PanAmSat announced Thursday that the company will launch a new satellite to serve as the long-term transmission platform for NetSat Servicos Ltda, the Brazilian direct-to-home (DTH) television service, and for Sky's "Multi-Country Platform," the DTH platform serving the balance of Latin America (other than Mexico). NetSat and the Multi-Country Platform are part of the Sky Latin America alliance. The satellite, called PAS-6B, will replace the service currently offered on the PAS-6 satellite. PanAmSat expects to launch PAS-6B during the 4th quarter of 1998.
"Our number-one commitment is to our customers. After extensive
analysis, we determined that launching a new satellite is the best way
to ensure long-term continuity of service," said Frederick A. Landman,
president and chief executive officer of PanAmSat. "PAS-6B will enable
Sky to deliver hundreds of digital DTH television channels in South
America to the year 2014 and beyond."
"NetSat successfully added a total of 84 channels to its Brazilian
line-up back in December 1997," said Mauricio Vaz, chief operating
officer of NetSat. "We have since significantly increased our sales
and market share, and we are glad to see PanAmSat's commitment to
support us in our efforts to continuously provide superior service to
our growing subscriber base."
"We are pleased that PanAmSat has committed to launch PAS-6B to
ensure uninterrupted service to our subscribers in South America,"
said Mark Goldman, president and chief operating officer of Sky Latin
America, which is in charge of the Multi-Country Platform. "In
December we launched our complete service in Colombia, and we recently
enhanced our programming offering by adding eight new channels. The
current developments have not affected our performance."
The PAS-6B Atlantic Ocean Region satellite is already under
construction by Hughes Space and Communications Co. and will be
completed on an expedited schedule. The HS 601 HP satellite will
contain 32 high-power Ku-band transponders with South American
coverage. Arianespace is scheduled to launch the satellite from
Kourou, French Guiana, during the 4th quarter of 1998.
The current PAS-6 satellite, built by Space Systems/Loral, was
launched on August 8, 1997, and commenced service on September 19,
1997. The satellite has experienced several circuit failures in the
spacecraft's solar arrays, which have required PanAmSat to forego use
of some transponders initially and will require the company to turn
off additional transponders in later years.
Until PAS-6B is operational, PanAmSat will continue to provide
NetSat and the Multi-Country Platform with service on the PAS-6 and
PAS-3 satellites, which are both located at 43 degrees West Longitude.
PAS-6B will be co-located in that orbital slot to ensure seamless
migration of the South American DTH services. NetSat, which provides
the Sky service in Brazil, and Sky Colombia, part of the Multi-Country
Platform, are already using PAS-6 and PAS-3. PanAmSat is evaluating
several options for the long-term use of available PAS-6 capacity,
including backup service to PAS-6B and relocation of the PAS-6
satellite to a new orbital slot.
Sky is the brand name of the DTH service offered by the strategic
alliance of Organizacoes Globo, Brazil's leading entertainment group,
Mexico's Grupo Televisa, S.A., the largest production and media
company in the Spanish-speaking world, News Corp one of the world's largest media companies, and Tele-Communications International Inc., a subsidiary of one of the world's leading telecommunications companies. The alliance will provide a 24-hour digital DTH television service to all of Latin America and the Caribbean region broadcasting hundreds of digital television channels
with crystal-clear pictures and CD-quality sound to its subscribers. Sky officially launched in Brazil in October 1996, in Mexico in December 1996 and in Colombia in December 1997.
