity used by the TV. For 2014 the expectation is that such participation exceeds 10%.
BOLIVIA BOLIVIA TO BUY CHINESE SATELLITE
China plans to sell Bolivia a US$ 300 million telecommunications satellite it will build and send into orbit, President Evo Morales announced in October, adding that China might also finance the project. The United Nations pledged to provide Bolivia with technical help on orbital positions and frequency bands. State news agency ABI has reported the government could spend up to US$ 300 million for the satellite.
ASIA & PACIFIC BBC HD TO LAUNCH IN MIDDLE EAST REGION
BBC Worldwide is to expand its offering to the Middle East with more channels and additional localised content. According to Dean Possenniskie, General Manager and Senior Vice-President Emea BBC Worldwide Channels, BBC HD, the high-definition channel, will be launched in the region, adding that they are just waiting for regional service providers to enhance the technical support. “We already have more than 350 thousand hours of good-quality television programmes in high definition and soon we will add another 50 to 100 thousand hours of high-definition programming,” said Possenniskie.
AUSTRALIA FOXTEL TO INTRODUCE 15 HDTV CHANNELS
Foxtel has rolled out new channels and services under the moniker Foxtel Next Generation. The key new technology is the Foxtel Download service, the operator’s version of the BBC’s iPlayer, which allows subscribers PC access to 38 channels and over 400 hours of TV and movie programming to download also free of charge. In addition, 12 new standard definition and 15 new high definition channels will be introduced, and movie tiers will be expanded from 12 to 18. Foxtel’s HD service will include the following channels: UKTV, Fox8 and W, all three Fox Sports channels, Showtime Premiere, Showcase, Showtime Action, Movie One and Starpics.
AZERBAIJAN AZERBAIJAN STARTS WORK ON FIRST SATELLITE
Construction of Azerbaijan’s first communications satellite, Azerspace, began in September, in order to be launched in orbit by late 2010/early 2011. The satellite will likely be launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Orbital Sciences Corp took the first place in the tender and the plans call for the launching of two satellites (in 2011 and 2012) at a cost of up to US$ 170 million. Azerbaijan intends to use about