Trace expands HD footprint with Eutelsat

European broadcaster Trace has signed a five-year contract for capacity and uplinking services on Eutelsat’s Eurobird 9A satellite.

The new deal expands Trace’s footprint across Europe and the Middle East for its three high definition networks, Trace Urban HD, Trace Tropical HD and the recently-launched Trace Sports HD.

As part of the agreement with Eutelsat, its Skylogic affiliate is uplinking the three channels from its teleport in Turin. Satellite delivery of the three channels will enable Trace to reach cable, DSL, mobile and DTH platforms, including Eutelsat’s KabelKiosk digital cable platform which last month added Trace’s channels.

“Eutelsat has been an exceptional satellite partner since the launch of the first Trace channel in 2003. By October this year, Trace will have a total of nine channel feeds broadcasting via Eutelsat satellites to a vast audience across Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Over 90% of our channel content is already in native HD and this new agreement will help us to significantly enhance viewer experience,” said Olivier Laouchez, founder, chairman and CEO of Trace.

Separately, Eutelsat has signed a three-year distribution deal worth €5 million between its Skylogic subsidiary and Eser Telekom to provide Tooway satellite broadband service in Turkey, Iraq, Georgia and Azerbaijan.

Eser Telekom will use the Tooway service, delivered via Eutelsat’s KA-SAT satellite, to provide high-speed broadband to enterprises and consumers beyond reach of terrestrial networks across the region. Working with local governments, Eser Telekom also plans to develop KA-SAT-based solutions specifically for public administrations.

Tooway offers download speeds of up to 10Mbps and upload speeds of up to 4Mbps. The solution consists of a satellite dish and a modem connected to the PC via Ethernet, giving customers internet access with no dependency on a telephone line.