[SatNews]  iSAT Africa has selected to partner with Eutelsat Communications (NYSE Euronext Paris: ETL) on free-to-air (FTA) delivery of African and international digital channels in Kenya and across East Africa in order to accelerate the move towards a fully digital broadcasting environment in the region.

iSAT and Eutelsat will use the high-power African service area of the EUTELSAT 70B satellite to broadcast a platform of channels to digital headends and on a DTH basis to homes beyond range of terrestrial reception. The first channels were launched by iSAT on September 1. They include Family TV and K24 that are multiplexed in a DVB-S2 platform and uplinked from iSAT’s teleport in Nairobi to Ku-band capacity on EUTELSAT 70B. Homes receiving the platform on a DTH basis can pick up channels without subscription using a maximum 90cm antenna and a digital free-to-air box that can be purchased off the shelf. iSAT Africa has also agreed terms with Eutelsat for use of C-band capacity on the EUTELSAT 3B satellite for contributing channels to the Nairobi teleport where they can be aggregated into the platform. The C-band footprint on EUTELSAT 3B embraces Africa, the Middle East, Europe and South America, covering a vast catchment area of broadcasters.

The iSAT Africa infosite may be reached at http://isatafrica.com/

Eutelsat's infosite is accessible via http://www.eutelsat.com/