africa_africa 30/10/2014 16:15 Page 6
SES DTH for West Africa
atellite operator SES is now
delivering direct-to-home
(DTH) broadcast television
across French-speaking countries
in Sub-Saharan Africa for the
Lomé-based consortium of West
African broadcasters led by
Africable and Media Plus.
S
Onlime expands
capacity on
Africasat-1a
M
easat Satellite Systems has
signed an agreement with
Onlime for additional
transponder capacity on the AfricaSat1a satellite. Under the terms of the
agreement, Onlime expands capacity on
AfricaSat-1a to support its continuous
growth in the African markets.
Onlime, which brought together CET
Teleport and the Limeline Group earlier
this year, operates one of the leading
teleports in Europe, offering a broad range
of business communications services to
enterprise, government, military, oil & gas,
mining, hotels, banking, NGO and other
customer groups across the globe.
AfricaSat-1a was launched in February
2013 and provides high-powered C-band
satellite services and content across Africa
with connectivity into Europe, the Middle
East and Southeast Asia.
“AfricaSat-1a with its
high-powered pan-African
coverage is an excellent
platform for expanding our
services across the
continent.”
”Onlime services across Africa are in
high demand,” said Paul Ziegler, Chief
Executive Officer, Onlime. “AfricaSat-1a
with its high-powered pan-African
coverage is an excellent platform for
expanding our services across the
continent.”
“MEASAT is delighted to continue
supporting Onlime’s business in Africa,”
said Raj Malik, SVP sales and marketing,
MEASAT. “We congratulate Onlime on their
expansion and look forward to their
continued success.”rovides high-powered
C-band satellite services and content
across Africa with connectivity into
Europe, the Middle East, and Southeast
Asia.
10 Africa Briefing
The service will offer a bouquet of 80
channels, free-to-air (FTA) and
encrypted, and will allow member
countries to meet the global digital
migration deadline of June 2015.
Audiences will be able to connect to the
existing national Digital Terrestrial
Television (DTT) networks and to receive
“With over 50 satellites globally, SES has nine satellites
which cover Africa.”
The multi-year contract for two
transponders will allow the new platform
to deliver DTH television from its
Bamako Teleport to member countries of
the West African Economic and Monetary
Union (also known by its French acronym
UEMOA). The roll-out commenced on 1
October 2014 across Mali, Burkina Faso,
Ivory Coast and Niger.
SES is providing the satellite capacity
on its SES-4 satellite located at 22
degrees West, the company’s prime
orbital slot for Francophone sub-Saharan
Africa, providing 100% audience reach
from urban to non-urban areas.
Sentech, SABC digital
migration milestone
In line with government priorities
set by President Zuma's 'State of
the Nation' address; the South
African Broadcasting Corporation
(SABC) and SENTECH have reached
a significant milestone that paves
the way for the launch of the Public
Broadcasting Services on the
country's Digital Terrestrial
Television (DTT) platform.
SABC and SENTECH have agreed
content via satellite using a Dual Tuner
receiver (MPEG4 and DVBS2/T2)
included in the offer.
“As a global satellite operator, SES is
well positioned to facilitate digital
migration, particularly in Africa where
geographic challenges loom large for
broadcasters,” said
Ibrahima Guimba-Saidou,
Senior Vice President,
Africa for SES. “With over
50 satellites globally, SES
has nine satellites which
cover Africa. As such, we
are well positioned to
increase the choice of
broadcast channels for local
communities.”
Ismaila Sidibe, CEO of
Africable, said: “‘Right to
TV’ is our slogan. With over
20 years of experience as a
leading wireless cable
(MMDS) operator and
content provider across Africa, we
understand the importance of supporting
digital migration on the continent to
achieve 100 per cent audience reach. It is
our goal to deliver quality television to
the wider population at an affordable
cost, and we believe DTH technology can
help us achieve this.”
on the technical and financial aspects
of both DTT and DTH-S (Direct to
Home - Satellite) signal distribution
services. To this end, the agreement
provides a framework for a digital
multi-channel strategy for an efficient
distribution and consumption of the
Public Broadcasting Services by both
the content industry and individual
citizens of the country.
This agreement signifies an
important milestone towards the
national launch of DTT in South
Africa, they say.