SES New Skies, an SES company (Euronext Paris and Luxembourg Stock Exchange: SESG) announced today that it will host IPTV Americas on its NSS-806 satellite.

This will enable IPTV Americas to offer an end-to-end satellite-delivered IPTV distribution solution to all telecommunications and cable operators' head ends in Latin America and the Caribbean.

The IPTV Americas' content will be distributed to the entire Americas via NSS-806, one of the most widely used video satellites in the region. The services will uplink from the SES New Skies' Washington Mediaport located in the Washington D.C. area.

This agreement expands the IPTV Americas' previously launched fiber-delivery service aimed to equip small and medium size Latin American telecommunications operators with 80 channels of basic pay TV programming, and the technological solution the operators need to implement the service.

The expanded end-to-end satellite-delivery offer not only brings IPTV headend and transport services to small and remote operators in the region, but also includes technological solutions of great value to the operators such as a tested H.264 (MPEG-4) Set-Top Box (STB) for standard (SD) and high definition (HD), customised to also serve the cable operator regardless of its size.

"This collaboration with SES New Skies will allow us to reach remote operators in Latin America, where delivery via fiber is not financially or physically feasible, to implement our per-subscriber based business plan and expand the pay television market into the less affluent socio-economic groups.

With a small investment, the operators will gain access to a system with content in a digital format (MPEG-4) with Conditional Access (CAS), Electronic Program Guide (EPG), Video on Demand (VOD) and an interactive system," noted Alvaro Gazzolo, President and CEO of IPTV Americas.

"This is an invaluable contribution to the industry because it emerges as a very advantageous solution, not only because of the minimal investment required compared to the cost of installing a local IPTV or Digital Cable Headend, but also because of its proven technology, state-of-the-art transport, high quality signal and top performance eco-system demonstrated in over a year of testing," he added.

Dolores Martos, Vice President of Sales for Latin America and Caribbean at SES New Skies stated, "The powerful NSS-806 satellite is key to IPTVA's distribution strategy of allowing the signals to reach remote operators in every corner of the continent.

"The satellite signal will also allow CATV operators to use their existing infrastructure to bring the MPEG-4 encrypted content to their analog headend and become digital operators by means of a small capital investment. The established cable head end community on NSS-806 will greatly benefit from this new offering."

NSS-806 is located at the orbital position of 319.5 degrees East. Its tailored, high-powered hemispheric beam provides simultaneous coverage of both Western Europe and the Americas, with virtually complete coverage of both continents and the region's Spanish and Portuguese speaking markets. The satellite currently transmits more than 175 news, sport, music and entertainment channels reaching over 14 million homes and more than 4,000 cable head-ends across Latin America.