Satelio launches German pay-TV package for Africa

German pay-TV platform, Satelio, operated by Deutscher Televisionsklub Betriebs GmbH, yesterday launched a bouquet of up to 18 German channels for viewers in 44 countries in Africa and the Middle East via the Intelsat-20 satellite.

The SD bouquet can be bought for USD 580 pre-paid subscription for the whole year, or USD 648 per year at USD 54 per month or for USD 64 per month, along with a one-time activation fee of USD 10.

The bouquet includes RTL, Sat.1, RTL II, ProSieben, VOX, kabel eins, Super RTL, Puls 4 Austria, sixx, N24, euronews, yourfamily, Jukebox, C Music TV and Hitradio Namibia, but will differ country to country. More channels will be added soon.

The operating company has signed contracts for the foreign distribution of the channels with the broadcasters and rights-holders covering the footprint of the satellite. Distribution is in standard resolution (SD). The range of channels available to subscribers may differ depending on the country or region.

Satelio wants to mainly sell subscriptions and reception hardware through its Web shop from Germany. In Namibia, commercialisation will be handled locally by Hitradio Namibia, a German-language radio station popular in the German community.

Encrypted transmission is via Intelsat 20 (68.5° East) in DVB-S2/MPEG-4. 99% of all satellite antennas in southern Africa are pointed towards this ‘hot spot’ position, according to Satelio. The new generation of condition access system Panaccess is being used for signal protection. The solution, provided by Panaccess Systems GmbH, is software-based with no smartcard required.

Ismaning-based Panaccess also provides the reception devices – the Satelio set-top box and CI+ module – and the backend for the Web shop and customer management.