New Skies signs SSVC for distribution of The British Forces Broadcasting Service to remote bases
THE HAGUE, Netherlands, September 8, 2003 – New Skies Satellites N.V. (AEX,
NYSE: NSK), the global satellite communications company, today announced a
long-term agreement with The Services Sound and Vision Corporation (SSVC), a
registered charity set up to entertain and inform Britain’s Armed Forces
around the world, for the distribution of The British Forces Broadcasting
Service.
SSVC will use New Skies’ NSS-7 satellite — with its broad coverage of
Europe and Africa extending across the Atlantic to the Americas — to
deliver BFBS radio and television programming to British military bases
throughout the Atlantic Ocean region. These include remote installations in
The Falkland Islands and Ascension Island in the South Atlantic Ocean,
Belize in Central America, and Goose Bay, Newfoundland in Canada.
Peter Ginn, SSVC’s head of broadcast communications, said: “With British
Army and RAF personnel stationed in remote and widely dispersed
installations like the Falkland Islands and Goose Bay, our requirements
posed a significant challenge to the efficient and cost-effective
distribution of BFBS programming to our troops. NSS-7 was the only satellite
to offer comprehensive coverage extending from the UK to the Americas and
reaching both the North and South Atlantic regions, with considerable
transmission power and the benefit New Skies’ customer service.”
Nigel Gibson, New Skies’ vice president of sales for Europe, said: “We are
honored to be supporting British forces stationed overseas with SSVC’s
high-quality radio and TV programming. This service highlights New Skies’
vast experience in program distribution, the extensive reach of our NSS-7
satellite and its role as a high-powered platform for the export of UK and
European content to overseas markets.”
Specifically, NSS-7 will carry BFBS TV 1 and 2 and BFBS Radio 1 and 2. BFBS
Radio 1 is a pop and information channel targeted at the younger soldiers,
sailors and airmen. BFBS Radio 2 provides a mix of talk/news radio via
relays of BBC Radio 4 and Radio 5 Live, supplemented by BFBS programming.
BFBS TV has a varied programming mix, with unique access provided by the UK
networks and extensive program agreements with major television
distributors. The signals are uplinked from New Skies’ partner mediaport in
the United Kingdom.
About NSS-7
NSS-7, a Lockheed Martin A2100AX model spacecraft, features 49 C-band and 48
Ku-band 36 MHz-equivalent transponders. Eleven high-powered coverage beams
broadcast video, Internet and data traffic throughout the Americas, Europe,
the Middle East and Africa. NSS-7 was launched on April 16, 2002 and
operates from 338 degrees east longitude.
About New Skies Satellites
New Skies Satellites (AEX, NYSE: NSK) is one of only four fixed satellite
communications companies with truly global satellite coverage, offering
video, voice, data and Internet communications services to a range of
telecommunications carriers, broadcasters, large corporations, Internet
service providers and government organizations around the world. New Skies
has five satellites in orbit, ground facilities around the world and one
additional spacecraft under construction. The company also has secured
certain rights to make use of additional orbital positions for future
growth. New Skies is headquartered in The Hague, The Netherlands, and has
offices in Beijing, Hong Kong, Johannesburg, New Delhi, São Paulo,
Singapore, Sydney and Washington, D.C.
