The Astra 2F Satellite
Image credit: Astrium

[Via Satellite 09-16-13] SES has been granted rights to use German Ku-band orbital frequencies at the 28.5 degrees east orbital position. The rights become effective from Oct. 4, 2013 onwards pursuant to a 2005 agreement with German media service provider, Media Broadcast (MB), as successor to T-Systems Business Services. MB holds a license for these frequencies issued by the Bundesnetzagentur, the German regulator, on the basis of German filings that have priority under the rules of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).

The agreement will give SES the right to use 500 MHz of bandwidth at this orbital position adjacent to SES’s 28.2 degrees east in the frequency bands 11.45-11.70 GHz and 12.50-12.75 GHz in downlink and 14.00-14.50 GHz in uplink. SES has procured and will launch and operate new satellites Astra 2E and Astra 2G, where launch is currently scheduled for this and next year respectively at the 28.2/28.5 degrees east orbital arc, along with the Astra 2F satellite launched last year, to replace SES’s existing fleet at 28.2 degrees east and to provide new capacity.

The new satellites in this neighborhood will use the additional frequency spectrum as of October 2013 for DTH satellite television services in the United Kingdom and Ireland and for other services inside and outside of Europe. Eutelsat is currently operating these frequencies on the Eurobird 1 satellite (also known as Eutelsat 28A) under a 1999 agreement with Deutsche Telekom AG (DTAG), the former license holder of these rights, before it transferred in 2002 its satellite activity to MB (via T-Systems Business Services).