Eutelsat and Spacecom team up for Africa at 16-17° East

Satellite operators Eutelsat and Spacecom are to create a unified neighbourhood for Africa at the 16-17° East orbital position.

The two companies have established a framework for cross-commercialisation of Ku-band capacity connected to the African service areas of Eutelsat’s Eutelsat 16A satellite at 16° East and Spacecom’s Amos-5 satellite at 17° East. The combined channel line-up of both satellites currently comprises over 100 free-to-air African and international channels that the pair say can be received by standard 80cm dishes in a footprint covering over 30 million TV homes in Francophone Africa and extending to Ghana and Nigeria.

The two operators will pool their commercial efforts to encourage further growth at the 16-17° East position.

Rodney Benn, Eutelsat’s regional vice-president for Africa, said: “This agreement between Eutelsat and Spacecom shows how neighbouring operators can combine their strengths to offer Africa’s broadcast community the full benefits of their expertise. Spacecom is one of the most dynamic satellite companies in the African marketplace and we look forward to working with them on building on our shared vision of aggregating the most compelling content for TV viewers at a single neighbourhood.”

Amir Carmeli, SVP sales, West Africa and France at Spacecom, said: “Africa is a tremendously dynamic market for digital broadcasting. Our agreement with Eutelsat enriches viewers’ experiences throughout the continent. By creating a joint effort that aggregates content and improves the commercial reach of advertisers, we are optimising the broadcast environment. The availability of diverse and quality broadcasts from Africa and abroad, extends the limits of African entertainment possibilities and develops social and educational values.”