Eutelsat Communications: Capacity on Four Satellites Mobilised to Cover the Two Rounds of the French Presidential Elections

PARIS, April 18, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

Capacity on four satellites operated by Eutelsat Communications (Euronext Paris: ETL) will be mobilised by French and international media to assure live coverage of the French presidential elections on Sunday 22 April and 6 May 2012. Over 400 hours of capacity has so far been booked on EUTELSAT 12 West A, EUTELSAT 8 West A, EUTELSAT 7A and EUTELSAT 5 West A in order to transmit live coverage from major sites across France including voting booths, the HQs of the country's political parties and the Elysée Palace.

Resources leased on Eutelsat satellites will meet significant broadcaster requirements by France Télévision Group, and Globe Cast France and Arqiva France operators which secure capacity for their own TV channel customers.

For Jean-François Leprince-Ringuet, Eutelsat's Commercial Director: "The French presidential elections set the stage for a year of strong activity for our on-demand allocation service with elections in several major countries and iconic sports events. Our on-demand service is mainly used for covering SNG news and large events broadcast live on TV. Furthermore, it adds flexibility to our customers' pool of permanent resources through occasional contracts designed to address an uptick in activity."

Eutelsat's Booking Centre coordinates the allocation of occasional satellite capacity from minimum periods of 10 minutes for SNGs up to several days for the coverage of sporting events such as the Olympic Games or the FIFA World Cup.

In addition to these Ku-band services and following the roll-out of the KA-SAT satellite, Eutelsat has launched a new SNG solution dubbed NewsSpotter enabling the use of Ka-band terminals that can be carried in a back-pack for Fly-away use or fitted onto a small car.

About Eutelsat Communications

Eutelsat Communications (Euronext Paris: ETL, ISIN code: FR0010221234) is the holding company of Eutelsat S.A.. With capacity commercialised on 28 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 31 December 2011, Eutelsat's satellites were broadcasting more than 4,150 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. http://www.eutelsat.com

SOURCE Eutelsat Communications

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