Text of press release by the European satellite organization Eutelsat on 29 March
Eutelsat’s Atlantic Bird 3 satellite, located at 5 degrees West, has been selected to deliver to broadcast transmitters the five new digital terrestrial multiplexes, which will start commercial service in France on 31 March. The 5 degrees West location has been used to deliver France’s analogue terrestrial TV channels to French transmitters since 1985.
In the first phase of the deployment of Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) in France Atlantic Bird 3 will deliver the five multiplexes to 17 transmitters, reaching 35 per cent of the French population. The multiplexes will begin by carrying the 14 free-to-air channels and from September [2005] will deliver the complete range of free-to-air and pay-per-view channels to transmitters around France which will ultimately number more than 100.
Three 36 MHz transponders on Atlantic Bird 3 have been assigned to the five multiplexes. The signals routed by satellite will be received by each individual transmitter and retransmitted locally, with local retransmitter relays for major urban areas as required.
“Primary distribution of television programmes to terrestrial transmitters and cable networks is a key business activity for Eutelsat, particularly in France where our Atlantic Bird 3 satellite already distributes all analogue channels and now the new digital terrestrial channels”, explains Olivier Millies-Lacroix, Eutelsat’s Commercial Director. “The introduction of digital in 1995 saw a dramatic expansion of the audiovisual offer, with the number of television programmes carried by our satellites in Europe rising from 50 to 1,500. Today’s burgeoning broadband network technologies, fixed and mobile, are creating new opportunities where satellite has a key role to play in providing feeds and universal coverage, whether the requirement is to deliver programmes to a 160 centimetre television screen or to a mobile phone 40 times smaller. Our satellites are already an important component in the deployment of DTT in Italy and the United Kingdom and we are very proud to have been chosen to play a part in its realization in France.”
As of 31 March 2005, 14 free-to-air DTT channels will be available in France:
Six public channels: France 2, France 3, France 4, France 5, Arte, La Chaine Parlementaire (the latter alternating LCP programmes - Assemblee Nationale and Public S\énat)
Eight commercial channels: TF1, Canal Plus, M6, Direct 8, W9, NRJ 12, NT1, TMC.
(Source: Eutelsat, Paris, in English 29 Mar 05 via BBC Monitoring)
on Mar 31st, 2005 at 11:21
I think the Atlantic Bird feeds are currently FTA. I wonder if, for the FTA DTT channels, the *feeds* will continue to be FTA.
The press release is ambiguous about that, as I read it.
on Apr 1st, 2005 at 14:27
I suspect they’re DTT bitstreams which you probably can’t decode with a DSat box. They’re feeds to terrestrial transmitters rather than feeds designed for direct reception.
on Apr 1st, 2005 at 18:01
14 channels in five multiplexes? sounds ok. Does anybody know the transmission mode?
on Apr 1st, 2005 at 18:25
Gavin, you might be right but Lyngsat lists them as FTA, not as bitstream. I can’t check reception from here.
http://www.lyngsat.com/ab3.html
on Dec 24th, 2007 at 12:03
merci beaucoup++++
on Jun 11th, 2008 at 22:05
Lots of questions but no answers but we’ve seen all this before. In the clear one minute and encrypted the next and God help you if you don’t have an address in France for your subscription. This is all grossly unfair. All the main UK channels including Film 4 are in the clear for all France to see on 28 degrees East but somehow people in the UK do not get the return privilege. How can anyone in France expect society in Britain to change and warm to their culture when they are so unkind about access to basic channels such as TF1, France 2, France 3 and M6? MTV is everywhere but why can’t people in Britain see MCM and enjoy French music? If Britain is the way it is today then in my opinion the French have contributed sadly by being so incredibly selfish.
on Jun 12th, 2008 at 09:12
Here here R Lawrence and I agree with you:MCM Euromusique in the late 80’s and early 90’s was free to air in D2MAC clear with gloriously detailed pix and fantastic digital stereo sound then they encrypted it and made it available via subscription to UK and European viewers for a while,then because of rights issues they encrypted it fully and refused to offer it outside France to anybody(a classic case of its my ball its my game and you’re NOT playing anymore!). MCM did once again become available via Eutelsat II-FI in the mid 90’s for a while in clear widescreen PALplus 16:9 and stereo PANDA1 audio 7.02/7.20Mhz then two or three years later it went digital encrypted and only people in France with cable tv or a subscription to canalsatellitedigital and a decoder and card could watch! Only one or two French language channels were clear free-to-air SECAM on the Telecom satellites, most though were either encrypted Syster Nagravision SECAM(as part of Canal Satellite subscription packages and analogue Canal+) or D2MAC Eurocrypt(Canal+) Smartcrypt SECAM in the case of RTL,there was very little French fta tv via Telecom satellites that you could see.
on Jun 23rd, 2010 at 14:39
Hello. What is the frequency, symbol rate and polarity of these 14 FTAs/