Cyfrowy Polsat Launches EchoStar Europe's High Definition STBs

EchoStar Europe partners with Cyfrowy Polsat, the largest Polish satellite TV service, to supply advanced, high definition television set-top boxes to enable the delivery of high quality, digital entertainment services to Polish consumers

STEETON, UK — EchoStar Europe (NASDAQ: SATS), a leading innovator and supplier of beyond the box, added-value technologies, applications and connected device solutions to the digital television industry, announced that its advanced, high definition (HD) set-top box (STB) has been introduced by Cyfrowy Polsat (Warsaw: CPS), the largest Polish satellite television platform serving 2.4 million subscribers in Poland. The launch of the DBS-7100HD product enriches the digital satellite TV operator’s offer of HDTV services and is a testament to the strong working relationship forged between EchoStar Europe and Cyfrowy Polsat.

“We are delighted that Cyfrowy Polsat selected EchoStar Europe to supply high definition set-top boxes to meet the increased consumer demand for its HDTV service,” commented Rick Smith, Vice President Sales and Marketing EMEA, EchoStar Europe. “We have a well established relationship with Cyfrowy Polsat supporting them with their continued roll-out of digital services, especially advanced, high quality HD programming. We believe that Cyfrowy Polsat is extremely well placed to meet consumer requirements and look forward to supporting the platform with added-value technologies in line with their service and business development plans.”

The DBS-7100HD is an advanced STB designed to provide consumers with reception of HD digital television services offering one of the highest levels of video resolution. The unit is equipped with the latest, single-chip silicon solution and has the connectivity required to be placed at the focal point of a consumer’s digital entertainment centre. Features include HDMI™ connectivity for a high quality connection to flat screen HD-enabled TV sets, Ethernet port for future-upgrade to a high speed, broadband return channel for the delivery of advanced, value-added services, and Dolby® Digital loopthrough for delivery of high quality sound to a home cinema system. As part of EchoStar Europe’s commitment to lowering an operator’s network overhead and optimising Average Revenue Per Unit (ARPU), the product platform is compatible with the company’s latest, advanced STB remote diagnostics system to optimise network efficiency.

“We are already very pleased with the development of our HD services,” said Dariusz Działkowski, CTO, Cyfrowy Polsat S.A. “However, in order to remain competitive in the Polish market, we need to be in a position to offer consumers a swift and cost effective migration path to more advanced services. EchoStar Europe continues to support us in achieving this goal with advanced, value-added technology. We have recently strengthened our HD services portfolio and believe that this will be an incentive for customers to upgrade their service subscriptions.”