VIVACOM launches satellite TV in Bulgaria

Tuesday, September 7th, 2010

LUXEMBOURG — Intelsat S.A., the world’s leading provider of fixed satellites services, announced that Bulgarian telecom provider, VIVACOM, the leading telecommunication Service provider in Bulgaria, has signed a multi-year, multi-transponder contract for Intelsat capacity on the Intelsat 12 satellite (IS-12), located at 45 degrees E. VIVACOM will extend its existing offer for residential customers, which currently includes a landline phone, mobile connection and Internet access, to television programming. Through this new offering, VIVACOM will deliver more than 70 channels of news, entertainment and sports programming to its subscribers throughout Bulgaria.

The IS-12 satellite provides capacity used for program distribution, broadcast contribution and enterprise networking. Part of Intelsat’s leading satellite fleet in the region and currently distributing international programming to millions of viewers across Eastern Europe, IS-12 is ideally located to support VIVACOM’s expansion into television programming.

“Intelsat’s global leadership in the transmission of entertainment, news and sports programming for content providers and direct-to-home (DTH) platforms made Intelsat an ideal choice for us as we sought to enter the media market in Bulgaria,” said Alexander Dimitrov, CCO from VIVACOM. “IS-12 will provide us with the ideal transmissions services necessary so we can offer converged telecommunication solutions of superior quality to our growing subscriber base.”

“Eastern Europe represents a growing media sector for satellite operators, and Intelsat is committed to strengthening its media services in the region,” said Jean-Philippe Gillet, Intelsat’s Regional Vice President, Europe and Middle East. “The VIVACOM agreement demonstrates Intelsat’s ability to provide advanced solutions to telecoms providers and support them in growing their service offerings.”

Intelsat will be exhibiting in Hall 1, Stand C71 at IBC 2010, the international tradeshow for the creation, management and delivery of content for the broadcasting industry, which will be held in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, September 10-14.