Amsterdam, Paris, 11 September 2015 – Telekom Austria Group, Austria’s leading telco, and ANTIK Telekom, the largest regional telco in Slovakia, have selected the EUTELSAT 16A satellite of Eutelsat Communications (NYSE Euronext Paris: ETL) for their new Direct-to-Home platform for the Slovak and Czech market. Called ANTIK Sat, the new platform is due to launch early next month. In order to support ANTIK Sat’s strong line-up of 90+ channels, of which one third in High Definition, Telekom Austria Group is doubling capacity leased on the EUTELSAT 16A satellite from four to eight transponders. The announcements were made today by the three companies at a press conference during IBC in Amsterdam.
ANTIK Sat is a joint development initiated by Telekom Austria Group and ANTIK Telekom. ANTIK Telecom will now add satellite broadcasting to its expertise in Internet, IPTV and VoIP services via fibre and wireless infrastructure. The platform will include local channels for Slovak and Czech markets and a wide range of international channels. It will also feature an online archive which marks an innovation for a satellite service in both countries. Second-screen online solutions for smart devices will also be available.
Telekom Austria Group will provide a broad portfolio of platform services to ANTIK Telekom, ranging from licensing, encoding with MPEG-4 compression, Conax encryption and uplinking to EUTELSAT 16A from its teleport in Aflenz.
The new service will be marketed on-line and through more than 150 independent distributors across both countries. ANTIK plans in a second stage to offer hybrid boxes combining satellite reception and IP services. It will also seek to forge partnerships with other service providers in Slovak and Czech markets. ANTIK will provide the new TV service at no additional cost to existing customers of its Internet packages and has developed special offers for new customers, such as a starter package at less than one euro and rich HD content packages with mobile TV services included. End users of Internet providers can now watch television at favourable rates included in their Internet or phone packages. Vouchers and set-top boxes can be ordered online and bought at well-known electronics outlets and retail chains.
“Two years ago, Telekom Austria Group kicked off a new satellite broadcasting venture with Eutelsat aimed at accelerating the transition from analogue to digital in Central and Eastern Europe,” said Stefan Amon, Director Wholesale, Telekom Austria Group. “Following our remarkable success in Croatia and Bulgaria we have found an innovative leader with ANTIK Telekom who is willing to go the extra mile in providing a satellite TV platform and related services in the region. In addition to deep insight of local markets, our new partner brings exceptional technological competence and extensive experience that enriches our product with compelling features such as a TV archive and mobile TV.”
Igor Kolla, General Manager of Antik Telecom, added: “The agreement with our Austrian partner ensures our further expansion in Slovakia and the Czech Republic and opens new business fields for us. In addition to our own customers, we intend to address other Slovak and Czech providers who are keen to offer TV services. Our joint turnkey solution will enable them to address their subscribers with TV services combined with Internet and telephony at favourable rates without initial investment.”
Apostolos Triantafyllou, Eutelsat’s Senior Vice President forSales in German-speaking markets, Central Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia, summed up: “The launch of ANTIK Sat and Telekom Austria Group’s doubling of capacity on our EUTELSAT 16A satellite reflects the core value of our infrastructure for extending penetration of digital services into homes in Central and Eastern Europe. It also further anchors our EUTELSAT 16A satellite in the dynamic CEE TV market. We look forward to taking the next steps with our partner, Telekom Austria Group, into new growth markets.”
Where to meet us at IBC:
Eutelsat stand: Hall 1.D59
About Telekom Austria Group
Telekom Austria Group, listed on the Vienna Stock Exchange since November 2000, is the leading communications provider in Central and Eastern Europe with roughly 23 million customers across its markets of operations. The Group is currently operating in eight countries: Austria (A1), Bulgaria (Mobiltel), Belarus (velcom), Croatia (Vipnet), Slovenia (Si.mobil), the Republic of Serbia (Vip mobile) and the Republic of Macedonia (Vip operator), and Liechtenstein (Telekom Liechtenstein). The total market of the eight countries covers approximately 41 million inhabitants. The Group has roughly 16,000 employees as of July 17, 2015. Group revenues were roughly EUR 4 billion as of year-end 2014. Telekom Austria Group’s portfolio encompasses products and services of voice telephony, broadband Internet, multimedia services, data and IT solutions, wholesale as well as payment solutions.
Press ContactLivia Dandrea-Böhm, Spokesperson A1
Mobile: + 43664 66 31452, email: livia.dandrea-boehm@a1telekom.at
About Antik Group
ANTIK Telecom offers FTTx triple-play services in Slovak republic, being 4th largest fixed operator covering 150k+ households around the country. Telecom product portfolio is strongly supported by its own hi-tech development arm. ANTIK Technology is a company dedicated to a development, production and distribution of hardware devices and software for telecommunication industry, with its development base in Slovakia (European Union) and production facilities in PRC. The company is a producer of End-to-End IPTV solution including professional receivers, encoders/transcoders, IPTV middleware, monitoring, TV set-top boxes, HLS streaming servers, etc. These devices are used by dozens operators, content and hospitality providers in Europe, Americas, Africa and Asia.
Press ContactPeter Blaas, Business Development Director ANTIK Telecom
Tel: +421 905 600 76, email: pr@antik.sk
About Eutelsat Communications
Established in 1977, Eutelsat Communications (Euronext Paris: ETL, ISIN code: FR0010221234) is one of the world’s leading and most experienced operators of communications satellites. The company provides capacity on 38 satellites to clients that include broadcasters and broadcasting associations, pay-TV operators, video, data and Internet service providers, enterprises and government agencies.
Eutelsat’s satellites provide ubiquitous coverage of Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia-Pacific and the Americas, enabling video, data, broadband and government communications to be established irrespective of a user’s location.
Headquartered in Paris, with offices and teleports around the globe, Eutelsat represents a workforce of 1,000 men and women from 37 countries who are experts in their fields and work with clients to deliver the highest quality of service.
For more about Eutelsat please visit www.eutelsat.com
Press
Vanessa O’Connor Tel: + 33 1 53 98 37 91 voconnor@eutelsat.com
Marie-Sophie Ecuer Tel: + 33 1 53 98 37 91 mecuer@eutelsat.com
Investors and analysts
Joanna Darlington Tel. : +33 1 53 98 35 30 jdarlington@eutelsat.com
Cédric Pugni Tel. : +33 1 53 98 35 30 cpugni@eutelsat.com