SES ASTRA has announced that the Slovakian telecommunications and TV operator Towercom has doubled its capacity on ASTRA and contracted one more transponder at the orbital position 23.5 degrees East.

Towercom, which owns and operates the Skylink TV platform in Slovakia and the Czech Republic, will use the additional capacity for different local channels for Direct-to-Home (DTH) reception including High Definition (HD).

Towercom is successfully developing its Skylink platform via ASTRA's 23.5 degrees East orbital position which is becoming a new prime position for Direct-to-Home (DTH) services in Central and Eastern Europe.

"The Central and Eastern European markets continue to show strong demand and a dynamic development," says Alexander Oudendijk, Chief Commercial Officer of SES ASTRA.

"Our 23.5 degrees East orbital position is benefiting from that and is increasingly developing into a top slot for broadcasters in this region. The new contract with Towercom, one of the most innovative Slovakian telecommunications and television companies, is further evidence of that."

"The ASTRA satellite system is a strong basis allowing us to extend our offer in the Central and Eastern European markets," says Roman Fischer, CEO of Towercom, operator of the Skylink platform.

"The new capacity agreement with SES ASTRA allows us to embed our programs in a very attractive neighbourhood of channels in Standard as well as in High Definition format. It also allows us to combine the offer with the large international free-to-air channel choice which can be received from ASTRA 19.2 degrees East with a simple dual reception device on the satellite dish."