Intense Media Coverage From the Vatican Generates Exceptional Demand for Eutelsat Satellite Capacity

PARIS, March 14, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --

Eutelsat Communications (Euronext Paris: ETL) today announced that over 700 hours of capacity has so far been booked on five of its satellites to support the intense media coverage in Rome that followed the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI and the election of Pope Francis. Demand for capacity accelerated when the College of Cardinals began deliberation on March 12 in anticipation of a signal of white smoke and the first declaration by the new Pope from St Peter's Square.

Capacity has been booked to date by Arqiva, The Associated Press, GlobeCast, M-Three Satcom, SIS LIVE and Telenor on Eutelsat Ku-band satellites in order to transmit live and pre-recorded content from Rome to studios across Europe and to North America. Eutelsat's NewsSpotter service that operates via the KA-SAT Ka-band satellite has also been called on by Italian and international broadcasters to complement newsgathering operations. Providing native IP connectivity, NewsSpotter is perfectly integrated for the workflows of modern live reporting operations in this widescale event of global interest.

Eutelsat's Booking Centre coordinates the allocation of occasional satellite capacity with news agencies, broadcasters and service providers from minimum periods of 15 minutes for up to several days for the coverage of news, sports and cultural events.

About Eutelsat Communications (http://www.eutelsat.com)

Eutelsat Communications is the holding company of Eutelsat S.A. With capacity commercialised on 30 satellites delivering reach of Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, significant parts of the Americas and the Asia-Pacific, Eutelsat Communications (Euronext Paris: ETL, ISIN code: FR0010221234) is one of the world's leading satellite operators. As of 31 December 2012 Eutelsat's satellites were broadcasting 4,500 television channels to over 200 million cable and satellite homes in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The Group's satellites also provide a wide range of services for TV contribution, corporate networks and fixed and mobile broadband markets. Headquartered in Paris, Eutelsat and its subsidiaries employ over 780 commercial, technical and operational professionals from 30 countries.

SOURCE Eutelsat Communications