IPMTV Expands, Extends Multi-Year Capacity Deal on Newly-Launched SES-8 Satellite
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Thailand’s IPMTV is leasing additional capacity and extending its current capacity contract with SES beyond 10 years. The broadcaster will also migrate from SES’ NSS-6 satellite to the newly-launched SES-8 satellite. SES-8 was successfully launched by SpaceX from Cape Canaveral, Florida on 3 December 2013, and will be co-located with NSS-6 at the prime orbital location of 95 degrees East.
The deal allows IPMTV, an established satellite TV provider, to continue to expand its reach of four million TV households in Thailand. It currently broadcasts over 150 local channels to its subscribers, with 21 channels in High Definition.
Manop Tokarnka, CEO, IPMTV, said, “Our customers are demanding more local content and the capacity on SES-8 will enable us to bring them a variety of news and entertainment programmes to meet their needs. We are making our content even more accessible to local audiences and look forward to reaching more homes. Our continued strong partnership with SES means that we can focus on meeting the demands for our services in Thailand.”
“SES understood that IPMTV will need vital expansion capacity to grow its thriving video neighbourhood in Thailand prompting us to adopt an accelerated satellite design process for SES-8 to ensure that the capacity will be made available quickly to the customer,” said Deepak Mathur, Senior Vice President Commercial, Asia-Pacific and the Middle East at SES. “We look forward to growing with IPMTV in the years ahead.”
SES, SpeedCast, AsiaSat Donate Satellite Capacity and Ground Infrastructure Services to Philippines
SES, SpeedCast, a leading satellite telecommunications service provider in Asia-Pacific, and AsiaSat have donated satellite and service capacity to enable NetHope, a consortium of 41 non-governmental organisations around the globe, to re-establish communication links to survivors of Typhoon Haiyan.
By utilizing the 36 MHz capacity on SES’ NSS-11 satellite donated by SES and the uplink services and ground infrastructure provided by SpeedCast and AsiaSat, NetHope will be able to provide Typhoon Haiyan survivors access to information directly. The services and infrastructure will also support a number of other relief agencies and NGO’s working in-country.
“Damage to critical telecommunications infrastructure has made disaster relief and rapid assessment of the situation difficult. Given that it may be weeks or months before terrestrial infrastructure is up and running, satellite connectivity is vital in providing immediate communication needs. SES is pleased to donate satellite capacity to support the people of the Philippines during their recovery from this terrible disaster,” said Elias Zaccack, Senior Vice President, Commercial Americas at SES.
“SpeedCast, SES and AsiaSat are providing vital aid directly to the areas that need it most with the help of NetHope. Since the Typhoon hit and we activated our response services, NetHope is now able to assist the relief efforts with communication services that can reach the most remote parts of the country,” said Pierre-Jean Beylier, CEO of SpeedCast.
“AsiaSat is pleased to take part in this initiative by offering uplink services from our Tai Po Earth Station. This effort in cooperation with our partners, will establish communication links needed to assist Typhoon Haiyan relief efforts in the Philippines,” said William Wade, President and Chief Executive Officer of AsiaSat.
The GVF’s Humanitarian Assistance & Disaster Response Programs helped to facilitate this combined industry response to Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines.
SES Adds Disney Channel HD To Its HD+ Platform in Germany
SES announced that the new Disney Channel HD will complement the German HD+ platform, becoming the 16th channel on its roster. The new Disney Channel is focused on children and families during day time and suited to families and women in primetime. Disney produces a large share of its televisual content in native high definition. The Disney Channel’s new range of genres extends from comedy to romantic drama.
Wilfried Urner, Chairman of the Management Board of HD PLUS, commented: “Satellite offers TV broadcasters an extremely flexible and appealing platform making it easy for viewers to watch great television in brilliant HD quality at home. We are particularly pleased to announce the launch of Disney Channel HD on HD+.”
Receiver specifications for Disney Channel HD:
- ASTRA 2C, 19.2 degrees East
- Frequency: 10.80275 GHz
- Polarisation: horizontal
- Modulation: DVB-S2, 8PSK
- Symbol rate: 22.000 Msym/s
- FEC: 3/4
