Eutelsat
Firmly
Denies
All
Allegations
Regarding
Improper
Commercial
Practice
Towards
The
Georgian
Broadcaster,
GPB
4
February
2010
Contrary
to
statements
made
by
the
Georgian
Public
Broadcaster
GPB,
Eutelsat
reaffirms
that
no
contract
has
come
into
force
between
GPB
and
Eutelsat.
Eutelsat
also
reaffirms
that
it
does
not
respond
to
political
or
ideological
pressure
of
any
kind
in
the
conduct
of
its
activity
and
operates
according
to
commercial
and
business
rationale.
In
the
course
of
its
business,
Eutelsat
conducts
negotiations
with
clients
to
ensure
maximum
use
of
its
satellites.
In
advance
of
the
entry
into
service
of
the
W7
satellite,
Eutelsat
confirms
that
negotiations
were
pursued
in
2009
with
several
customers
interested
in
the
same
capacity
on
this
satellite,
and
that
it
has
selected
to
allocate
this
capacity
to a
European
telecommunications
operator
after
receiving
a
firm
commitment
for
significantly
more
capacity
than
that
requested
by
the
Georgian
broadcaster.
Eutelsat
accordingly
informed
GPB
that
the
solution
offered
on
W7
was
no
longer
available,
and
that
it
could
satisfy
GPB's
requirements
with
another
satellite
in
its
the
fleet,
namely
W2A.
The
W2A
satellite
offers
improved
coverage
of
Georgia
and
western
Russia
than
W7,
as
well
as
higher
power,
enabling
smaller
dishes
of
80cm
to
be
used
in
comparison
to
minimum
one
metre
dishes
required
for
W7.
In
comparing
both
offers,
Eutelsat
firmly
refutes
the
allegation
of
GPB
representatives,
who
claim
that
W7
offers
the
advantage
of
direct
access
to
consumer
satellite
antennas
already
pointed
at
this
satellite
to
receive
major
Russian
TV
platforms.
Eutelsat
specifies
that
Russian
TV
platforms
are
broadcast
using
capacity
with
circular
polarisation,
which
requires
consumer
equipment
which
is
not
compatible
with
channels
transmitted
using
linear
polarisation
generally
deployed
in
the
rest
of
Europe
and
Georgia.
Consumers
therefore
need
to
acquire
either
one
or
both
types
of
equipment,
depending
on
the
service
they
want
to
receive.
The
initial
offer
of
capacity
presented
by
Eutelsat
to
GPB
on
W7
uses
linear
polarisation,
as
is
also
the
case
for
the
offer
on
W2A.
This
means
that
Russian
consumers
have
the
same
requirement
to
change
their
equipment
or
add
a
second
dish
to
receive
Russian
TV
services
(circular
polarisation)
and
"First
Caucasian"
(linear
polarisation).
The
offer
on
W2A
involves
no
additional
constraint
compared
with
the
initial
offer
on
W7.
Finally,
Eutelsat
wishes
to
reaffirm
that
as a
satellite
operator,
its
function
does
not
encompass
control
of
content
or
data
transported
by
the
capacity
leased
to
clients.
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