SES Astra‘s deal with the Croatian communications company Vodatel is one of the first indications of telcos in Eastern Europe deploying a progressive multimedia strategy using satellite communications. The deal puts Vodatel at the forefront of progressive interactive satellite entertainment services.

Vodatel has teamed up with SES Astra to offer satellite broadband, Video-on-Demand (VoD) and more than 100 international TV channels via Astra 23.5 degrees East to users in Croatia. Peter Schuler, vice president of sales, broadband and IP at SES Astra, told Satellite News, “We have other service providers in different Eastern European countries, such as Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic, the Slovak Republic and other countries in that region. But these are mainly service providers or ISPs that sell broadband Internet access services via satellite. Vodatel is the first one to say that it does not want to get into the home office, but wants to get into the living room with a multimedia center/gateway combining broadband Internet access, multicast services such as VoD as well as popular TV channels. That is the major differentiator between Vodatel and other service providers that we are working with in other Eastern European countries.”

Philippe Glaesener, vice president and general manager of sales, broadband and IP at SES Astra added, “Vodatel have recognized before anyone else in the region that there is an opportunity to combine broadband and TV and to market a product as a combined broadband entertainment service.”

More Deals To Follow

Schuler expects the deal with Vodatel to be the first of a series in this area. “Based on our discussions with some of the other Eastern European players, there are others planning to go into that broadband entertainment area,” he said. One of the key criteria to successfully provide such services is the availability of cheap and reliable receiving devices for the living room combining current digital STB standards with IP processing functionalities.”

Glaesener added, “The major challenge is signing up with the most interesting service providers, which have access to attractive content and combine such with their marketing powers to broadly launch entertainment services. We want to work with the most interesting and promising service providers that have access to appealing contents. While these customers on one side can profit from an existing strong content neighbourhood on the Astra satellite system, we on the other side ensure the increase of our system’s attractiveness to potential new customers and most importantly to the end user at home.”

Vodatel could be pioneering a revolution in terms of bringing multimedia/interactive services and competing against pay-TV operators. The company, which is based in Zagreb, Croatia, will provide one of the most innovative multimedia offerings in Eastern Europe. Its foray into areas such as VoD makes it an operator to watch. The interactive entertainment services will be marketed under the eTV brand and users will be able to access services via an eTV Media Center box connected to a TV set and a satellite dish pointed at 23.5 degrees East.

For SES Astra, the collaboration could be indicative of a more concerted push in Eastern Europe. Glaesener said, “It is a rather important deal because it gives us access to new markets in the sense that Astra’s core markets have, up to today, primarily been centered around Western Europe. We are now starting to progressively enter Eastern Europe. We are certainly looking forward to having additional attractive opportunities in these markets.”

Big Year For VoD

2005 is shaping up to be a big year for VoD services. Cable operators such as NTL and Telewest in the United Kingdom are preparing for high-profile launches of VoD services as they aim to battle back against satellite.

But, what impact will VoD services have in the satellite arena? Glaesener is confident that VoD services delivered by satellite will have a strong impact. He said, “Satellite can play a rather important role in VoD markets across Europe, especially in regions such as Eastern Europe that are not yet as connected in terms of DSL networks. Satellite gives the opportunity to provide, as of today, VoD services to these regions with minimal upfront investments both to the VoD service provider and to the end user. It is going to be a key year for VoD services on satellite, but, also for other so-called multicast applications, which can transmit attractive contents to multiple users at the same moment. We can already see today with players like EchoStar in the United States, that broadband entertainment is increasingly becoming a hot agenda item.”

While there are likely to be more deals with progressive communications companies in Eastern Europe, these deals are likely to have more of convergent theme when it comes to the services being provided. “We expect to sign more deals like this one also for the simple reason that technology in the market is increasingly moving toward using common standards for contents being picked up by PC- as well as TV-based reception, storage and display devices, and as such allowing an optimized convergence of both the TV and the Internet worlds. It is increasingly interesting for service providers to combine TV and IP-based content into one single entertainment package, all in the interest and to the convenience of the end user at home,” noted Glaesener.

–Mark Holmes (Yves Feltes, SES Astra, [email protected])