Page 44 - SAMENA Trends - June-July 2020

REGIONAL & MEMBERS UPDATES SAMENA TRENDS

Eutelsat, Telesat, and Claro Share C-Band
Transition Plans

Eutelsat has estimated its full cost to clear EUTELSAT 113 West A, which needs to be estimates that 56 earth stations will
the C-band and relocate its U.S. customers deorbited by May 2023, but as available require retuning. Claro provides C-band
at $170.9 million. Of that, $150 million is spectrum will be reduced by 60%, the service on its Star One C1 satellite, which
allocated for a single satellite replacement, operator will need to renew one satellite will be taken out of service in mid-2021. It
and the rest for ground station activities. at that orbital position. The operator has will be replaced by StarOne C2, which has
Eutelsat, along with Telesat and Claro, not yet announced a satellite order. In already launched but is not authorized to
formerly Star One, laid out their plans to addition, Eutelsat said it does not not operate in the C-band in the U.S. In order
relocate U.S. customers from the 3.7-4.0 expect to need earth station technology to continue to provide C-band service to
GHz band to the 4.0-4.2 GHz band on the upgrades, such as compression encoding a customer in the Miami, Florida-area,
FCC’s accelerated timeline in filings made and modulation equipment. Telesat said in Claro said it has reached a contract with
June 19. The satellite operators must meet its filing it expects to complete the clearing SES for capacity on its SES-4 satellite.
clearing deadlines in 2021 and 2023 in in a single phase and plans to be finished Claro’s filing says the operator does not
order to receive $9.7 billion in accelerated with transition activities by June 30, 2021. anticipate requesting reimbursement for
relocation payments. Intelsat and SES, The Canadian operator expects relocation transition costs. The operator will pay for
the operators eligible to receive most costs to total between $1,085,000 to filter installation and repositioning of any
of the accelerated relocation payments, $1,561,000. Telesat said it does not need antennas located on the Florida earth
have shared their detailed plans as well. to order a satellite to maintain sufficient stations under the agreement with SES, but
Eutelsat said it has four satellites that capacity. The operator plans for new filters does not intend to seek reimbursement.
serve the United States in the C-band. for earth stations, but does not need any
Eutelsat was not planning to replace other technological upgrades. Its filing

TV TEM Selects EUTELSAT 65 West A to Assure Continuity of Content
Distribution Following C-Band Re-Purposing In Brazil

TV TEM, an affiliate of TV Globo, has signed a multi-year contract C-Band (4.5 GHz to 4.8 GHz) on the EUTELSAT 65 West A satellite,
with Eutelsat Communications (NYSE Euronext Paris: ETL) for allowing for the clearing of the traditional C-band frequencies
capacity on its EUTELSAT 65 West A satellite to distribute its for 5G deployment in Brazil. TV TEM has the widest coverage
programming within its concession region in the São Paulo state. area in the State of São Paulo with 318 municipalities within a
The partnership has enabled TV TEM to seamlessly migrate its region of 8.3 million inhabitants, around 49% of the population of
feeds from traditional C-Band (3.7 GHz to 4.2 GHz) to Planned the upstate of São Paulo State. The operation took place under
Eutelsat’s ‘Planned C-Band’ solution, developed to offer Brazilian
broadcasters a simple procedure to adapt or replace equipment
and repoint antennas to the orbital 65°W position, with some 300
sites completing the migration in less than 45 days. Commenting
on the contract, Rodrigo Campos, Managing Director of Eutelsat
do Brasil said: “We are delighted to welcome TV TEM to EUTELSAT
65 West A. Our ‘Planned C-Band’ solution offers a seamless and
cost-effective proposition for Brazilian broadcasters required to
migrate their signals out of the lower end of the C-Band spectrum,
while offering them unparalleled coverage of the Brazilian market.”
Ewerton Maciel, Technology Director of TV TEM said: “TV TEM
has a robust satellite operation with a diversity of transmitting
sites and automatic power control to serve viewers demanding a
premium service with the highest reception quality. Eutelsat has
perfectly understood the regulatory and technological challenges
of this migration, and we are pleased to rely on them as our
partners.”

44 JUNE-JULY 2020