SES Americom to close down IP Prime

The slow adoption of IPTV by small and medium size telecom operators in the US has prompted SES Americom to close down its IP Prime service in North America on July 31, 2009. The termination is motivated as well by the difficult market outlook for this kind of service, the company said.

“In line with its plan, IP-Prime has contracted IPTV signal delivery agreements with 70 small telecom operators, of which 37 have so far reached commercial stage. However, with a subscriber base of less than ten thousand at the end of November and after more than two years of service, the consumer uptake is insufficient to justify continuing operations,” said Rob Bednarek, president and CEO of SES American-New Skies in a statement.

The IP-Prime service will continue to operate until July 31, 2009. This will offer telecom operators an opportunity to orderly transfer their services and SES Americom, in collaboration with third parties involved in the service, to seek the best option to transition the business.

SES said it does not expect that the termination of IP-Prime will materially affect its financial guidance for 2008 and 2009 related to revenues and EBITDA.