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Eutelsat Group (trading as Eutelsat Communications S.A.) is a French satellite operator. Providing coverage over the entire European continent, the Middle East, Africa, Asia and the Americas, it has been the world's third-largest satellite operator in terms of revenues. Its subsidiary Eutelsat OneWeb is a competitor to Elon Musk's Starlink.
Eutelsat's satellites are used for broadcasting nearly 7,000 television stations, of which 1,400 are in high-definition television, and 1,100 radio stations to over 274 million cable and satellite homes. They also serve requirements for Television contribution services, corporate networks, mobile communications, Internet backbone connectivity and broadband access for terrestrial, maritime and in-flight applications. Eutelsat is headquartered in Paris, France. Eutelsat Communications Chief Executive Officer is currently Eva Berneke.
In October 2017, Eutelsat acquired Noorsat, one of the leading satellite service providers in the Middle East, from Bahrain's Orbit Holding Group. Noorsat is the premier distributor of Eutelsat capacity in the Middle East, serving blue-chip customers and providing services for over 300 TV channels almost exclusively from Eutelsat's market-leading the Middle East and North Africa neighbourhoods at 7/8° West and 25.5° East.
On 26 July 2022, Eutelsat announced a merger with LEO satellite internet operator Eutelsat OneWeb. When the merger was completed in September 2023, the company became a subsidiary of a new entity, "Eutelsat Group". It has 35 geostationary satellites and 600 satellites in a Low Earth orbit constellation.
In 1982, Eutelsat decided to start operations of its first TV channel (Sky One) on the Orbital Test Satellite (OTS) in cooperation with European Space Agency (ESA). This was the first satellite-based direct-to-home TV channel launched in Europe. In 1983, Eutelsat launched its first satellite to be used for telecommunications and TV distribution
Initially established to address satellite telecommunications demand in Western Europe, Eutelsat rapidly developed its infrastructure to expand coverage to additional services (i.e. TV) and markets, such as Central Europe and Eastern Europe in 1989, and the Middle East, the African continent, and large parts of Asia and the Americas from the 1990s.
Eutelsat was the first satellite operator in Europe to broadcast television channels direct-to-home. It developed its premium neighbourhood of five Hot Bird satellites in the mid-1990s to offer capacity that would be able to attract hundreds of channels to the same orbital location, appealing to wider audiences for consumer satellite TV.
With the general liberalisation of the telecommunications sector in Europe, Eutelsat's assets, liabilities and operational activities were transferred to a private company called Eutelsat S.A. established for this purpose in July 2001. The structure role and activities of the new intergovernmental organisation Eutelsat IGO evolved. According to Eutelsat IGO's amended constitution in 2016, the main purpose of Eutelsat IGO has been to ensure that Eutelsat S.A. observes the Basic Principles set forth in the Eutelsat Amended Convention entered into force in November 2002. These Basic Principles refer to public service/universal service obligations, pan European coverage by the satellite system, non-discrimination and fair competition. The Executive Secretary of Eutelsat IGO participates in all meetings of the Board of Directors of Eutelsat Communications S.A. and Eutelsat S.A. as an observer to the Board ( censeur).
In April 2005, the principal shareholders of Eutelsat S.A. grouped their investment in a new entity (Eutelsat Communications), which is now the holding company of the Group owning 95.2% of Eutelsat S.A. on 6 October 2005. As of 2009, the holding company owned 96.0% of Eutelsat S.A.
In December 2015, the company announced a partnership with Facebook to launch an internet satellite over Africa by 2016 where Facebook lease all of a satellite's high throughput Ka band capacity, however, the satellite was destroyed during launch preparations.
In July 2021, Eutelsat launched Eutelsat Quantum, the first full software-defined satellite. It will enable users, notably in the Government and Mobility markets, to actively define and shape performance and reach thanks to its software-based design.
In December 2021, Eva Berneke was appointed Chief Executive Officer to replace Rodolphe Belmer. She will take up her position on 1 January 2022.
In March 2022, in the context of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine and growing censorship in Russia, two of the Russian packagers active on the 36°E Eutelsat satellites, NTV Plus (a subsidiary of Gazprom-Media) and Trikolor, unilaterally interrupted broadcasting of 8 international news channels (BBC World, CNN, Deutsche Welle, Euronews, France 24, NHK World, RAInews 24, TV5 Monde). This interruption was denounced by the Denis Diderot Committee, made up of academics and professionals from the European audiovisual sector, which published a report and launched a petition asking for sanctions from the European Union and Eutelsat IGO against the two operators. The petition is signed by all members of the Ukrainian regulatory body, the National Radio and Television Council. Національна рада підписала петицію Комітету імені Дені Дідро про запровадженя санкцій проти двох операторів платного ТВ і закликає медійників також її підтримати, ТСН 6 April 2022
As top manager of French Eutelsat, Danish Eva Berneke defended the strategy in a podcast interview with Techmediet Radar: "It is clear that then we would have to wave goodbye to some Russian customers, who would then move on to some Russian satellites or something else". Media spokesman Kasper Sand Kjær of the Danish Social Democrats comments this decision with: "I think everyone should decide for themselves which side you want to stand on in the story. I do not believe that one can get through the time we are in right now by saying that one is neutral".
Jim Phillipoff, co-founder of the Denis Diderot Committee explained further that Eutelat's declared "neutrality" is rather dubious granted the fact that Eutelsat only offers channels on to Russian customers but not independent Russian-language broadcasts, which could help break information monopoly of the Russian state. As described above, Russian customers already actively censored western channels in their broadcasts on 36°E, which made the claims of Eutelsat's neutrality even more absurd.
On 14 December 2022, the French media regulatory authority Arcom formally ordered Eutelsat to cease broadcasting three Russian channels, Rossiya 1, Perviy Kanal, and NTV, whose programs devoted to the Russian invasion of Ukraine contain repeated incitement to hatred and violence and numerous breaches of fair reporting. This decision followed a ruling by the interim relief judge of the Council of State dated 9 December 2022, who asked the Authority to reexamine the situation of these three channels in light of additional evidence presented during the investigation. It emerged that they were broadcast not only in Russia, but also in the Ukrainian territories annexed by Russia.Since, unlike Russia, Ukraine has signed and ratified the European Convention on Transfrontier Television, as has France, Arcom therefore has a legal basis to require Eutelsat to cease broadcasting these channels. L’Arcom met en demeure Eutelsat de cesser la diffusion de trois chaînes russes, Arcom, 14 décembre 2022
On 16 December 2022, the European Union adopted sanctions against the Russian TV channels Perviy Kanal, Rossiya 1, NTV and REN-TV, as well as sanctions against the Russian media companies VGTRK, National Media Group and the Russian Armed Forces. Eutelsat said Dec. 22 it stands to lose up to 15 million euros ($16 million) in annual revenues from restricting broadcasts in Russia and Iran to comply with sanctions. Eutelsat taking financial hit from TV sanctions against Russia and Iran, SpaceNews, 22 December 2022
On 5 March 2024, RSF has launched the Svoboda Satellite package on the Eutelsat Hotbird 13G. The package proposes 8 TV channels and 3 radio channels provided by Russian media in exile in Western Europe, RFE, Deutsche Welle, the Moladavian TV8 and the Ukrainian Gordon Live. "Welcome to the Svoboda Satellite Package, featuring journalism content for Russian speakers everywhere.", RSF, 5 March 2024
Eutelsat has implemented the French and EU sanctions against Russian channels, but has not implemented the sanctions against Russian media groups adopted by the European Union since 16 December 2022 (VGTRK,National Media Group, abd in later Zvezda the broadcasting company of the Russian Army, and SPAS Telekanal, the broadcasting company of the Russian Orthodox Church. Answering to shareholders' questions during the General Assembly of 21 November 2024, the company argued that it cannot decide to exclude channels without clear instructions of the French media regulatory authority Arcom. Ordinary and Extraordinary General Meeting of Shareholders of 21 November 2024 Answers to written questions previously raised by shareholders, EutelsaztGroup, 21 November 2024
On 2 March 2025, the Diderot Committee and three associations (Union des Ukrainiens de France, Russie-Libertés, Pour l'Ukraine, leur liberté et la nôtre) contacted the French Ombudsman to alert on the fact that the French media regulatory authority Arcom lacks of diligence in ordering the company to respect the EU sanctions against Russian media companies. According to the Diderot Committee, as at early March 2025, 192 frequencies on Eutelsat satellites are still occupied by TV and radio channels provided by Russian sanctioned companies, including channels of the Russian Army and of the Orthodox Church and distributed in Russia in the illegally annexed territories of Ukraine. "French satellite operator Eutelsat still broadcasts EU-sanctioned Russian TV, radio", Euractiv, 10 March 2025
In September 2018, Eutelsat announced Cirrus, which enabled broadcasters to deliver content to satellite and over-the-top media service. Viewers can watch content on screens, phones and tablets, access multiple programmes, record and rewind and view detailed programme information.
With a global fleet of satellites and associated ground infrastructure, Eutelsat enables clients across Video, Data, Government, Fixed and Mobile Broadband markets to communicate effectively to their customers, irrespective of their location. Over 6800 television channels operated by leading media groups are broadcast by Eutelsat to one billion viewers across the world equipped for DTH reception or connected to terrestrial networks
As of March 2025, the company stated that it offers the same capacities as Starlink in Europe. However the operation of Eutelsat terminals is many times more expensive than that of Starlink.
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