[Satellite News 05-13-09] In a strategic initiative, SES Astra teamed up with Yahsat in April to create a company targeting DTH markets in the Middle East, North Africa and South West Asia. The new company will operate under the YahLive brand and will offer DTH television capacity and services to more than two dozen countries in the Middle East, North Africa and South West Asia.
    However, Jassem Al Zaabi, Yahsat CEO, admits creating a new video hotspot will not be an “easy task” for the new company. Al Zaabi talks with Satellite News about how this announcement was a year in the making, and the logic in Yahsat having a broadcast partner.

Al Zaabi: If you look at this from a Yahsat perspective, this deal is very important in the Ku-band business and establishing a hot spot in the region. I am mainly talking about the Middle East and North Africa, but also talking about SW Asia. From our side it is very important that we have a strong position in this area. This comes from very good coverage and a very good operational mode. This is where we believe SES Astra will complement what we have in our spacecraft. We believe their expertise in the broadcasting business, whether in the U.S. or Europe will add significant value to this JV.
 

Al Zaabi: It is not a matter of weakness, but rather looking at the strength of your partner. If you look at ‘YahClick’ for example, we always try and partner with the best people out there, trying to work out strong relationships and extremely successful business plans. So, we were thinking about the broadcast business and the Ku-band business, and whether to go it alone or partner internationally. We believe that partnering with someone like SES Astra would definitely add value and that we would benefit.
We are a new player who is taking this business very seriously. We have confidence in our system and our business plan, but we do not neglect the fact that we are a new player, and we need expertise of a company like SES Astra. SES Astra wants to expand its footprint and have a good business in this area. It’s a win – win situation.

Al Zaabi: We started the process of talking to potential partners around one year ago. But, it was mainly with SES Astra. We really did not have that many discussions with anyone else. I am very pleased to have this potential relationship with SES Astra. There are three key factors in terms of why we benefit from such a partnership. We believe SES Astra is very strong on the broadcasting technology and operation side. We thought this could be a differentiator in this region. Secondly, you have the business growth. This is our home turf, but SES Astra considers this a very important region for them. We are both on the same page in terms of seeing the importance of this region. Thirdly, on the corporate side, we believe we have similar views in the way we conduct business. They have a very healthy management. Their approach to business is very similar to what Yahsat is trying to build in the future.

Al Zaabi: We are mainly talking about Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan.
 

Al Zaabi: We will be working straight away on this, but I would not want to put a timeline on when we might sign the first deal.

Al Zaabi: You have the FTA and pay-TV business. In the FTA business, we don’t see much of a slowdown. In fact, we see the business growing. When it comes to pay-TV, I think it
is all about smart content and business models, and we are looking to partner with content providers/DTH operators who have these smart business models. 

Al Zaabi: Both shareholders will start jointly building this company. Both companies will share the capital expenditure costs. In terms of when we will have the management team in place, we are starting to work on that, and hopefully to make an announcement relatively soon.

Al Zaabi: We are exposed to potential media partners in the region. The demand for capacity is very healthy right now in the region. At the moment, demand outstrips supply. We believe there are only two players in the market, Arabsat and Nilesat. We definitely believe there is room for a third player such as ‘YahLive’. That being said, we are not taking the easy approach. We believe we will try to differentiate ourselves by not only providing capacity ourselves but focusing on services and the customer relationships, the way we do in other business segments. We believe HDTV will be crucial in our business plan. We believe the ground segment in terms of technology for broadcasters will also be key, particularly in terms of what SES Astra can bring here. Hopefully, we will be able to provide a TV broadcasting experience similar to what is provided in Europe and the U.S. We think the broadcasters in this region are doing a good job. But, we want to take the business to a  new level.
 

Al Zaabi: We want to develop a hot spot in the region, but regardless of the demand, this is not an easy task. It is not a very easy process. But, we are trying to do everything we can in terms of technology, footprint and operations. But, the biggest challenge will be to build the business model and make this a success in this area.