Latin American television channels can now
easily reach all major cable-head ends across South America. Intelsat,
working together with TIBA, a leading global satellite telecommunications
carrier, began provisioning TV receive only (TVRO) antennas to approximately
800 cable head-ends in the region to provide an expanded viewing area for
programming carried over the Intelsat 805 satellite located at 304.5ºE.
The antenna seeding program effectively secures access to all major cable
head-ends in South America, in addition to those already receiving
programming from the 805 satellite. The installation of the antennas, which
should be complete by the end of this year, will ensure that all major
head-ends in the region have expanded access to news and entertainment
programming. The antenna program is being deployed and will be maintained
by TIBA.
The Intelsat 805 hosts a large and continually growing Latin American video
community consisting of approximately 20 renowned broadcasters. Reflecting
the growing prominence of the 805 video community, TIBA is working to
introduce relevant local and regional channels onto the Intelsat system.
Norberto Alvarez Vitale, President & CEO of TIBA, said, “TIBA and Intelsat
have a long working relationship that provides significant benefits to the
broadcaster community in Latin America. Intelsat is an ideal partner for
this program; by using the Intelsat 805 satellite TIBA is able to guarantee
the highest quality programming and distribution to all of the major
head-ends in the region.”
“Intelsat’s flexibility allows us to take advantage of good strategic
opportunities when they present themselves,” stated Jon Romm, President,
Intelsat Media & Entertainment Business Unit. “The Latin American market is
important to our growing video distribution business, and working
strategically with TIBA, a strong presence in this market with a proven
background in providing these types of complex solutions, is a good way to
expand the quality services we’ve been providing to this region for many
years.”
About Intelsat
Intelsat, Ltd. offers telephony, corporate network, video and Internet
solutions around the globe via capacity on 26 geosynchronous satellites in
prime orbital locations. Customers in approximately 200 countries rely on
Intelsat satellites and ground resources for quality connections, global
reach and reliability. For more information, visit www.intelsat.com.
About TIBA
TIBA, (www.tiba.com), was founded in Argentina in 1992 and became one of the
main Latin American video, radio, data and Internet carriers. It is owned by
an Argentinean investment group and GE Capital, which for 4 years has
included TIBA in its portfolio of investments. Its operations cover services
in 20 countries in the Americas, Europe and more recently in Asia and
Africa.
TIBA leases 13 hemispheric transponders over satellites Intelsat 805, 901,
903 and 907 covering the Americas, Western Europe and Africa. At its main
Buenos Aires teleport, it has 12 transmission/reception stations of between
17 meters (Standard A) and 4.5 meters, providing uplink and satellite
capacity for several 24-hour regional channels over MPEG2-DVB platforms,
communicating most of the cable head-ends in Latin America. It also owns
teleports in Brazil and Uruguay and an important vehicle network of
satellite transmission (SNG) and transportable earth stations in C- and
Ku-bands.
As part of its large range of video, Internet and data services, the company
permanently monitors all the transmissions and satellite capacity of its
clients -European Broadcasting Union / Eurovision, France Telecom, Disney
Latin America, CNN, Loral Skynet & Communications, ESPN and Fox Sports,
among others.
