A new DTH venture has bought capacity on an SES satellite to help West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA) members meet next year’s digital switchover.
Based in Togo and called TNTSAT Africa, the venture comprises a consortium of West African…
A new DTH venture has bought capacity on an SES satellite to help West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA) members meet next year’s digital switchover.
Based in Togo and called TNTSAT Africa, the venture comprises a consortium of West African broadcasters that is mostly owned by local players Africable and Media Plus.
It signed a multi-year contract for two transponders on SES-4 at 22W, which is the operator’s prime orbital slot for Francophone sub-Saharan Africa.
The eight countries that make up UEMOA must migrate from analogue to digital services by June 2015 under international rules. Those countries are Benin, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Mali, Niger, Senegal, Togo and Guinea-Bissau, the latter being the organisation’s only non-Francophone member.
SES said it will use its teleport in Bamako, Mali’s capital city, to roll out a bouquet of 80 free-to-air and encrypted channels from 1 October. It will initially target Mali, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast and Niger.
“As a global satellite operator, SES is well positioned to facilitate digital migration, particularly in Africa where geographic challenges loom large for broadcasters,” said Ibrahima Guimba-Saidou, senior vice president for Africa at SES.
“With over 50 satellites globally, SES has nine satellites which cover Africa. As such, we are well positioned to increase the choice of broadcast channels for local communities.”
Africable CEO Ismaila Sidibe said the company will use its more than 20 years of experience as a wireless cable operator and content provider to support the digital switchover.
“It is our goal to deliver quality television to the wider population at an affordable cost, and we believe DTH technology can help us achieve this,” he said.
SES has no equity interests in UEMOA, although elsewhere on the continent it has a 15% stake in ODM, the majority owner of South African DTH firm TopTV, which was saved last year from potential bankruptcy by a Chinese investor.
