SES announced at CommunicAsia2013 a multi-year multi-million dollar contract renewal with Supernet, Pakistan's leading satellite network service provider. The deal will see Supernet contract C-band capacity on the SES NSS-12 satellite at the prime orbital location of 57 degrees East.

This satellite capacity, coupled with Supernet's strong system integration capabilities, provides a high quality GSM backhaul services to Pakistan's leading mobile operators. The capacity is expected to further improve network coverage in Pakistan by providing voice and data signals to remote mountainous areas in the northern region and hard to reach southern regions.

Hamid Nawaz, COO Supernet Limited, stated: "SES is a trusted partner and an industry leader. We and our customers are extremely satisfied with the performance of the NSS-12 satellite throughout our networks. We are happy to enhance our relationship with SES as we continue to provide world class cellular backhaul solutions in Pakistan and in the region."

Deepak Mathur, Senior Vice President Commercial, Asia-Pacific and the Middle East at SES, said: "We have been working with Supernet since 2010 and are delighted to be able to support their growth, as the cellular industry continues to enjoy tremendous growth across Pakistan. Supernet will be able to benefit from the great location of NSS-12 to enable the delivery of voice and data to underserved markets and rural areas in the country."

SES and TELEPORT Access Services Renew Capacity Deal To Deliver TV Content Across Taiwan
SES also reports that global Taiwanese communications provider Teleport Access Services (TAS) has renewed capacity with SES to deliver a variety of TV programmes and live coverage of breaking news throughout Taiwan via SES' NSS-11 satellite located at 108.2 degrees East.

TAS, a longstanding SES customer and the largest distributor of cable channels to cable headends in Taiwan, will use the capacity to broadcast TV content and provide satellite news gathering (SNG) services across the island.

Michael Kuo, President of TAS, said: "Taiwan is one of the most competitive media landscapes in Asia, with a high TV penetration rate and audiences that are accustomed to receiving breaking news immediately. Having been able to rely on SES for the past four years, we chose to extend our partnership and continue to utilise NSS-11 at this prime orbital location covering Taiwan. We are delighted to be able to leverage SES's expertise to broadcast more channels to meet our growing business needs."

"We are pleased that TAS has decided to renew the capacity with SES, as this reinforces the great reach of NSS-11 at 108.2 degrees East. As the leading satellite operator in Asia-Pacific, carrying the most number of DTH channels and reaching the largest number of DTH subscribers, we are thrilled to support TAS in delivering some of the best news and entertainment television to cable headends across the island," said Deepak Mathur, Senior Vice President Commercial, Asia-Pacific and the Middle East at SES.

SES and IPMTV Broaden Partnership
SES and Thailand's IPMTV have broadened their partnership with SES. The broadcaster has contracted additional capacity on SES-8 and has renewed its multi-year capacity deal on NSS-6. SES-8 is expected to be launched later in 2013 and will be co-located with NSS-6 at the prime orbital location of 95 degrees East.

The expanded capacity will enable IPMTV, an established satellite TV provider, to double its reach to 4 million households in Thailand by the end of the year. It currently broadcasts over 150 local channels to its subscribers, with 21 channels in High Definition.

Deepak Mathur, Senior Vice President Commercial, Asia-Pacific and the Middle East at SES, said, "At SES, we believe in growing with our customers and our upcoming satellite, SES-8, is testament to our commitment to the Asia-Pacific region. When launched, SES-8 will bring vital expansion capacity to thriving Asian video neighbourhoods in South Asia and Indochina and enable us to support customers such as IPMTV as they continue to grow. We are delighted to support IPMTV's expansion into even more homes in Thailand."

Manop Tokarnka, CEO, IPMTV, said, "In addition to reaching more homes, the additional capacity will enable us to broadcast local content, allowing us to fill a gap in the broadcasting landscape which cannot be met easily by international players. We are delighted that we now have the flexibility to cover the news and events that resonate best with local audiences. We have a strong partnership with SES and look forward to exploring the development of HD content in Thailand in the future."