Eutelsat Presents Satellite Broadband Solutions in Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia to ITU/UNESCO Broadband Commission for Digital Development

PARIS, April 2, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

Eutelsat's satellite broadband solutions were demonstrated today in the Macedonian city of Ohrid to a regional meeting of the Broadband Commission for Digital Development.

The Broadband Commission was launched by the ITU in 2010 in response to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon's call to step up UN efforts to meet the Millennium Development Goals. It is co-chaired by President Paul Kagame of Rwanda and Carlos Slim Helú, President of the Carlos Slim Foundation, with ITU Secretary-General Dr Hamadoun Touré and UNESCO Director-General, Irina Bokova, serving as joint vice chairs.

The regional meeting in the Macedonian mountainous community of Ohrid, included a review of the major challenges faced in developing broadband access in South-East Europe. Eutelsat demonstrated the capability of the Tooway service provided via its KA-SAT High Throughput Satellite to extend broadband to rural communities scattered throughout the region's rugged mountainous countryside and to support Macedonia's e-government initiatives.

The Executive Secretary of the EUTELSAT Intergovernmental Organisation, Christian Roisse, a founding Commissioner on the Broadband Commission, also signed a protocol today with the Macedonian Minister of the Information Society, Ivo Ivanovski, to promote satellite broadband using KA-SAT for government services, consumers and enterprises across the country.

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

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SOURCE Eutelsat Communications