Eutelsat Communications has signed a ten-year contract with Crystal TV, a
commercial broadcaster in Ghana, for capacity connected to the African service
area of the EUTELSAT 16A satellite. The capacity enables Crystal TV to benefit from
countrywide coverage of Ghana for its digital platform of pay-TV and free-to-air
channels.
With access to EUTELSAT 16A, Crystal TV is now a nationwide provider of digital
broadcast services. The company’s current subscription-free premium television
content, including its branded channels – Crystal TV Prime, Crystal TV Plus and
Crystal TV Xtra – was previously limited to terrestrial reception in Ghana’s main
urban areas in Accra, the Ashanti Region and parts of the country’s Eastern and
Central regions.
Crystal TV has selected the high-power Sub-Saharan African footprint of the
EUTELSAT 16A satellite to extend access to homes beyond range of terrestrial
reception. Channels uplinked by Crystal TV to EUTELSAT 16A are available to DTH
homes equipped with a digital decoder and an access card for pay-TV content.
Paul Crystal Djirackor, CEO of Crystal TV, said: “Our partnership with Eutelsat is a
major milestone in a new phase of digital broadcasting, embracing technology that
goes beyond the varied limitations of signal distribution. This is the moment Ghana
and Africa have been waiting for – to challenge ourselves as we embrace the future.
It is an opportunity to offer unparalleled access to other broadcasters whose
mission is to become global players with the support of Crystal’s technical facilities.
With this Eutelsat partnership and other project partners, we believe the stage is set
for Ghana and Africa to accelerate with ease the transition from analogue to digital
TV.’
Rodney Benn, regional vice president for Eutelsat Africa, added: “This new
relationship with Crystal TV is further evidence of Eutelsat’s ambition to leverage its
experience and assets to support the digitisation of Africa’s TV landscape. Satellite
technology is once again showing how it completes and complements terrestrial
infrastructure, and is playing a key role in a fundamental shift to digital that brings
viewers the benefits of choice and quality. We look forward to sharing our
experience of pay-TV and free-to-air platforms with Crystal TV, and to further
consolidating our 16° East neighbourhood as a major pole in Africa.’
