Russia's Leading Satellite TV Neighbourhood at 36° East Reaches Record Audience and Prepares for New Growth

Russia's Leading Satellite TV Neighbourhood at 36° East Reaches Record Audience and Prepares for New Growth

Astrium selected to build new RSCC satellite for 36 East

MOSCOW and PARIS, May 15, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --



RSCC (the Russian Satellite Communications Company) and Eutelsat Communications
(Euronext Paris: ETL) today announced that Astrium has been selected to build the
Express-AMU1/EUTELSAT 36C satellite that will be launched in 2015 to provide follow-on and
expansion capacity for the EUTELSAT 36A broadcast satellite operating at 36degree(s) East.



Express-AMU1/EUTELSAT 36C will be a state-of-the-art high-capacity satellite with up
to 70 transponders. It will provide coverage for broadcast services in the European part
of the Russian Federation in Ku and Ka bands, and ensure service continuity and growth for
broadcast markets developed by Eutelsat in sub-Saharan Africa. Its dual-band design is set
to transform the broadcasting infrastructure at 36degree(s) East into a broader system to
support more television services and IP-based interactive services to accompany the
development of Russia's digital entertainment market.



24% of Russian homes equipped for satellite TV reception



The latest results of the survey[1] produced by Eutelsat and Ipsos on TV reception
modes and trends in Russia underscore the exceptional dynamic of its satellite
broadcasting market and the stellar growth of homes watching channels broadcast from the
longstanding 36degree(s) East neighbourhood. Of the 53 million TV homes in Russia, 24% are
equipped for Direct-to-Home (DTH) satellite reception, making satellite the country's
leading platform for digital television. The number of satellite homes across Russia
maintains a strong dynamic, increasing by 25% over two years from eight million to 12.6
million. Ten per cent of these homes receive signals from more than one satellite
position, taking the total number of antennas to 13.8 million.



Strong channel and audience momentum at 36degree(s) East neighbourhood



Within this universe, the number of homes equipped for DTH reception from 36degree(s)
East has increased over 24 months to 10.7 million from 6.7 million, reflecting the high
level of demand for the TricolorTV platform and the success of NTV+. Over the same period,
the volume of Russian channels broadcasting from 36degree(s) East has jumped to over 370
from 250. Meanwhile, the number of homes in Russia receiving international and Russian
channels broadcast by Eutelsat's HOT BIRD satellites also continues to grow, reaching a
new record of 1.7 million, up from 1.3 million two years before.



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1. Study conducted in collaboration with Ipsos from August to September 2012 via
face-to-face interviews.



In the words of Yuri Prokhorov, RSCC Director general: "The 36 degrees East orbital
slot serves as an excellent example of successful and mutually beneficial Russian-French
cooperation. We are happy that our partnership with Eutelsat is taking another step
forward. The upcoming Express AMU-1 satellite will afford fresh opportunities for digital
multi-programme broadcasting projects in European Russia. DTH users will gain access to
high-quality state-of-the-art TV including HD and 3D TV, as well as to modern
communications and interactive services."



Eutelsat CEO, Michel de Rosen, said: "Driven by NTV+ and TricolorTV's new HD offer,
this trajectory of stellar growth has continued since our findings, further consolidating
36degree(s) East as the place to be in Russia's vibrant digital broadcast market. Our
objective now with RSCC is to take this leading video neighbourhood to the next level with
the procurement of a new satellite from Astrium designed to support increasing demand and
a new generation of interactive services."



Meet Eutelsat and RSCC at Sviaz/Expocomm in Moscow from May 14-17.



About RSCC



The Russian Satellite Communication Company (RSCC) is the Russian state satellite
operator whose spacecraft provide a global coverage. RSCC was founded in 1967 and belongs
to the ten largest world satellite operators in terms of satellites and orbital slots. The
company possesses the largest satellite constellation in Russia located in the
geostationary orbital arc from 14 West to 140 East and cover the whole territory of
Russia, the CIS, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia Pacific region, North and South
America, and Australia. The company includes five teleports - Satellite Communications
Centers (SCC): Dubna, Bear Lakes, Skolkovo, Zheleznogorsk, Khabarovsk and the Shabolovka
Technical Center in Moscow as well as its own high-speed optical-fiber digital network. As
the national satellite operator RSCC meets the important state tasks on providing mobile
presidential and governmental communications, federal TV & Radio signal transmission over
the territory of Russia and the most countries of the world. The company pays serious
attention to implementing national projects. RSCC closely interacts with the Russian state
authorities in the field of informational and telecommunications and broadcast systems
development. RSCC provides a full range of communications and broadcasting services using
its own terrestrial engineering facilities and satellite constellation including
up-to-date spacecraft of Express-AM and Express-A series, Express-MD1, Bonum-1, and a part
of the EUTELSAT 36A (W4) satellite capacity. The company's satellites offer wide
opportunities to establish TV & Radio broadcasting inclusive DTH, IPTV, MPEG-4 services,
broadband Internet access, data transmission, videoconferencing, VSAT network deployment,
departmental and corporative communications networks worldwide. The company has its own
satellite TT&C system. At present, RSCC controls and monitors the Eutelsat, Intelsat, etc.
satellites using its engineering facilities. http://www.rscc.ru



Media Relations: pr@rscc.ru



About Eutelsat Communications (http://www.eutelsat.com
[http://www.eutelsat.com/en/home.html;jsessionid=3573B0BFD492C1943B285A028F8B37F0 ])



Eutelsat Communications is the holding company of Eutelsat S.A. With capacity
commercialised on 31 satellites delivering reach of Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia,
significant parts of the Americas and the Asia-Pacific, Eutelsat Communications (Euronext
Paris: ETL, ISIN code: FR0010221234) is one of the world's leading satellite operators. As
of 31 March 2013, Eutelsat's satellites were broadcasting more than 4,600 television
channels to over 200 million cable and satellite homes in Europe, the Middle East and
Africa. The Group's satellites also provide a wide range of services for TV contribution,
corporate networks and fixed and mobile broadband markets. Headquartered in Paris,
Eutelsat and its subsidiaries employ over 780 commercial, technical and operational
professionals from 30 countries.




Eutelsat Communications & RSCC

CONTACT: For further information: Press: Vanessa O'Connor, Tel: +33-1 53 98 37 91, voconnor@eutelsat.fr. Frédérique Gautier, Tel: +33 1 53 98 37 91, fgautier@eutelsat.fr. Marie-Sophie Ecuer, Tel: +33-1-53-98-37-91, mecuer@eutelsat.fr. Investors and analysts: Leonard Wapler, Tel. : +33-1-53-98-31-07, investors@eutelsat-communications.com


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