HBO Asia and APT Sign APSTAR 2R and APSTAR 7 Satellite Long-term Lease Agreements

USA - English

• USA - English

HONG KONG, June 3 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- APT Satellite Holdings Limited (APT) has announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, APT Satellite Company Limited, has recently signed a long-term transponder lease agreement on APSTAR 2R (Telstar 10) with HBO Asia, a leader in home entertainment. The agreement also covers APSTAR 2R's replacement satellite APSTAR 7, set to be launched in early 2012.

APSTAR 2R, which is located in geostationary orbital slot at 76.5 degree East, was launched in November 1997. Its C-band transponders have very broad footprints covering the Asia Pacific region and its Ku-band transponders cover mainly Greater China. In an effort to replace APSTAR 2R in time, APT commissioned APSTAR 7 with Thales Alenia Space France on September 29, 2009.

"HBO Asia has had a long working relationship with APT and we have full confidence in the replacement programme and the advanced and competitive features that APSTAR 7 can offer to the market. APSTAR 5, 6 and APSTAR 7 will offer HBO Asia's network of linear and HD channels better satellite protection," said Mr. Vincent Teo, HBO Asia's Senior Vice President of Technology and Operations.

APSTAR 7 is the latest advanced telecommunication satellite based on the Spacebus 4000 C2 platform, with 28 C-band transponders and 28 Ku-band transponders offering reliable broadcasting and telecommunications services over hemispheric footprints covering the Asia Pacific Region, Middle East, and Africa.

APT has also signed a supplemental agreement with HBO Asia whereby APT will provide additional capacity with APSTAR 6 for HBO Asia's contingency solution to ensure business continuity.

APT's Executive Director and President, Mr. Cheng Guangren, said "We are extremely pleased to have HBO Asia as one of the important customers on APSTAR 2R/APSTAR 7. We appreciate that HBO Asia has full confidence in APSTAR 2R/APSTAR 7 and our services. We are committed to continuing to provide our highest quality services to HBO Asia on APSTAR 2R and APSTAR 7."

Mr. Cheng Guangren added, "We offer peace-of-mind assurance to our customers in respect of the APSTAR 2R replacement programme by the commissioning of APSTAR 7 as well as the provision of contingency solutions based on APSTAR 6 transponder capacities. The replacement programme and back-up solutions are critically important for supporting the business continuity and long-term planning of our important customers like HBO."

HBO Asia is available in 22 territories across Asia including Bangladesh, Brunei, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Macau, Maldives, Malaysia, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, People's Republic of China, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, the Philippines, Vietnam, and on military bases in South Korea. HBO offers closed-captioned subtitling in Bahasa Indonesia, Bahasa Malaysia, Cyrillic, English, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Thai, and Vietnamese.

About APT Satellite Holdings Limited

APT SATELLITE HOLDINGS LIMITED (the "Group") is listed on The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited. Having started its operation in 1992, the Group provides high-quality services in satellite transponders, satellite communications and broadcasting services for the broadcasting and telecommunications sectors in Asia Pacific, Europe and the United States. The Group currently operates the APSTAR system, including APSTAR 5, APSTAR 6, and APSTAR 2R, through its own Satellite Control Center in Tai Po, Hong Kong. As a replacement programme of APSTAR 2R in time, the Group has successfully commissioned the replacement programme in respect of APSTAR 2R based on APSTAR 7. In line with its business development strategies, the Group has established its satellite TV broadcasting platform. Together with its satellite telecommunications services and data center services, the Group provides reliable "one-stop" satellite broadcasting services and telecommunications services to customers. The Group endeavors to leverage its competitive advantages and high quality services for market expansion and business growth. For more information, please visit http://www.apstar.com .

About HBO Asia

Singapore-based HBO Asia is able to bring the best of Hollywood to Asia first because of its licensing deals with major Hollywood studios -- Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures, Universal Studios and Warner Bros. In addition to the proprietary and award-winning HBO Original programs that are produced exclusively for HBO viewers, HBO Asia works with a large number of major independent production companies to secure exclusive rights to a host of quality movies. HBO Asia offers five commercial-free subscription movie channels - HBO, HBO SIGNATURE, HBO FAMILY, HBO HITS and MAX (a refresh of CINEMAX) - as well as a subscription video-on-demand service, HBO ON DEMAND and HBO HD, the first regional movie channel to broadcast in high definition in Asia, in selected markets. HBO Asia is a joint venture of HBO (a Time Warner company) and Paramount. Log on to http://www.hboasia.com for more information.

    For further information, please contact:

     Dr. Brian Lo
     APT Satellite Holdings Limited
     Tel:   +852-9185-2239
     Fax:   +852-2522-0419
     Email: [email protected]

     Karen Lai
     Director, Communications
     HBO Asia
     Tel:   +65-6381-1796
     Email: [email protected]

SOURCE APT Satellite Holdings Limited; HBO Asia