[Satellite TODAY 01-06-12] Arqiva has won a contract to distribute the France 24 news channel in the United Kingdom. The company announced Jan. 5 that the five-year deal also includes the provision of multiplexing, uplinking and satellite services to send the channel’s English language feed to the BSkyB and Freesat platforms, as well as to a network of hotels.

   Arqiva will use its facilities in France and its global terrestrial fiber network to deliver the channel to the United Kingdom. The English language feed will then be uplinked onto Arqiva’s Eurobird 1 satellite capacity through one of its international teleports. France 24 said that exclusive delivery of the service began on Nov. 1.

   “France 24 broadcasts extensive live prime-time content so it is crucial that our broadcast chain is as robust and reliable as possible. Arqiva is widely recognized as the U.K. broadcast specialist, so we are pleased to be able to utilize their expertise in distributing our content into this essential market,” France 24 Spokesman David Couret said in a statement.