Luxembourg’s SES appears to have won the first round of arbitration proceedings against French rival Eutelsat over the use of the 28.5E orbital slot.
Their arbitration tribunal ruled that SES would be able to use 500 MHz of German Ku-band spectrum at…
Luxembourg’s SES appears to have won the first round of arbitration proceedings against French rival Eutelsat over the use of the 28.5E orbital slot.
Their arbitration tribunal ruled that SES would be able to use 500 MHz of German Ku-band spectrum at this position once Eutelsat loses the “regulatory right” to do so.
The tribunal declined to specify when that right would end, however, Eutelsat recently became subject to separate preliminary injunction proceedings through a German court, which prohibits it from utilising the position from 4 October 2013.
Eutelsat, which is currently using frequencies in the disputed band for its Eurobird-1 satellite, has vowed to appeal this injunction. Under the second phase of arbitration, it also aims to demonstrate it has the regulatory right to operate the disputed frequencies from 4 October.
The row between the two global satellite operators centres on whether Deutsche Telekom’s decision to sell orbital rights to German media service provider Media Broadcast (MB), which later entered into an agreement with SES, had violated a deal it had secured with Eutelsat back in 1999.
That earlier deal aimed to coordinate operations at several orbital positions, but it was complicated when Deutsche Telekom sold its satellite activity to MB in 2002. SES entered into an agreement with MB in 2005 that will enable it to provide Ku-band at 28.5E from 4 October 2013.
According to Eutelsat, SES only disclosed its deal with MB in October 2012, which is when it launched arbitration proceedings.
SES has procured and aims to launch its Astra 2E and Astra 2G satellites this and next year, respectively, at the 28.2E/28.5E orbital arc. There they will replace SES’ existing fleet at 28.2E and provide new capacity, joining the Astra 2F satellite that was launched to the neighbourhood last year.
It plans to use the new satellites mainly for DTH in the UK and Ireland.
Eutelsat declined to quantify the potential revenue impact of losing the slot because the dispute is ongoing, but reports have estimated its losses could run up to €30m-€40m a year.
Â
