Dutch Regional Broadcasters Free-to-Air on Astra.

Contract with Ten Broadcasters / Significant Extension of Programme Line-up

BETZDORF, Luxembourg -- SES ASTRA, an SES GLOBAL company (Paris:SESG) (LuxX:SESG), has announced today that it has signed a capacity agreement with ROOS, the association of Dutch public regional broadcasters, for the digital free-to-air distribution via ASTRA of ten Dutch regional broadcasters. The Dutch bouquet operator CanalDigitaal provides related platform services, such as the inclusion of the regional broadcasters in its Electronic Program Guide (EPG).

The distribution of the Dutch regional broadcasters via ASTRA will allow TV homes in the Netherlands to receive regional television and radio in digital quality after next month's switch-off of the analogue terrestrial network. In addition to the regional broadcasters, ASTRA satellite viewers already have access to all national Dutch channels and an array of thematic channels via CanalDigitaal. The ten regional channels will start today on ASTRA at an official launch event in Amsterdam, presided by both the Dutch minister for Education, Culture and Science, Maria van der Hoeven, and the Dutch minister for Economic Affairs, Joop Wijn.

The Dutch regional broadcasters will initially be launched on ASTRA`s main orbital position 19.2 East as well as on 23.5 East where the ASTRA 1D satellite is available for commercialization, offering 16 additional transponders. The satellite dish equipment to receive signals from both orbital positions is available to households already today. In addition, with the further development of the orbital position 23.5 East for the Direct-to-Home (DTH) reception, a specific new equipment will be available on the market in the course of next year, allowing for the combined reception from ASTRA 19.2 East and ASTRA 23.5 East with the existing 60 cm dishes. Following this market introduction, the Dutch regional broadcasters will continue to be broadcast only from ASTRA 23.5 East. SES ASTRA will continue to develop the 23.5 East orbital slot with the planned launch of the ASTRA 3B satellite.

"We are very pleased to have the Dutch regional broadcasters coming on ASTRA, representing an attractive extension of the Dutch language programme line-up", said Alexander Oudendijk, Chief Commercial Officer of SES ASTRA. "The arrival of the Dutch regional broadcasters confirms the well-established position of satellite as digital infrastructure in the highly competitive Dutch market. The start also represents an important further step in the development of our orbital slot 23.5 East as a prime orbital position for DTH in the Netherlands and other European markets. We will continue working on further enhancing the attractiveness of this new hot spot."

Gerard Schuiteman, Director of ROOS, adds: "The free-to-air distribution via ASTRA provides an important extension of our household reach, while allowing Dutch TV homes to continue receiving regional TV and radio programmes also via satellite after the upcoming analogue terrestrial switch-off. And thanks to the nature of satellite distribution, the regional broadcasters can be received all across the Netherlands - and far beyond."

The ten regional channels distributed free-to-air via ASTRA are: Omrop Fryslan, RTV Noord, RTV Drente, RTV Oost, Omroep Gelderland, RTV Noord-Holland, RTV Rijnmond, Omroep Zeeland, Omroep Brabant and L1 Radio-TV.

The regional channels can be received at the following downlink frequencies:

ASTRA at 19.2 East: 11479.00 MHz, vertical, 22 Msymb/s

ASTRA at 23.5 East: 11.91450 MHz, Horizontal, 27.5 Msymb/s

SES ASTRA is the leading Direct-to-Home (DTH) satellite system in Europe, delivering services to some 107 million Direct-to-Home and cable households. The ASTRA satellite fleet currently comprises 13 satellites, transmitting more than 1,700 analogue and digital television and radio channels. SES ASTRA also provides satellite-based multimedia, internet and telecommunication services to enterprises, governments and their agencies. With 19 High Definition (HD) channels available via its satellites today, ASTRA is also the most important HDTV broadcasting platform in Europe. ASTRA's prime orbital positions are 19.2 East, 28.2 East, and 23.5 East.

SES ASTRA is an SES GLOBAL company (Paris:SESG) (LuxX:SESG). SES GLOBAL wholly owns three market-leading satellite operators, SES ASTRA in Europe, SES AMERICOM in North America, and SES NEW SKIES, which provides global connectivity as well as coverage. The Company also holds strategic participations in AsiaSat in Asia, Star One in Latin America, SES Sirius in Europe, Ciel in Canada and Quetzsat in Mexico. Americom Government Services provides network solutions and bandwidth to the US government and its contractors. SES GLOBAL provides outstanding satellite communications solutions via a fleet of 44 satellites on 33 orbital positions around the globe. Additional information on SES GLOBAL is available at: www.ses-global.com