Eutelsat
Eutelsat S.A. is a European satellite operator. Providing coverage over the entire European continent, the Middle East, Africa, Asia and the Americas, it is the world's third-largest satellite operator in terms of revenues.
Eutelsat's satellites are used for broadcasting nearly 7,000 television stations, of which 1,400 are in HD, and 1,100 radio stations to over 274 million cable and satellite homes. They also serve requirements for TV contribution services, corporate networks, mobile communications, Internet backbone connectivity and broadband access for terrestrial, maritime and in-flight applications. EUTELSAT is headquartered in Paris. Eutelsat Communications Chief Executive Officer is currently Rodolphe Belmer.
In October 2017, EUTELSAT acquired NOORSAT, one of the leading satellite service providers in the Middle East, from Bahrain's Orbit Holding Group. NOORSAT is the premier distributor of Eutelsat capacity in the Middle East, serving blue-chip customers and providing services for over 300 TV channels almost exclusively from Eutelsat's market-leading the Middle East and North Africa neighbourhoods at 7/8° West and 25.5° East.
History
The European Telecommunications Satellite Organization was originally set up in, by 17 European countries as an intergovernmental organisation. Its role was to develop and operate a satellite-based telecommunications infrastructure for Europe. The Convention establishing the European Telecommunications Satellite Organization EUTELSAT was opened for signature in July 1982 and entered into force on 1 September 1985.In 1982, EUTELSAT decided to start operations of its first TV channel on the Orbital Test Satellite in cooperation with ESA. This was the first satellite-based direct-to-home TV channel launched in Europe. In 1983, EUTELSAT launched its first satellite to be used for telecommunications and TV distribution
Initially established to address satellite telecommunications demand in Western Europe, EUTELSAT rapidly developed its infrastructure to expand coverage to additional services and 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 wider audiences for consumer satellite TV.
With the general liberalisation of the telecommunications sector in Europe, EUTELSAT's assets, liabilities and operational activities were transferred to a private company called Eutelsat S.A. established for this purpose in July 2001. The structure role and activities of the new intergovernmental organisation EUTELSAT IGO evolved. To this day, the main purpose of EUTELSAT IGO has been to ensure that Eutelsat S.A. observes the Basic Principles set forth in the EUTELSAT Amended Convention entered into force in November 2002. These Basic Principles refer to public service/universal service obligations, pan European coverage by the satellite system, non-discrimination and fair competition. The Executive Secretary of EUTELSAT IGO participates in all meetings of the Board of Directors of Eutelsat Communications S.A. and Eutelsat S.A. as an observer to the Board.
In April 2005, the principal shareholders of Eutelsat S.A. grouped their investment in a new entity, 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.
On 31 July 2013, Eutelsat Communications announced the 100% acquisition of Satélites Mexicanos, S.A. de C.V. for $831 million in cash plus the assumption of $311 million in Satmex debt, pending government and regulatory approvals. The transaction was finalized on 2 January 2014. Based in Mexico, Satmex operates three satellites at contiguous positions, 113° West, 114,9° West and 116,8° West that cover 90% of the population of the Americas.
In December 2015, the company announced a partnership with Facebook to launch an internet satellite over Africa by 2016 where Facebook lease all of a satellite's high throughput Ka-band capacity, however, the satellite was destroyed during launch preparations.
Services
| Video Applications | Professional Data Networks | Broadband Services |
| Direct broadcasting of TV and radio | Private networks | Backhauling and trunking |
| Cable & IPTV distribution | Data broadcasting | Virtual Private Networks |
| Satellite newsgathering | Business TV, videoconferencing | Broadband Internet access on the ground, at sea, in-flight |
| Programme exchanges | Mobile services | Multicasting and IP content distribution |
Hybrid Satellite OTT Solutions
In September 2018, Eutelsat launched Eutelsat CIRRUS, a new turnkey content delivery solution which enables broadcasters to deliver content to satellite and OTT screens. Viewers can watch content on screens, phones and tablets, access multiple programmes, record and rewind and view detailed programme information.
Satellites
EUTELSAT sells capacity on 39 satellites located in geosynchronous orbit between 133° West and 174° East.On 1 March 2012, EUTELSAT changed the names of its satellites. The group's satellites mostly take the Eutelsat name, with the relevant figure for their orbital position and a letter indicating their order of arrival at that position.
On 21 May 2014, Eutelsat Americas aligned its satellite names with the Eutelsat brand.
| Satellite | COSPAR ID | Location | Regions served | Launch | Comments |
| Eutelsat 3B | 2014-030A | Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia, Brazil | 2014-05-26 | Entered service in July | |
| Eutelsat 5 West A | 2002-035A | Europe, Americas, Africa | 2002-07-05 | Formerly named Atlantic Bird 3 until March 2012, was also called Stellat 5 | |
| Eutelsat 5 West B | 2019-067A | 2019-10-09 | |||
| Eutelsat 7A | 2004-008A | Europe, Middle East, Africa | 2004-03-16 | Formerly named Eutelsat W3A until March 2012 | |
| Eutelsat 7B | 2013-022A | Europe, Middle East, Africa | 2013-05-14 | ||
| Eutelsat 7C | 2019-034B | Europe, Middle East, Africa | 2019-06-20 | ||
| Eutelsat 7 West A | 2011-051A | Middle East, North Africa | 2011-09-24 | Formerly named Atlantic Bird 7 until March 2012 | |
| Eutelsat 8 West B | 2015-039A | Africa, Middle East | August 2015 | ||
| Eutelsat KA-SAT | 2010-069A | Europe | 2010-12-26 | ||
| Eutelsat 9B | 2016-005A | Europe, North Africa, Middle East | 2016-01-30 | ||
| Eutelsat 10A | 2009-016A | Europe, Africa, Middle East | 2009-04-03 | Formerly named Eutelsat W2A until March 2012; S-band payload not yet entered into service due to an anomaly. Solaris Mobile filed the insurance claim and should be able to offer some, but not all of the services it was planning to offer. | |
| Eutelsat 12 West B | 2001-042A | Europe, Americas | 2001-09-25 | Formerly named Atlantic Bird 2 until March 2012 and Eutelsat 8 West A until October 2015, when it was redeployed to 12,5° West. | |
| HOT BIRD 13B | 2001-011A | Europe, North Africa, Middle East | 2006-08-05 | Formerly named Hot Bird 8 until March 2012 | |
| HOT BIRD 13C | 2008-065D | Europe, Africa, Middle East | 2008-12-20 | Formerly named Hot Bird 9 until March 2012 | |
| HOT BIRD 13E | 2006-007B | Europe, North Africa, Middle East | 2006-03-11 | Formerly named Eurobird 9A until March 2012; former Hot Bird 7A satellite / Eutelsat 9A | |
| Eutelsat 16A | 2011-057A | Europe, Sub-Saharan Africa, Indian Ocean Islands | 2011-10-07 | Formerly named Eutelsat W3C until March 2012 | |
| Eutelsat 21B | 2012-062B | Europe, Middle East, North Africa, West Africa, Central Asia | 2012-11-10 | Fully operational since 2012-12-19. | |
| Eutelsat 33C | 2001-011A | Europe | 2001-03-08 | Satellite is currently being redeployed at 33° East where it will be co-located with EUTELSAT 33B. Formerly named Eurobird 1 until March 2012 and Eutelsat 28A until July 2015 | |
| Eutelsat 33E | 2009-008B | Europe, South-West Asia | 2009-02-12 | Formerly Hot Bird 10 and Atlantic Bird 4A | |
| Eutelsat 36A | 2000-028A | Africa, Russia | 2000-05-24 | Formerly named Eutelsat W4 until March 2012. It is currently under redeployment. | |
| Eutelsat 36B | 2009-065A | Europe, Africa, Middle East, Russia | 2009-11-24 | Formerly named Eutelsat W7 until March 2012 | |
| Eutelsat 36C | 2015-082A | Russia, Africa | 2015 | ||
| Eutelsat 36 West A | 2002-040A | Europe, Middle East, Americas | 2002-08-28 | Formerly named Atlantic Bird 1 until March 2012, and Eutelsat 12 West A | |
| Eutelsat 48D | 2008-065B | Afghanistan, Central Asia | 2008-12-20 | Co-branded AFGHANSAT 1. Formerly named Eutelsat 28B until January 2014, Eutelsat 48B until August 2012, W2M until March 2012 | |
| Eutelsat 65 West A | 2016-014A | Americas | 2016-03-09 | ||
| Eutelsat 70B | 2012-069A | Europe, Middle East, Africa, Central Asia, South East Asia, Australia | 2012-12-03 | ||
| Eutelsat 113 West A | 2006-020A | Americas | 2006-05-27 | Formerly Satmex 6 until May 2014 | |
| Eutelsat 115 West B | 2015-010B | Americas | 2015-03-02 | ||
| Eutelsat 117 West A | 2013-012A | Americas | 2013 | Formerly Satmex 8 until May 2014 | |
| Eutelsat 117 West B | 2016-038B | Americas | 2016-06-15 | Formerly Satmex 9 | |
| Eutelsat 172B | 2017-027A | Asia-Pacific | 2017-06-01 | ||
| Eutelsat 174A | 2005-052A | Asia-Pacific | 2005-12-29 | Formerly EUTELSAT 172A, and GE-23 satellite | |
| Eutelsat Konnect | 2020-005B | Europe, Africa | 2020-01-17 | First satellite to use Thales Alenia Space’s all-electric Spacebus NEO platform |