Advanced Television

Kyrgyz Republic accelerates DSO with Eutelsat

January 27, 2015

Eutelsat Communications has signed a multi-year agreement with RPO RMTR, the public broadcaster of the Kyrgyz Republic, that will accelerate the country’s switch to a fully digital broadcasting environment.

RPO RMTR is using the high-power service area of the Eutelsat 70B satellite to broadcast a free-to-air platform of national channels to DTT towers and direct to homes beyond terrestrial reception. One in five of the 1.2 million TV homes in the Kyrgyz Republic is already equipped with a dish, with the country’s highly mountainous terrain making satellite particularly efficient for achieving 100 per cent penetration of digital TV.

Comprising four TV and three radio channels, the RPO RMTR platform went live in November and was launched commercially this month. The offer is expected to ramp up rapidly in 2015 to 16 TV and eight radio channels, with further services planned for the future.

Michel Azibert, Chief Commercial & Development Officer of Eutelsat, concluded: “We are delighted to leverage our experience of analogue switch-off to help the Kyrgyz Republic organise a smooth transition to digital, and that RPO RMTR’s preference goes to our Eutelsat 70B satellite. This is a significant opportunity for Central Asia as Eutelsat’s 70° East position can take its place as a broadcasting point of reference in the region, with premium reach of the Kyrgyz Republic as well as Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.”

Categories: Articles, Broadcast, DSO, DTH/Satellite