Slovak Telekom Selects Intelsat for New Transponder Expansion

Deal is one of the largest and longest new business satellite agreements in the region in recent years

Intelsat today announced a monumental deal with Slovak Telekom that will change the landscape of its services, including direct to home (DTH), in the Central and Eastern European (CEE) region.

Finalized last week, the deal will provide Slovak with three new transponders for extra capacity, so the company can bring more content to its customers. It demonstrates the strength of Intelsat's 1-West neighborhood, which plays a significant role in the PayTV business; Slovak Telekom plans to migrate distribution feeds from its current provider to 1-West.

The deal will enable Slovak Telekom to expand its presence in the Central and Eastern European (CEE) region. With new channels dedicated to the Czech Republic, Slovak Telekom is taking another step to providing the region's with the best direct-to-home (DTH) services with the greatest quantity and quality of content available.

The capacity extension also demonstrates Slovak Telekom's belief that DTH services will continue to have a significant place in its product portfolio. Slovak Telekom offers TV services using nearly all the possible technologies and platforms, such as OTT, IPTV, cable and satellite.

"This collaboration exemplifies how satellite can be used to provide flexible growth options at a pace with which no other technology can compete," said Intelsat Sales Director Daniel Sheppard. "Slovak Telekom is partnering with Intelsat to deliver the best quality DTH service available in the CEE region to the broadest possible audience."

"Satellite capacity extensions allow us to deliver a quality viewing experience and a portfolio of channels based on customer expectations," added Lukas Koval, DTH Expert at Slovak Telekom. "There is also a chance to start analyzing 4K possibilities. The trend and attractivity of IP-based TV services are significant, however, we also see the demand for such a traditional and approved Pay TV service like satellite broadcast."

Intelsat provides Slovak Telekom with a completely managed service, including space capacity, fiber, uplink and redundancy via Intelsat's teleport in Fuchsstadt, Germany. Intelsat has also provided customers across CEE region, including Slovak Telekom, with access to a rich selection of cutting-edge 4K content for market testing. This array of choices further enables Slovak Telekom to stand out from its peers by offering the strongest channel line up in the CEE region.

"Since 2012, Slovak Telekom has provided reliable, sustainable and futureproof DTH service thanks to fruitful collaboration with Intelsat. The long-term cooperation proves that together we can handle complicated challenges that can occur during the standard product life cycle. Thanks to Intelsat, we can handle issues easier and deliver the expected quality and customer satisfaction," said Marcel Satanek, Head of PM TV / Connected Home & Terminal Management at Slovak Telekom.