africa061115.qxp_africa 06/11/2015 10:31 Page 8
Skyworth ships 70,000 STBs
for South Africa
SES secures Star Times
Sub-Saharan delivery
SES Platform Services confirmed
that StarTimes, the fastest-growing
digital TV operator in Africa, will
distribute TV channels for its directto-home (DTH) subscribers across
Sub-Saharan Africa via SES Platform
Services’ broadcast facility in
Germany.
Under the new multi-year
agreement, SES Platform Services will
be providing signal turnaround, video
processing, and uplinking services for
StarTimes’ SD and HD channels.
StarTimes has more than 5 million
DTT and DTH subscribers across 16
countries in Africa and currently
provides English-language TV content
to viewers across the region via the
SES-5 satellite located at 5 degrees
East.
“We want TV audiences in Africa to
perceive StarTimes as a reliable DTH
platform operator broadcasting
engaging content at competitive rates
to its subscribers. We are confident
that SES and SES Platform Services
have the space and ground
infrastructure and the expertise to
help us grow our TV business by
“We want TV audiences
in Africa to perceive
StarTimes as a reliable
DTH platform operator.”
delivering a wider range of attractive
offerings across the continent,” said
StarTimes Group Chairman and
President Pang Xinxing.
“The new contract reiterates
StarTimes’ utmost confidence in SES’s
and SES Platform Services’ capabilities
to provide both space and ground
segment services to grow their
business in Sub-Saharan Africa. We are
proud to be a valued partner of
StarTimes, supporting their growth
ambitions in new African markets,”
said Wilfried Urner, chief executive
officer of SES Platform Services.
14 Africa Briefing
Smart home solutions provider
Shenzhen Skyworth Digital Technology
- the world’s fourth largest set-top box
manufacturer – revealed that its
factory in Johannesburg - co-owned by
local company BUA
Africa – had
successfully completed
its first shipment,
delivering a total of
70,000 set-top boxes
across South Africa.
Skyworth Digital chose to invest in the
plant to boost its presence in South Africa and
contribute to the country’s economy.
“Skyworth Digital invests in its customers,
their countries and the local people in order to
foster long-term relationships, and so our
strategy is to put our factories as close to
where our customers are as possible,” said
Angélique Boissy, VP global sales at Skyworth
Digital. “This initiative, which we call ‘edge
manufacturing’, not only allows us to
contribute to our customers’ local economies,
but also speeds up time-to-market and
reduces operating expenses: savings which
can then be passed on to our customers.”
Skyworth Digital is the first company to
pass South Africa’s rigid governmental
Mediaset extends
Comarex
distribution
Italian media group
Mediaset has extended
its long-standing
partnership with
international
distribution company
Comarex. Mediaset will
have Comarex continue
to represent Mediaset’s
catalogue in Latin
America and has added
exclusive distribution
rights for its full
programming portfolio
for Asia and Africa.
Mediaset and Comarex
have been working
together under a
strategic arrangement
requirements for D