Swisscom Selects Eutelsat's New Tooway(TM) Broadband Service to Ensure Universal Broadband Access Throughout Switzerland

Swisscom Selects Eutelsat's New Tooway(TM) Broadband Service to Ensure Universal Broadband Access Throughout Switzerland

PARIS, January 15/PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Eutelsat Communications (Euronext Paris: ETL) today announced a major contract for its new Tooway(TM) satellite broadband Ka-band service with Swisscom, Switzerland's leading telecommunications company.

According to the agreement with Swisscom, Eutelsat's Tooway(TM) service is the satellite component of a far-reaching universal broadband programme for all Swiss homes. Swisscom won a tender from the Swiss Ministry for Telecommunications to make broadband connectivity available as from January 2008 to all residential Swiss customers irrespective of their location.

Eutelsat's satellite-based consumer broadband service was chosen by Swisscom following an exhaustive assessment of multiple wireless broadband access solutions able to address homes beyond range of terrestrial broadband networks. Swisscom selected Tooway(TM) in particular for its high performance and scalability.

Launched in Europe in late 2007, Tooway(TM) unites the skills of Eutelsat and ViaSat, a world leader in innovative satellite broadband services. Using Ka-band capacity on Eutelsat's HOT BIRD(TM) 6 satellite for both forward and return links, Tooway(TM) is based on the SurfBeam(R) DOCSIS(R) broadband satellite system developed by ViaSat and already widely deployed in North America. ViaSat's SurfBeam(R) DOCSIS(R) terminals are already used by over 325,000 subscriber homes in North America to deliver ADSL-like services, with a peak of almost 90,000 units shipped over the last three months.

From its position in orbit at 13 degrees East HOT BIRD(TM) 6 provides Swisscom with full coverage of Swiss territory. The service will be supplied to households via Bluewin, Swisscom's Internet Service Provider. From its Zurich facilities, Bluewin will be connected by fibre to the Tooway(TM) Network Operation Centre managed by Eutelsat's broadband affiliate Skylogic in Turin.

For the user, the compact Tooway(TM) consumer satellite terminal comprises an Outdoor Unit (ODU) with a 67cm dish and an Indoor Unit (IDU) or modem that interfaces to a PC or home network via a standard Ethernet connection.

Commenting on the contract with Swisscom, Eutelsat Communications Chairman and CEO Giuliano Berretta said: "The selection of our new Tooway(TM) Ka-band broadband service by Swisscom, a hallmark in telecommunications for quality service and reliability, underscores the intrinsic ability of satellite technologies to complement terrestrial networks. This major contract also clearly demonstrates the ability of Tooway(TM) to deliver a comparable service to terrestrial broadband networks, with ease of use and high levels of scalability to accompany growth. We are delighted with this contract as it is a first step towards the provision of affordable satellite consumer broadband services throughout Europe and the Mediterranean Basin in the Ka-band. This will be followed in 2010 with the launch of KA-SAT, our first fully dedicated multi-spot Ka-band satellite that, together with ViaSat's SurfBeam(R) DOCSIS(R) ground system, will have the capacity to serve over one million subscribers with high-speed and improved performance."

About Eutelsat Communications

Eutelsat Communications (Euronext Paris: ETL, ISIN code: FR0010221234) is the holding company of Eutelsat S.A.. With capacity commercialised on 24 satellites that provide coverage over the entire European continent, as well as the Middle East, Africa, India and significant parts of Asia and the Americas, Eutelsat is one of the world's three leading satellite operators in terms of revenues. At 30 September 2007, Eutelsat's satellites were broadcasting over 2,730 television channels, of which more than 1,000 channels broadcast via its HOT BIRD(TM) video neighbourhood which serves over 120 million cable and satellite homes in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. The Group's satellites also serve a wide range of fixed and mobile telecommunications services, TV contribution markets, corporate networks, and broadband markets for Internet Service Providers and for transport, maritime and in-flight markets. Eutelsat's broadband subsidiary, Skylogic, markets and operates services through teleports in France and Italy that serve enterprises, local communities, government agencies and aid organisations in Europe, Africa, Asia and the Americas. Headquartered in Paris, Eutelsat and its subsidiaries employ 529 commercial, technical and operational experts from 27 countries.

http://www.eutelsat.com

About Skylogic

Based in Turin, north-west Italy, Skylogic operates one of the world's leading satellite broadband IP platforms. Its operational centre, SkyPark, is equipped to offer a complete range of broadband services including content distribution, IP video streaming, business TV, maritime applications, teleconferencing, remote control of installations, telemedicine, e-learning and Voice over IP. The teleport is connected by fibre to the Internet exchange point in Turin and uses capacity on satellites in Eutelsat's fleet in order to serve users in Europe, Asia, the Americas and Africa. Skylogic's customers include businesses, multinationals, government agencies and aid organisations.

http://www.skylogic.com

About ViaSat

ViaSat produces innovative satellite and other digital communication products that enable fast, secure, and efficient communications to any location. The company provides networking products and managed network services for enterprise IP applications; is a key supplier of network-centric military communications and encryption technologies to the U.S. government; and is the primary technology partner for gateway and customer-premises equipment for consumer and mobile satellite broadband services. The company has five subsidiaries: US Monolithics, Efficient Channel Coding, Enerdyne Technologies, Intelligent Compression Technologies and JAST. These companies design and produce complementary products such as monolithic microwave integrated circuits, DVB-S2 satellite communication components, video data link systems, data acceleration and compression products, and mobile satellite antenna systems. ViaSat has locations in Carlsbad, CA, and Duluth, GA, along with its Comsat Laboratories division in Germantown, MD. Additional field offices are located in Boston, MA, Baltimore, MD, Washington DC, Australia, China, India, Italy, and Spain.

http://www.viasat.com

          For further information from Eutelsat:          Press          Vanessa O'Connor,     Tel: +33-1-53-98-38-88,     voconnor@eutelsat.fr;          Frederique Gautier,     Tel: +33-1-53-98-38-88,     fgautier@eutelsat.fr;          Investors:          Gilles Janvier,     Tel: +33-1-53-98-35-35,     investors@eutelsat-communications.com.  

Source: Eutelsat Communications

For further information from Eutelsat: Press Vanessa O'Connor, Tel: +33-1-53-98-38-88, voconnor@eutelsat.fr; Frederique Gautier, Tel: +33-1-53-98-38-88, fgautier@eutelsat.fr; Investors: Gilles Janvier, Tel: +33-1-53-98-35-35, investors@eutelsat-communications.com.

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