SATELLITE OPERATOR EUTELSAT NAMED OFFICIAL SPONSOR OF THE 2006 WINTER OLYMPICS

Eutelsat will deliver live Games coverage to the Olympic community in Turin, Italy via satellite, managing one of the largest private television networks put in place for an international sporting event.

Paris, France (PRWEB) December 19, 2003 --Eutelsat, one of the worlds leading satellite operators, today announced that it is an Official Sponsor of the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy. Within the framework of this partnership, Eutelsat will also provide the Turin Organizing Committee of the XX Winter Olympics (TOROC) with a package of 50 video channels that will be broadcast for the duration of the Games to competition sites, Olympic Villages, and Media Villages. This will enable the Olympic community to benefit from live events coverage, and to access broadcasts from leading international television channels.

For the XX Winter Olympics in Turin, Eutelsat is pleased to have been appointed to manage an exclusive satellite network for the Olympic community, representing one of the largest private television networks put in place for an international sporting event. The network has been designed to provide athletes, judges and referees, members of the IOC, National Olympic Committees and Federations, as well as journalists and media operators at competition, training, and accommodation locations with exceptional levels of information through 50 digital video channels. 20 Olympic Live channels will be provided by the TOBO (the Turin Olympic Broadcasting Organization), with live coverage from each of the 13 competition sites. Another 30 television channels will enable the Olympic community to follow coverage from national and international television channels. The package will be delivered direct to 5,000 plasma screens and monitors located at the competition sites, 3 Olympic Villages, and 7 Media Villages during the Games. Eutelsat will multiplex, encrypt, and uplink these services through the facilities managed by its Italian subsidiary, Skylogic Italia, in Turin.

As a privileged media for broadcasting the worlds great sporting moments, satellites occupy a special place in the Olympic Games by enabling people around the world to share the emotions and record-breaking achievements of leading sportsmen and women," said Giuliano Berretta, Eutelsat CEO. Next to human achievement, the Olympics are also the opportunity for innovative new technologies to demonstrate their new levels of performance. We are committed to mobilizing our expertise in order to provide the XX Winter Olympic Games with impeccable quality and efficiency for delivering Olympic content and all satellite broadband services required by the Olympic community."

The partnership with Eutelsat is a key milestone in our objective to integrate into our team of sponsors leading companies who bring expertise and added value to our organisation," said Paolo Rota, TOROC CEO. "The key word for Olympic technology is reliability, and the experience of Eutelsat is a guarantee for state-of-the-art solutions for our broadcasting needs. Of course, the Olympic Games move solutions forward and drive the organizing committees to find their partners among the most innovative companies, and thats what happened between TOROC and Eutelsat."

Eutelsats satellite coverage of the Olympics will span the Opening Ceremony on February 10, 2006 to the closing ceremony 17 days later. Eutelsat will also deliver satellite services for officials, athletes, and attendees at the Paralympics that follow the main Olympic event, from March 10-19, 2006. The Paralympics is a sporting competition for disabled athletes competing in five disciplines, including alpine skiing, biathlon, ice sledge hockey, cross-country skiing, and wheelchair curling.

About Eutelsat
With capacity commercialized on 22 satellites, Eutelsat is one of the worlds leading satellite operators. The coverage provided through its in-orbit resource extends from the Americas to the Pacific, serving more than 150 countries or up to 90 percent of the global population. With a powerful network of partners who include leading telecommunications operators, the company provides satellite capacity and value-added services for video broadcasting, interconnection of corporate networks and mobile fleets, data distribution, and broadband Internet services. From its HOT BIRD orbital position at 13 degrees East and five other orbital positions, Eutelsat broadcasts more than 1300 television and 700 radio stations to an overall audience of 110 million cable and satellite homes. www.eutelsat.com

About Skylogic Italia
Opened in 2002, Eutelsats multimedia platform in Turin is designed to offer European and national broadband programmes satellite services in complement to terrestrial broadband access solutions such as ADSL and cable. Operated by Skylogic Italia, a 100% owned subsidiary of Eutelsat, the Turin platform is equipped to offer a range of broadband services, from multicasting audio, video and data, broadband Internet access (as a two-way satellite service or in hybrid mode with requests sent through dial-up modem), and for interconnecting remote sites with secure virtual private networks.
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