EchoStar Europe has made a major step forward in Poland with their advanced, high definition (HD) set-top box (STB) that has been introduced by Cyfrowy Polsat, the largest Polish satellite television platform serving 2.4 million subscribers in Poland, who no doubt say, "Great, thanks!" EchoStar Europe is a leading innovator and supplier of beyond the box, added-value technologies, applications and connected device solutions to the digital television industry.

The launch of the DBS-7100HD enriches the digital satellite TV operator's offer of HDTV services furthering the relationship between EchoStar Europe and Cyfrowy Polsat. The DBS-7100HD is an advanced STB designed to provide consumers with reception of HD digital television high video resolution services. The unit is equipped with the latest, single-chip silicon solution and has the connectivity required to be placed at the focal point of a consumer's digital entertainment center. Features include HDMI™ connectivity for a high quality connection to flat screen HD-enabled TV sets, Ethernet port for future-upgrade to a high speed, broadband return channel for the delivery of advanced, value-added services, and Dolby® Digital loop-through for delivery of high quality sound to a home cinema system. The product platform is compatible with the company's latest, advanced STB remote diagnostics system to optimize network efficiency.

"We are already very pleased with the development of our HD services," said Dariusz Dziakowski, CTO, Cyfrowy Polsat S.A. "However, in order to remain competitive in the Polish market, we need to be in a position to offer consumers a swift and cost effective migration path to more advanced services. EchoStar Europe continues to support us in achieving this goal with advanced, value-added technology. We have recently strengthened our HD services portfolio and believe that this will be an incentive for customers to upgrade their service subscriptions."

"We are delighted that Cyfrowy Polsat selected EchoStar Europe to supply high definition set-top boxes to meet the increased consumer demand for its HDTV service," commented Rick Smith, Vice President Sales and Marketing EMEA, EchoStar Europe. "We have a well established relationship with Cyfrowy Polsat supporting them with their continued roll-out of digital services, especially advanced, high quality HD programming. We believe that Cyfrowy Polsat is extremely well placed to meet consumer requirements and look forward to supporting the platform with added-value technologies in line with their service and business development plans."