[Satellite Today 11-20-08] Eutelsat signed a capacity deal with the Airfield Media Group, a company looking to make an impact in the Belgian pay-TV market, Eutelsat announced Nov. 20.
     In addition to capacity at the Hot Bird neighborhood, which will be used to broadcast five Belgian French-language channels on the new Telesat pay-TV platform, the contract covers provision of contribution links, multiplexing and uplinking of the five channels from Eutelsat’s Rambouillet teleport in France. The service is scheduled to launch in December, and DTH reception will be available throughout Belgium with MPEG-4 decoders using Nagravision’s Mediaguard 3 encryption system.
     “The dynamic and competence of Eutelsat in Europe and beyond are well tested and guarantee us impeccable quality of service and room to grow,” Kurt Pauwels, CEO of Telesat, said in a statement. “Beyond television and radio, Eutelsat is constantly developing new technologies and services which will ultimately enable us to propose our subscribers Internet access solutions and multiple interactive services. The French-language market in Belgium is well on course to play its role in a fully digital environment.”