18 March 2010

Eutelsat Communications and Digiturk, announced the signature of a major agreement for the long-term lease renewal of 12 transponders until 2021 at Eutelsat's 7° East video neighbourhood occupied by its W3A satellite. With this agreement, Digiturk has secured long-term access to premium resources for delivering television, radio and interactive services to satellite homes across Turkey.

The Digiturk platform was launched in 2000 at 7° East and currently comprises more than 170 television channels, of which six broadcast in High-Definition. Channels are delivered via the high-power regional beam on Eutelsat's W3A satellite, which provides optimal coverage over Turkey. Launched in 2004, W3A has enabled Digiturk to build one of the largest pay-TV operator in the region, serving over 2.5 million subscriber homes. Digiturk also leases capacity on other Eutelsat satellites for newgathering requirements and delivering programmes to the platform's studios in Istanbul.

In addition to developing an exceptional range of channels, Digiturk has built its success on innovation, pioneering HDTV content in 2007 and launching Video-on-Demand services in HD with a PVR for local storage.

Commented on the contract renewal, Michel De Rosen, Eutelsat Communications CEO said: "10 years on from launch at Eutelsat's 7° East neighbourhood, Digiturk is today both one of the leading pay-TV players in Europe and the Mediterranean Basin and a reference for quality and innovation. We are proud to accompany this tremendous success and to see our business relationship consolidated through this new long term lease that supports the leadership of W3A in Turkey's dynamic digital video market."

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