Eutelsat's ATLANTIC BIRD™ 7 Satellite Goes Live, Boosting Resources and Reach at the Premier Video Neighbourhood in Middle East and North Africa

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Oct 24, 2011, 06:28 ET

PARIS, October 24, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --

Eutelsat Communications (Euronext Paris: ETL) announces the full entry into commercial service of its high-capacity ATLANTIC BIRD™ 7 satellite one month after its launch to 7 degrees West.

The transfer of all television channels onto ATLANTIC BIRD™ 7 at 7 degrees West from the ATLANTIC BIRD™ 4A satellite was completed in the early hours of October 23 by Eutelsat's control centre, working in close collaboration with broadcast clients and providers of uplink services.

More than 400 TV channels are now broadcasting via ATLANTIC BIRD™ 7 into almost 30 million homes located from the North African Atlantic coastline across to the Gulf states. The satellite's increased Ku-band capacity delivers headroom for growth at the premier video neighbourhood in the region. Its significantly enhanced footprint will also enable broadcasters to expand reach into satellite homes, notably across North Africa and in the Gulf.

With ATLANTIC BIRD™ 7's entry into service, Eutelsat is strengthening its relationship with Nilesat, the Egyptian satellite operator that also manages its own system of three satellites at the 7 degrees West neighbourhood. Nilesat is leasing new transponders on Eutelsat's satellite in addition to leases transferred from ATLANTIC BIRD™ 4A. The supplemental capacity will further anchor the 7° West neighbourhood in the satellite broadcasting market across the MENA region, enabling Nilesat and Eutelsat to boost resources for digital channels and HDTV which is rapidly making inroads at 7 degrees West, with 30 HDTV channels already broadcasting.

Having completed its mission at 7 degrees West, the ATLANTIC BIRD™ 4A satellite is now released to continue full commercial service at another Eutelsat location. The satellite is being redeployed to 3 degrees East to address data and telecoms markets in Europe and South-West Asia. It will be called EUTELSAT 3C and will be colocated at 3 degrees East with EUTELSAT 3A.

Built for Eutelsat by Astrium, ATLANTIC BIRD^[^TM^] 7 is based on the Eurostar E3000 platform, with a launch mass of 4.6 tonnes and a spacecraft power of 12kW. Astrium was in charge of flight operations and specialised support during the Launch and Early Orbit Phase (LEOP) operations, and will continue to support Eutelsat by monitoring the satellite throughout its more than 15 year mission from its satellite monitoring centre in Toulouse.

Click on the link below for ATLANTIC BIRD™ 7's frequencies for TV reception:

http://www.eutelsat.com/satellites/7w-ab7.html

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.