SES Extends Transmission Deal with Viasat, Readies SES-9 for Launch on Board Space X’s Falcon 9 Rocket

SES has extended its partnership with Viasat for the transmission of its approximately 230 channels in the Nordic and Baltic countries. In addition, SES-9 has safely arrived at Cape Canaveral, Florida, and is being processed for a mid-January 2016 launch on board Space X’s newly upgraded Falcon 9 rocket. Finally, SES Techcom Services and SOLARKIOSK AG have entered into a two-year partnership to deliver high-quality connectivity to communities worldwide.SES AND VIASAT EXTEND PARTNERSHIP FOR TV DISTRIBUTION
Viasat, a direct broadcast satellite television broadcaster and pay TV operator, owned by the Swedish media and entertainment group Modern Times Group (MTG), has committed to extend its partnership with SES for the transmission of its approximately 230 channels in the Nordic and Baltic countries. According to SES, This agreement represents a major step to secure business in the region on a long-term basis.

MTG’s Viasat Broadcasting operates free-TV and pay-TV channels in SD and in HD. SES will continue to transmit all existing Viasat channels via ASTRA 4A and SES-5 on 5 degrees East to the Nordic and Baltic countries.

“Viasat has been a long-standing partner since the mid of 1990s. We are very pleased that Viasat relies on SES for its continuing growth in the future,” says Håkan Sjödin, Vice President, Sales Nordic, Baltic and Eastern Europe at SES. “This contract extension demonstrates that satellite plays an important role for TV distribution, and how it will remain key for the video business from a long-term perspective.”

SES-9 ARRIVES AT CAPE CANAVERAL FOR MID-JANUARY LAUNCH
SES-9 has safely arrived at Cape Canaveral, Florida, and is being processed for a mid-January 2016 launch on board Space X’s newly upgraded Falcon 9 rocket. SES-9 will be positioned at 108.2 degrees East and provide both replacement and incremental capacity for a prime video neighbourhood over Asia which already serves over 22 million households with high quality broadcast solutions. The spacecraft will be co-located with SES-7 and increases SES’s global video capabilities to serve fast-growing markets in Asia, such as Indonesia and the Philippines.

The spacecraft is also designed to deliver reliable data connectivity to homes and enterprises across Asia, and provides dedicated beams to support growing mobility communications needs across the Indian Ocean.

SES-9 was built by Boeing Satellite Systems and is designed to operate for 15 years in geosynchronous orbit with a 12.7-kilowatt payload and 57 high-power Ku-band transponders (equivalent to 81 × 36 MHz transponders). SES-9 will use a chemical bi propellant apogee motor to quickly achieve a 24h synchronous orbit and then electric propulsion to circularise the final orbit and to remove eccentricity at 36,000 kilometers over the equator. Subsequent on-orbit manoeuvres will be executed with electric propulsion.

Martin Halliwell, Chief Technical Officer at SES, commented: “SES-9 is the latest step in the globalisation of SES’s video capabilities, and provides additional capacity to serve a range of Next Generation Data and Mobility applications in the Asia-Pacific region. As SES’s first spacecraft to use electric propulsion, SES-9 incorporates some of the latest innovations, helping SES to reduce cost and deliver the next generation of satellite today.”

SES, SOLARKIOSK INK DEAL TO BRING INTERNET TO UNDERSERVED VILLAGES WORLDWIDE
SES Techcom Services, a wholly-owned subsidiary of world-leading satellite operator SES, and SOLARKIOSK AG, the energy and business gateway provider to underserved communities worldwide, have entered into a two-year partnership to deliver high-quality connectivity to communities worldwide.

Under the agreement, SOLARKIOSK will use satellite connectivity to provide Internet access to underserved areas, initially in Africa. This will be done via SOLARKIOSK’s E-HUBB structures – designed by the Berlin-based architecture firm Graft – which use solar technology to provide electricity to all systems, including the satellite dish, to enable a wide range of connectivity services to the local community.

The partnership between SES Techcom Services and SOLARKIOSK is the first of many steps to deliver off-grid, connected solar infrastructure solutions for communities worldwide, targeting individual users, businesses, schools, medical centres and farms. It enables SES and SOLARKIOSK to provide fast Internet access in regions that are sorely missing reliable connectivity options.

“In remote and isolated communities, basic services like education and healthcare can be hindered by what we call the Digital Divide,” says Gerhard Bethscheider, Managing Director of SES Techcom Services. “Our partnership with SOLARKIOSK aims to overcome those limitations by providing high-quality connectivity services. SOLARKIOSK has a wide network of E-HUBB structures and we are proud to play such a vital role in the future success of the programme.”

SOLARKIOSK CEO Andreas Spiess added: “Enabling reliable energy access in underserved regions is our core mission at SOLARKIOSK. Energy access is conditional to connectivity. All SOLARKIOSK E-HUBBs are powered by solar energy and are therefore able to bring satellite TV, Internet access and modern communication tools to our customers and partners in the respective communities where we currently operate. Through our partnership with SES, we can create a significant and positive impact on Base-of-the-Pyramid communities in Africa and around the world.”