[Satellite TODAY 10-26-11] Eutelsat has activated commercial service on its Atlantic Bird 7 satellite at the 7 degrees West orbital position, the operator announced Oct. 24.

   Sea Launch carried the satellite into orbit in September and Eutelsat transferred all of Atlantic Bird 4A’s television channels onto Atlantic Bird 7 on Oct. 23. More than 400 TV channels are now broadcasting via Atlantic Bird 7 to approximately 30 million homes located across the North African Atlantic coastline to the Gulf States.

   The operator said the satellite’s entry into service aims to strengthen its relationship with Egyptian satellite operator Nilesat, which also manages its own system of three satellites at the 7 degrees West neighborhood. “Supplemental capacity will anchor the 7 degrees west neighborhood in the satellite broadcasting market across the MENA region, enabling Nilesat and Eutelsat to boost resources for digital channels and HDTV which is making inroads at 7 degrees West with 30 HDTV channels broadcasting,” Eutelsat said in a company statement.

   Nilesat is leasing Atlantic Bird 7 transponders in addition to maintaining its leases transferred from Atlantic Bird 4A, which is being redeployed to the 3 degrees East orbital slot to address data and telecoms markets in Europe and South-West Asia.