ANKARA - Eutelsat, a leading satellite operator, will offer more television and radio broadcasting services to 60-centimeter dish antennas in its coverage area with its biggest and most powerful satellite ''W3A'' in its fleet.
Eutelsat's W3A telecommunications satellite, the first of a new generation of satellite platforms built by EADS Astrium, was successfully orbited on March 16 by an International Launch Services (ILS) Proton rocket from the Russian-run Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
The satellite, weighing 4,200 kilograms at launch, will be operated from Paris-based Eutelsat's 7 degrees east longitude orbital position for communications between Europe, North Africa and the Middle East.
A news conference was held on Friday at Hilton Hotel in Ankara to introduce Eutelsat's new satellite W3A.
Eutelsat's Sales and Marketing Director Ali Korur for Turkey, Middle East and Central Asia said that the company was set up as an international company to offer communications and broadcasting services in Europe.
Noting that the company currently had 23 satellites, Korur said Eutelsat was one of the leading satellite operators in Europe with a 715 million euros in sales last year.
Explaining that Eutelsat's new satellite was carrying a special antenna covering a large Turkish-based area, Korur said the satellite would cover Europe, Africa and Middle East and W3A had 58 transponders of which 23 would serve Turkey and its region, stressing that that the satellite was designed to operate for 15 years.
Korur added that Turkish Telekom purchased nearly one percent stake in Eutelsat before it launched TURKSAT satellites.
(MS-AÖ) 19.03.2004