...of Her Majesty Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands to the company’s headquarters in Betzdorf, Luxembourg. Her Majesty the Queen of the Netherlands was accompanied by Their Royal Highnesses Grand-Duke Henry of Luxembourg and Grande-Duchesse Maria Teresa. The visit to SES’ state-of-the-art satellite control facilities took place in the framework of a three-day official state visit to the Grand-Duchy. Other dignitaries in the official delegation included Mr. Uri Rosenthal, the Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. François Biltgen, Luxembourg’s Minister of Telecommunications, Mr. Eduard W.V.M Hoeks, the Dutch Ambassador to Luxembourg, and Mr. Jean-Marc Hoscheit, Luxembourg’s Ambassador to the Netherlands.

Her Majesty was welcomed by Mr. René Steichen, Chairman of the Board of SES, Mr. Romain Bausch, President and CEO, Mr. Ferdinand Kayser, Chief Commercial Officer, and Mr. Andrew Browne, Chief Financial Officer. In their welcoming addresses to the Heads of State of the Netherlands and Luxembourg, the SES representatives underlined the role of SES’ satellite system in the delivery of a wide range of broadcast and broadband services around the world. The SES satellite fleet currently transmits more than 6,200 TV and radio channels to an audience of some 250 million homes worldwide. More than 1,200 of the TV channels carried by SES are in HDTV. The addresses also highlighted the longstanding relationship between The Netherlands and SES: nine SES satellites currently fly under Dutch flag and use Dutch orbital slots and frequency bands, while two of the seven additional SES satellites currently under construction will be launched into Dutch orbital slots. SES also maintains offices in The Hague and Hilversum where some 80 SES staff are stationed.

SES’ ASTRA satellite fleet carries more than 100 Dutch TV and radio channels, including all channels from public broadcaster NPO as well as the full line-up of private channels from RTL and SBS, reaching an audience of 6.7 million Dutch homes (DTH, cable and IPTV)—virtually every home in the Netherlands. The ASTRA satellite fleet provides more than 40 channels in HD, representing the largest platform for HDTV in the Netherlands. BVN-TV, the Dutch World Service broadcasting channel, is carried via various satellites in the SES fleet for distribution across Europe, Africa and the U.S.