SES New Skies has announced that it has signed a multi-year, multi-transponder agreement with the Essel Group for C-band satellite capacity to support the digitalisation of India’s cable infrastructure. The deal, which requires capacity of up to six transponders, will be used for the Group’s Headend-in-the-Sky (HITS) project.The Essel Group is one of India’s largest media companies with interests in broadcasting (Zee TV), direct to home (Dish TV) and cable networking (WWIL).
The satellite capacity will be used to distribute pay-TV signals to cable headends serving millions of Indian homes. The agreement initially covers capacity on NSS-703 at 57 degrees East, to be replaced by NSS-12 in 2009.
Earlier, the Essel Group also announced a similar transponder agreement with AsiaSat (see Broadband TV News passim)
