MultiChoice has signed a 15-year service agreement with Intelsat in a deal it says will expand its direct-to-home (DTH) services in sub-Saharan Africa.
In a statement today Intelsat said the new satellite, Intelsat 36, is expected to launch in late 2016 and will be co-located with Intelsat 20, which covers "Intelsat's premier DTH neighbourhood in Africa". MultiChoice has been the anchor customer at this location since 1995.
Group CFO for MultiChoice Tim Jacobs says the ongoing support from Intelsat will enable the pay-TV provider, which has the lion's share of market share in SA, to grow its business.
The Intelsat 36 design will feature Ku- and C-band services. The MultiChoice DTH services will utilise the Ku-band payload.
The C-band payload will provide services to other customers using the same video neighbourhood that distributes content to South Asian cable communities.
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