Fransat, the new French DTH platform for distribution of digital terrestrial channels, will announce full launch details at a June 24 press conference.
The service will offer a full bouquet of all the so-called TNT channels as a free-to-view service on the Eutelsat Atlantic Bird 3 satellite (see Broadband TV News passim). The channels will start broadcasting on June 19.
A number of manufacturers have already announced the availability of receivers able to receive the new service. These include the SimbaHD from Aston (see picture), which is the first HD receiver, as well as models from Wizi, Servimat and Metronic, which are SD receivers.
Just last week, the Canal+ Group announced the first Canal Ready satellite receivers with the Canal Ready logo.
Interestingly, these receivers are all intended for use with the TNTSat bouquet operated by Canal on Astra. They offer the additional option of subscribing to Canal+ and CanalSat channels on Astra using the CI Plus functionality of Canal Ready receivers.
