Es’hailSat, the Qatar Satellite Company, is exhibiting at IBC2017 in Amsterdam and is showcasing their Es’hail-1 satellite, currently transmitting high quality, premium DTH television content from the 25.5°/26° East neighborhood for leading channels such as Al Jazeera and beIN Sports, and their Es’hail-2, the company’s second satellite that is scheduled for launch soon.
Artistic rendition of the Es'hail-1 satellite.
In addition to providing transmission and expansion opportunities for established news and sports channels, a growing number of new Arabic channels are selecting Es’hailSat to launch in the MENA region. Qatari cultural channel QATAR TV and Al Kaas Sport Channel both recently launched their channels on Es’hail-1.
Es’hailSat is also pushing ahead with plans to expand its satellite fleet. Es’hail-2, a new high-performance satellite with sophisticated anti-jamming capabilities, will be positioned at the 26° East hotspot position for TV broadcasting, significantly adding to the company’s ability to provide high quality, premium DTH television content across the Middle East and North Africa. Plus, discussions are already ongoing with customers and stakeholders to define the requirements for additional satellites — Es’hail-3 and Es’hail-4.
Artistic rendition of the Es'hail-2 satellite on orbit.
With a commitment to providing broadcasters with secure and independent satellite transmission, Es’hailSat has also commissioned their own teleport. Located at a dedicated and secured site north of Doha, the new facility will provide satellite TT&C and capacity management together with a wide range of teleport services such as uplink, downlink, contribution, multiplexing, encoding, playout and broadcasting. The high-tech teleport will also provide back-up studios for TV channels and serve as a disaster recovery facility for broadcasters. The site will be linked with key media broadcasters by a redundant, dedicated fibre optic link.
Ali Al Kuwari, President and Chief Executive Officer of Es’hailSat, said that the company has had tremendous growth since the commercial launch in 2013 of Es’hail-1, with a utilization rate at higher than industry average. With the new state of the art teleport nearing completion, and Es’hail-2 scheduled to launch soon, IBC2017 gives Es'hailSat the correct platform to engage with customers and partners, and to showcase the firm's capabilities and future plans.