Eutelsat 7B Ku-band Africa downlink coverage. Photo: Eutelsat

[Via Satellite 11-07-2014] Muvi TV, a commercial broadcaster and satellite TV platform in Zambia, is set to expand its business throughout the African continent. The company has renewed and expanded its satellite capacity requirements from Stellar, a German play-out center and satellite uplink facility that leases high-power capacity on Eutelsat Communications’ Eutelsat 7B satellite, to broadcast Muvi TV to Zambia and neighboring countries.

The additional capacity enables Muvi TV to double the range of channels broadcast via Eutelsat 7B. From six channels launched in 2013, the platform now operates 12 channels, including Nigerian content, new Muvi-branded channels, as well as news, sports, and new formats showing user-generated content. The varied digital content is partially broadcast Free-to-Air (FTA), reaching across Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Namibia and Mozambique, while the subscription channels are available to Zambian homes who sign up for a Muvi TV smartcard and decoder.

Digital reception in Zambia was previously confined to viewers in Lusaka, Ndola and Livingstone who could access just one channel: Muvi TV. In addition to extending capacity and service agreements, Muvi TV plans a further expansion in second quarter 2015 using capacity booked on the Eutelsat 7B satellite.

Stellar connects Muvi TV’s content via Eutelsat 7B to its professional play-out facility in Germany. The content is then turned around and broadcast back to the sub-Saharan home market from the Stellar-owned teleport, also via Eutelsat 7B.