Dishtv, India's largest Direct-to-Home (DTH) operator, has launched a new bouquet of 30 HD channels on its AsiaSat 5 platform. With the additional Ku-band transponders acquired on AsiaSat 5, Dishtv is now providing the largest HD channel portfolio in India, offering its subscribers the widest selection of HDTV channels.
Dishtv's enhanced HD offerings on AsiaSat 5, branded under the Dish TruHD package, include Zee TV HD, Zee Telugu HD, Zee Cinema, Zee Cafe, Zee Studio, Zee Bangla, Zee Talkies, and many international channels from around the world.
Dishtv is expected to launch more region specific content and premium services on the AsiaSat 5 platform to strengthen its unique offering to subscribers.
Dishtv is a part of India’s largest media conglomerate Zee Group. From its various television platforms it offers 267 channels in standard definition and 30 channels in high definition to over 10 million subscribers.
AsiaSat launched a new DVB-S2 Ku-band platform on AsiaSat 4 customised for Direct-to-Home (DTH) satellite television service and serving the Australasia market.
This new platform is the first DVB-S2 distribution platform launched to serve the entire Australasia region. Using a full 54 MHz Ku-band transponder, the platform currently delivers some 30 television and radio services, available in Russian, Vietnamese, Hebrew, Cambodian, Bengali, Hindi, Punjabi and Telugu languages and dialects. Services can be received by dish antennas as small as 60-70 cm and 1.1-1.2 m in parts of Australia and New Zealand respectively.
The new platform, operated by Teleport Access Services (TAS) in Taiwan, provides signal downlink and turnaround, uplinking and encrypted services, and with the use of the more efficient DVB-S2 technology offers broadcasters more cost efficient one-stop DTH delivery solutions.
Free to air channels on this new DTH platform are available with the following reception parameters:
Satellite Orbital location: 122oE
Frequency: 12415 MHz
Polarisation:Vertical
Mod: 8PSK
Symbol rate: 43.2 Msym/sec
FEC: 2/3
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TAS's teleport facilities in Taiwan
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AsiaSat 5 Delivers 3D Broadcasts of FashionTV Programming  |
FashionTV (FTV) has begun daily 3D broadcasts of scheduled program blocks on AsiaSat 5, enabling viewers across the Asia-Pacific region to enjoy a new dimension of HD viewing experience.
The 3D programming, FashionTV H3D, is providing on FTV's High Definition Channel. Programme content includes the most current fashion shows such as Burberry, Dolce&Gabbana, Gucci, Cavalli, Chanel, Victoria's Secret, Armani along with top models such as Heidi Klum, Adriana Lima, Tyra Banks, and Gisele Bundchen. The service also features reports from the Oscars, Monte Carlo Grand Prix, Cannes film festival and other major fashion events from around the world.
FashionTV, the global leader in fashion and lifestyle channel, broadcasts in 193 countries to over 350 million households and 7 million public locations across five continents.
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SatLink Renews Long Term Lease on AsiaSat 5  |
SatLink Communications renewed a long term lease with AsiaSat to continue to operate a full transponder C-band MCPC platform on AsiaSat 5 that currently distributes nine international television channels from around the world across Asia Pacific. Through its state of the art teleport facilities in Israel connecting Asia, Europe and Africa, SatLinks provides Global Content Distribution to broadcasters and end to end transmission solutions in SD, HD and 3D. Via AsiaSat 5, SatLink provides access to Asian audiences.
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Zee Offers Unique Content on AsiaSat 3S  |
Zee Network has added Zee Khana Khazana, India’s first 24-hour food channel, to its impressive television offerings on AsiaSat 3S. This new genre defining channel will bring to its viewers a rich mix of food and cooking programming from across India as well as internationally. Zee is currently distributing some 30 television channels through AsiaSat 3S to cable headends and pay TV platforms in India and across Asia Pacific.
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| Lights Asia Expands Presence in Asia via AsiaSat 3S |
Lights Asia, a new Pakistani infotainment channel, has commenced its service on GlobeCast’s platform on AsiaSat 3S to extend its channel presence across Asia.
Lights Asia, aired free-to-air in the Urdu language, features a wide range of entertainment and infotainment programming. The service targets Urdu speaking audiences in the country and throughout Asia.
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GlobeCast Australia Doubles Capacity on AsiaSat 5  |
GlobeCast Australia doubled the C-band capacity leased on AsiaSat 5 in 2011 to address the increased demand for delivering major sports and news content within Asia and between Asia and the rest of the world.
Using its expanded capacity on AsiaSat 5, GlobeCast Australia supported the delivery of many recent news and sports events. These included coverage of the flooding in Queensland, the delivery of major sports tournaments such as the Asian Cup, a region-wide football event held in Doha from 7 to 29 January; the 2011 Australian Open Tennis, which was broadcast for the first time globally in HD from 17 to 30 January; and the VII Asian Winter Games, a multi-sporting event held in Kazakhstan from 30 January to 6 February and broadcasted in HD.
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| AsiaSat Brings Live Chinese New Year Festivities to Asia |
On 3 February in celebration of the “Year of the Rabbit”, the Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) presented the International New Year Night Parade through AsiaSat 3S’s pan Asian coverage to over 50 countries in Asia.
The event was staged for the 16th year by HKTB. AsiaSat 3S was used to distribute live coverage of the Chinese New Year Parade, one of the world-renowned festivities of the Chinese New Year to broadcasters and pay-TV platforms in Asia. The parade featured 36 floats and performing groups from 11 countries and regions including Czech Republic, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Mainland China, Macau, Peru, Thailand, Taiwan, UK and USA.
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| New Telecom Leases and Renewals |
Beijing China Satcom Unified Network Systems Technology Co., Ltd. signed a new lease for Ku-band capacity on AsiaSat 3S for the provision of a wide range of managed broadband network services to leading telecom carriers and major enterprise customers and for extending broadband access for rural and emergency communications across China.
Beijing Deserain Science & Technology Co., Ltd. signed a new lease for additional C-band capacity on AsiaSat 4. The user currently operates VSAT network services in China.
Goodlight Telecommunication Limited signed for additional Ku-band capacity on AsiaSat 3S to enhance VSAT services to users in China. The company also leases Ku-band capacity on AsiaSat 4.
Telecommunication Company of China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) signed a new lease for Ku-band capacity on AsiaSat 4. Along with the C-band capacity leased on AsiaSat 5, CNPC is able to expand its nationwide network that supports communications services between its offices and production facilities, and oil drilling platforms across the country.
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| AsiaSat Executives Share Views at PTC 2011 |
At the PTC’s annual conference held on 16-19 January in Hawaii, AsiaSat executives took part in two satellite sessions.
Peter Jackson, Executive Chairman of AsiaSat was invited to host a Satellite Industry Luncheon at which a group of industry leaders actively exchanged their views on the advent of new applications that would provide new growth opportunities to the satellite industry and how new developments in the technical and service areas could shape the future demand for satellite capacity.
William Wade, President and CEO of AsiaSat, was also invited to speak at an interactive panel session on “Satellite Broadband: The Asian Perspective”. During the discussion, Mr. Wade shared his insights on the increased role of satellite in forming a country’s telecommunications and communications infrastructure as a result of its high reliability and ability to respond quickly to needs for emergency relief and disaster recovery. Mr. Wade also expressed his views on operators’ changing relationship with the teleport industry in response to the growing demand from broadcasters looking for fully bundled services.
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William Wade (first from left), President and CEO of AsiaSat
at the PTC 2011 panel discussion
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| Visits to AsiaSat Tai Po Earth Station |
On 21 January, some 30 guests from the space insurance industry visited AsiaSat Tai Po Earth Station in Hong Kong. Dr. Ya Chiu, Vice President, Technical Operations hosted the visit and introduced to the guests AsiaSat's state of the art satellite control facilities, operational status of the AsiaSat satellite fleet and the AsiaSat 7 mission.
On 22 February, a group of students and teaching staff from the Department of Electronic and Information Engineering, Institute of Vocational Education (Sha Tin) visited the Tai Po Earth Station. Through satellite operation presentations and touring the earth station facilities, visitors had the opportunity to enrich their knowledge of satellite communications.
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Guests from the space insurance industry
visit the Tai Po Earth Station
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AsiaSat staff introduces the earth station facilities
to visitors from IVE (Sha Tin)
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| Meet AsiaSat @ 2011 Events |
AsiaSat is committed to interaction and participation within the satellite broadcasting and communications industry. You can meet with AsiaSat executives at the following events:
• Satellite 2011, 14 – 17 March, Washington D.C.
• CASBAA India Satellite Industry Forum, 22 March, New Delhi
• FICCI FRAMES 2011, 23 – 25 March, Mumbai
• 16th International Conference on Space Activities Development, 6 April, Rome
• ABU 48th Sports Group Conference and Associated Meetings, 7 – 10 June, Chiangmai
• CASBAA Singapore Satellite Industry Forum, 20 June, Singapore
• CommunicAsia/BroadcastAsia 2011, 21 – 24 June, Singapore
• CASBAA Convention 2011, 31 October – 4 November, Hong Kong
