[Satellite TODAY Insider 01-07-11] Eutelsat has secured another capacity deal with an up and coming operator in Central and Eastern Europe, the operator, announced Jan. 6.
    Eutelsat signed a deal with Albanian pay-TV operator DigitAlb, which has has extended for an extra three years its contract with Eutelsat for five transponders on satellites operating at the operator’s 16 degrees East video neighborhood.
    DigitAlb launched pay-TV services in Albania in 2004, and the platform has more than 300,000 DTH subscribers in Albania and across Europe and reaches a further 100,000 homes via Albania’s digital terrestrial television network, which retransmits channels delivered to towers by DigitAlb’s Eutelsat capacity.
    DigitAlb also plans a move toward MPEG-4 in the near future. “Very soon, DigitAlb will be broadcasting more MPEG-4 channels than in MPEG-2, increasing the efficiency of bandwidth utilization. We are confident that the successful cooperation between our companies will contribute to a continued bright future for digital broadcasting in the region,” says Alban Jaho, CEO, DigitAlb.
    Albania, one of Europe’s smaller countries, has seen more satellite players trying to bring services to the market. Newtec has been present in Ablania over the last couple of years, working with Greek satellite operator Hellas Sat and local service provider Star Sat to bring satellite-based Internet connectivity to schools in remote parts of Albania. Hellas Sat has connected 300 schools in remote, rural areas of Albania with interactive broadband Internet access using Newtec technology.

Related Stories-

Year in Review: 3-D TV Takes Center Stage    Satellite News   January 3, 2011
[Satellite News 01-03-10] 2010 was the year when 3-D TV went from being a far out technology to being part of the mainstream with a slew of announcements throughout the year in this exciting new medium. Here, we take a look at how the drama…

ILS Orbits Ka-Sat for Eutelsat   Satellite Today   December 28, 2010
[Satellite TODAY 12-28-10] International Launch Services (ILS) successfully launched the Ka-Sat satellite to orbit for Eutelsat on a Proton Breeze M rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, ILS announced Dec 27. Ka-Sat was released into…

Report Clears Proton from Glonass Failure; Ka-Sat Launch Postponed   Satellite Today   December 13, 2010
[Satellite TODAY 12-13-10] The Baikonur Cosmodrome control center has placed a temporary ban on Proton rocket missions and has postponed International Launch Services (ILS) Dec. 20 launch of Eutelsat s Ka-Sat telecommunications satellite…