United Group upgrading to MPEG-4, DVB-S2 with Eutelsat

United Group, the Western Balkans-based cable and satellite service provider that operates the Total TV pay TV service, has extended its long-term agreement for capacity on the Eutelsat 16A satellite.

Total TV serves a base of about 1.5 million subscribers in Serbia, Slovenia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Macedonia.

In addition to securing capacity on the Eutelsat satellite, Total TV is preparing to migrate its platform to MPEG-4 and DVB-S2 with a view to boosting its HD offer, the move will start later this month and is expected to be complete by mid-2016.

“By extending our 10-year relationship with Eutelsat we can take a long-term view on our growth plans and initiate the transition to MPEG4 and DVB-S2 in order to provide subscribers an even better viewing experience,” said Victoriya Boklag, vice-president of sales and marketing at United Group

“The transition will make it possible for us to offer them more HD channels. Eutelsat’s solutions have always been fully aligned with Total TV’s commitment to leverage the most innovative technologies and we have a clear and exciting roadmap to execute together.”

Separately, Telekom Austria Group and Eutelsat have signed a deal to enable the delivery of satellite broadband services to homes in Telekom Austria’s service footprint. Telekom Austria’s domestic subsidiary A1 will offer satellite broadband in Austria.

Telekom Austria will enable satellite broadband services with download and upload speeds of up to 22Mbps and 6 Mbps respectively. The expanded deal with Eutelsat allows for triple-play services including broadband, voice telephony and TV via Eutelsat 16A.

“We are delighted to be able to announce the expansion of our partnership with Eutelsat. Based on these broadband services, we are now in a position to reach those remotely located areas across our operating footprint, which have not had access to our Internet infrastructure to date. SAT broadband is therefore a perfect supplement to our existing network infrastructure as it allows us to meet this additional demand for Internet coverage”, said Stefan Amon, director, wholesale, Telekom Austria Group, about the new possibilities.