TeleSat expands Belgian HD offer

The Belgian satellite DTH Platform TéléSat will launch HD versions of Belgian pubcaster RTBF’s La Une and commercial broadcaster RTL TVi.

To this end, the Luxembourg-based satellite television provider M7 Group, owners of TéléSat, has signed a new capacity and uplink agreement with SES.

The two channels will be included in the TéléSat offering on 19.2 degrees East for French speaking Belgium. The platform launched on this orbital position in November last year. In January 2012, M7 Group already added RTBF’s third channel La Trois to its TéléSat offering on Astra.

Ferdinand Kayser, CCO of SES, said in a statement: “We are delighted about this new capacity agreement with M7 Group. The addition of the HD services of RTBF and RTL is also very good news for satellite viewers in French speaking Belgium, greatly enhancing their viewing experience.”

Hans Troelstra, COO of M7 Group, stated: “With the rapidly increasing sales of HD screens, broadcasting in HDTV is becoming a must in a highly competitive market like Belgium. We are therefore very pleased with the addition of the new HD channels on ASTRA 19.2 degrees East, since this will greatly improve our proposition for satellite viewers in French speaking Belgium.”

M7 Group provides DTH services to more than three million homes in The Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Austria, the Czech Republic and Slovakia using the brand names CanalDigitaal, TV Vlaanderen, TéléSAT, AustriaSat, Skylink and CS Link. To serve the various European markets, M7 Group currently utilises four transponders at Astra 19.2 degrees East and eight transponders at ASTRA 23.5 degrees East.

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