Télédiffusion d'Algérie to broadcast to whole of Middle East via DTH

Télédiffusion d’Algérie selects EUTELSAT 7 West A satellite to expand reach of Algerian TV and radio channels across North Africa and Middle East

PARIS — Eutelsat Communications (NYSE Euronext Paris: ETL) and Télédiffusion d’Algérie (TDA) today announced the signature of a capacity agreement on the EUTELSAT 7 West A satellite. The long-term contract for one 72 MHz transponder opens access for TDA to Eutelsat’s flagship 7/8 degrees West video neighbourhood that broadcasts the largest line-up of television channels across the Arab world to homes equipped for Direct-to-Home (DTH) satellite reception.

The free-to-air platform launched by TDA will assemble Algeria’s existing public channels in addition to channels expected to be licensed within the framework of the country’s strategy to open its broadcasting landscape.
The channels will be available via EUTELSAT 7 West A to viewers across the Maghreb and North-West Africa. Reach will be extended to the whole of the Middle East and the Persian Gulf with the launch in 2015 of the EUTELSAT 8 West B satellite.

Abdelmalek Houyou, Director General of TDA, commented: “Over 15 years of close collaboration with Eutelsat, we have built a solid partnership which has been boosted in the last few years by a tremendous input of technical expertise to accompany Algeria’s transition to a digital broadcasting environment. This new agreement highlights Eutelsat’s commitment to providing solutions to our developing needs, both now and in the future. Our significant requirements are driven by the ambition to extend the availability of Algerian television and radio channels beyond Algeria and to prepare for the opening up of our broadcasting sector to private ventures.”

Jean-François Leprince-Ringuet, Eutelsat’s Chief Commercial Officer, added: “TDA was one of the first major broadcasting companies in the Arab world to entrust us with broadcasting analogue television and radio channels. We were proud in a next step in 2007 that TDA attributed a central role to our EUTELSAT 5 West A satellite in the build-up to the digital switchover of Algerian public broadcasting, leaving no part of the country’s extensive territory uncovered. TDA is now planning to extend broadcasting of its television and radio programmes to the whole of the Arab world and we are delighted by their selection of the vibrant 7/8 degrees West neighbourhood which has already passed a landmark of 1,000 channels.”