Eutelsat

Eutelsat S.A.

Founded	1977
Headquarters	Paris  France
Key people	Giuliano Berretta (CEO)
Industry	Satellite communication
Website	www.eutelsat.com

Eutelsat S.A. is a French-based satellite provider. Providing coverage over the entire European continent, as well as the Middle East, Africa, India and significant parts of Asia and the Americas, it is one of the world's three leading satellite operators in terms of revenues.^{[citation needed]}

Eutelsat’s satellites are used for broadcasting 3,200 television and 1000 radio stations to more than 187 million cable and satellite homes. They also serve requirements for TV contribution services, corporate networks, mobile positioning and communications, Internet backbone connectivity and broadband access for terrestrial, maritime and in-flight applications. Eutelsat is headquartered in Paris. Eutelsat Communications Chairman of the Board and (CEO) is Italian Giuliano Berretta.

Its main craft have traditionally operated from 4 positions, each separated by three degrees of the Clarke belt - 7, 10, 13 and 16°E; although more positions are now operated.

Satellites

Eutelsat commercialises capacity on 27 satellites located in geosynchronous orbit between 15 degrees West and 70.5 degrees East.

Planned future satellites

Rented capacity

Former satellites

Services

History

The European Telecommunications Satellite Organization (Eutelsat) was originally set up in 1977 as an intergovernmental organisation (IGO) to develop and operate a satellite-based telecommunications infrastructure for Europe. It started operations with the launch of its first satellite in 1983.

Initially established to address satellite communications demand in Western Europe, Eutelsat rapidly developed its infrastructure to expand coverage to additional markets, such as Central and Eastern Europe in 1989, and the Middle East, the African continent, and large parts of Asia and the Americas from the 1990s.

Eutelsat was the first satellite operator in Europe to broadcast television channels direct-to-home. It developed its premium neighbourhood of five Hot Bird satellites in the mid-1990s to offer capacity that would be able to attract hundreds of channels to the same orbital location, appealing to widespread audiences for consumer satellite TV.

With the general liberalisation of the telecommunications sector in Europe, the IGO’s operations and activities were transferred to a private company called Eutelsat S.A. in July 2001.

In April 2005, the principal shareholders of Eutelsat S.A. grouped their investment in a new entity (Eutelsat Communications), which is now the holding company of the Group owning 95.2% of Eutelsat S.A. on October 6, 2005. Currently it owns 96,0 % of Eutelsat S.A.

Source: http://www.eutelsat.com/investors/pdf/ETL-consolidated-financial-statements-300609.pdf

Eutelsat-NTDTV censorship controversy

According to the media freedom advocate Reporters Without Borders, Eutelsat closed down transmissions of the Falun Gong-linked TV station NTDTV in June 2008, which RSF accused of to appease the Chinese government.^[10] Eutelsat claimed that the shutdown was due to a technical failure, but Reporters Without Borders released an alleged transcript of a recorded phone conversation with an unnamed employee in Eutelsat's Beijing office. The caller pretended to be a government official from China's propaganda ministry, which the Eutelsat employee took for granted. The conversation indicated that the decision to shut down NTDTV was made by Eutelsat's CEO Giuliano Berretta, who awaited in return significant business deals with China. The transcript is available on Reporters Without Borders website. [7] Eutelsat was criticised heavily for the decision, and censured by the European Parliament. Following the European Parliament written declaration, Eutelsat immediately issued a press release, denying all charges of discrimination against NTDTV.

Bibliography

• (French) (English) Guy Lebègue, (trad. Robert J. Amral), « Eutelsat II: OK For West-to-East Service! », in Revue aerospatiale, n°73, November 1990.

See also

• Solaris Mobile
• ETSO (electricity networks)

References

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External links

• Eutelsat S.A.
• Solaris Mobile