FRANSAT set-top box shipments reach 800,000

Thursday, January 27th, 2011
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Digital Transition in France Driving Growth of Eutelsat’s FRANSAT Satellite Platform of Digital Terrestrial TV Channels

PARIS — As France enters its second year of transition into a fully digital broadcasting environment, with complete analogue switch-off set for 30 November, Eutelsat Communications (Euronext Paris: ETL, ISIN code: FR0010221234) subsidiary FRANSAT reports that over 800,000 set-top-boxes have been shipped to receive Digital Terrestrial TV (DTT) channels by satellite via the FRANSAT platform. A further 200,000 FRANSAT connections have been installed in community buildings (hotels, retirement homes, hospitals, clinics …). Users selecting satellite reception of France’s DTT channels are mainly located beyond range of the national Digital Terrestrial TV network, in areas where terrestrial reception is made more difficult by the landscape or by interference in frontier areas.

Continued take-up of FRANSAT expected in 2011

This milestone has been reached as analogue switch-off has been completed in 10 regions in metropolitan France. A further 14 regions, accounting for two thirds of French TV viewers, will transition in 2011. This second wave includes mountainous regions in the south of France (Auvergne, Alpine regions, Provence, Corsica, Rhone valley, Midi-Pyrenees) where a satellite solution will be needed to provide complementary coverage, ensuring that no home is excluded from access to Digital Terrestrial Television.

Yves Blanc, Chairman of FRANSAT remarked on the performance: “We are extremely gratified by the response to FRANSAT during our first year of active contribution to France’s move into a digital broadcasting environment. FRANSAT is clearly meeting a need to complement France’s terrestrial network so that all homes can benefit from digital. We are committed to further evolving the platform, with the addition of regional and thematic channels.”

Simplicity and efficiency driving take-up of FRANSAT

The rapid sales of boxes to receive FRANSAT underscore the intrinsic value of satellites for providing national broadcast coverage, with no need to build out additional terrestrial infrastructure, and for delivering optimal signal quality. For homes in metropolitan France beyond range of terrestrial reception, the viewer only needs to make a one-off investment in a FRANSAT-labelled set-top-box and a dish pointed to the ATLANTIC BIRD™ 3 satellite at 5degrees West for access on a subscription-free basis to all free national DTT channels, including HD channels. Eutelsat’s 5degrees West location has been used for more than 20 years by France’s six historic analogue channels for reaching homes in regions with inexistent or poor terrestrial reception. This installed base of analogue-equipped homes can upgrade to digital with no need to change their outdoor unit.

For collective housing and community dwellings, FRANSAT provides a solution called “FRANSAT PRO”. Located at the headend of a distribution network, FRANSAT PRO converts and redistributes TV signals in the standard DTT format to individual residential connections. Users receive the channels by plugging a terrestrial DTT adapter or a TV set with a built-in DTT tuner into their connection.

Enriched content offering, an additional asset of FRANSAT

The FRANSAT model is also based on offering viewers the opportunity to access 11 local and thematic free-to-air channels, which have been progressively added to the basic package of national DTT channels and all 24 regional channels of the France 3 network.

With a range of 20 decoders carrying the FRANSAT label and community products, commercialised by a network of 6,000 dealers, FRANSAT is well-equipped to deliver a simple complement to the terrestrial network in metropolitan France and to contribute to making Digital Terrestrial Television a universal service accessible to all.