London-based BT Broadcast Services, the broadcast and media-solutions arm of BT, announced an agreement to promote use of the SES Astra satellite service operating at 19.2 degrees E to independent broadcasters.

BT will provide the ground segment of the package – including multiplexing and uplinking from Paris or London, while SES Astra, an arm of SES Global [SESG], would offer space segment through its ASTRA 1G spacecraft. The new offering could be particularly attractive to thematic channels and ethnic broadcasters that are looking for a way to reach their huge ex-patriot communities living in the European Union.