SES Platform Services, a wholly-owned subsidiary of SES S.A., recently announced that StarTimes, the fastest-growing digital TV operator in Africa, will distribute TV channels for their direct-to-home (DTH) subscribers across Sub-Saharan Africa via SES Platform Services’ broadcast facility in Germany.
Under the new multi-year agreement, SES Platform Services will be providing signal turnaround, video processing, and up linking services for StarTimes’ SD and HD channels. StarTimes has more than 5 million DTT and DTH subscribers across 16 countries in Africa and currently provides English-language TV content to viewers across the region via the SES-5 satellite located at 5 degrees East.”We want TV audiences in Africa to perceive StarTimes as a reliable DTH platform operator broadcasting engaging content at competitive rates to its subscribers. We are confident that SES and SES Platform Services have the space and ground infrastructure and the expertise to help us grow our TV business by delivering a wider range of attractive offerings across the continent,” said StarTimes Group Chairman and President Pang Xinxing.
StarTimes has been a major market player in Nigeria and has extended its partnership with SES on the SES-5 satellite to provide an enhanced TV viewing experience for its subscribers in Nigeria by providing better picture quality content and more TV channels on its DTH package.
“The new contract reiterates StarTimes’ utmost confidence in SES’s and SES Platform Services’ capabilities to provide both space and ground segment services to grow their business in Sub-Saharan Africa. We are proud to be a valued partner of StarTimes, supporting their growth ambitions in new African markets,” said Wilfried Urner, Chief Executive Officer of SES Platform Services.
By Pita Ochai
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