SES Inks Capacity Deal in Philippines, Forms JV in Ghana

Photo: SES

[Via Satellite 05-24-2016] SES has signed a multi-year, multi-transponder agreement with Sky Cable, the largest cable television provider in the Philippines. Additionally the company announced it has formed a joint venture with Information and Communications Technology (ICT) company K-NET in Ghana for a new broadcast platform with its subsidiary SES Platform Services (SES PS).

In the Philippines, Sky Cable will be broadcasting Direct-to-Home (DTH) satellite TV channels via SES satellites at 108.2 degrees east — the SES 9 and NSS 11 satellites. Sky Cable currently offers cable TV services for 55 High Definition (HD) channels to 800,000 subscribers in 19 cities and municipalities in the Philippines. The contracted capacity will enable the company to effectively roll out a nation-wide DTH satellite TV service across 251 cities and municipalities in the Philippine archipelago, complementing its existing cable offerings.

In Ghana, the new joint venture will leverage SES PS’ and K-NET’s services for DTH and Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) services via SES at 28.2 degrees east orbital position. The joint venture will use SES satellite capacity, K-NET’s teleport services and SES PS’s video platform services. The partnership plans to offer a unified bouquet of Free-to-Air (FTA) and Free-to-View (FTV) channels from all over West Africa, as well as some popular international channels, to millions of viewers in the region. According to the “SES Satellite Monitor Survey Results for Ghana year-end 2014” study, SES satellites connect 98 percent of satellite households in the country.