Eutelsat Inks Distribution Agreement With VIVACOM for its Tooway™ Satellite Broadband Service in Bulgaria

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Sep 29, 2011, 06:20 ET

PARIS and SOFIA, September 29, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --

Eutelsat Communications (Euronext Paris: ETL), Europe's leading satellite operator, today announced a distribution agreement between its Skylogic subsidiary and VIVACOM to provide the new generation Tooway™ satellite broadband service in Bulgaria. VIVACOM, Bulgaria's leading telecommunications service provider, will use the Tooway™ service, delivered via Eutelsat's KA-SAT satellite, to provide high-speed broadband services to residential and enterprise users beyond range of terrestrial networks.

With download speeds of up to 10 Mbps and upload speeds of up to 4 Mbps, Tooway™ satellite broadband will bring fast and reliable Internet access for VIVACOM customers. Almost one million Bulgarian households, that are mainly located in rural and suburban areas, are still beyond reach of fixed terrestrial or wireless networks, underscoring the potential of satellite broadband in VIVACOM's home market. VIVACOM is launching the service at prices starting from BGN 39 (19.90€) per month.

"The Tooway™ satellite broadband service is the latest addition to our wide portfolio of communicationssolutions", said Simeon Donev, Director Products and Services of VIVACOM."Its launch positions VIVACOM as the first ISP on the Bulgarian market with 100% national coverage, making it possible to extend broadband availability to users in areas with limited telecommunications infrastructure. This is a real breakthrough for the Internet landscape for Bulgaria."

"Tooway™ is coming into its own as the ideal satellite broadband service to complement terrestrial broadband, and we are delighted that its performance and potential have been recognised by VIVACOM, the leader in Bulgaria for developing modern telecommunications services," added Arduino Patacchini, CEO of Skylogic. "Tooway™ brings high speed Internet access to usersbeyond the digital divide and it is in this spirit that we look forward to working closely with VIVACOM so that broadband for all can be a reality in Bulgaria."

The Tooway™ solution consists of a small satellite dish and a modem connected to the PC via Ethernet, giving customers Internet access with no need for a landline. The service is delivered via Eutelsat's innovative KA-SAT satellite, which entered commercial service in May 2011. With its total capacity of more than 70 Gbps, KA-SAT ranks as the world's most powerful spacecraft and, as Europe's first High-Throughput Satellite (HTS), is bringing a new era of competitively-priced, satellite-delivered services for homes and small businesses across Europe and the Mediterranean Basin. The satellite forms the cornerstone of a new infrastructure which includes eight main satellite gateways across Europe connected to the Internet by a fibre backbone ring.

About VIVACOM

VIVACOM is the trademark of the Bulgarian Telecommunications Company AD (BTC), Bulgaria's incumbent telecoms operator. The company offers a full range of telecom services - fixed and mobile telephony, broadband Internet and data transfer. It has the country's largest and best-developed telecom infrastructure. VIVACOM's converged services are available in over 200 outlets of the operator and its dealers throughout Bulgaria. For more information about VIVACOM and its products and services, please visit http://www.vivacom.bg

About Eutelsat Communications

Eutelsat Communications (Euronext Paris: ETL, ISIN code: FR0010221234) is the holding company of Eutelsat S.A.. With capacity commercialised on 27 satellites that provide coverage over the entire European continent, as well as the Middle East, Africa, India and significant parts of Asia and the Americas, Eutelsat is one of the world's three leading satellite operators in terms of revenues. As of 30 June 2011, Eutelsat's satellites were broadcasting more than 3,800 television channels. More than 1,100 channels are broadcast via its HOT BIRD™ video neighbourhood at 13 degrees East alone which serves over 120 million cable and satellite homes in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. The Group's satellites also serve a wide range of fixed and mobile telecommunications services, TV contribution markets, corporate networks, and broadband markets for Internet Service Providers and for transport, maritime and in-flight markets. Eutelsat's broadband subsidiary, Skylogic, markets and operates access to high speed internet services through teleports in France and Italy that serve enterprises, local communities, government agencies and aid organisations in Europe, Africa, Asia and the Americas. Headquartered in Paris, Eutelsat and its subsidiaries employ just over 700 commercial, technical and operational professionals from 30 countries.