SES S.A.

Infobox Company
company_name = SES S.A.
company_
company_type = Public (LuxSE|SESG, Euronext|SESG)
foundation = 1985
location = flagicon|Luxembourg Château de Betzdorf, Betzdorf, Luxembourg
key_people = René Steichen, Chairman of the Board
Romain Bausch, President & CEO
industry = Telecommunications
products = Satellite telecommunications and services
revenue = € 1,610 million EUR (2007)
operating_income =
net_income = € 405 million EUR (2007)
num_employees = 1,550 (2007)
homepage = http://www.ses.com

SES S.A. (LuxSE|SESG, Euronext|SESG) has a fleet of 38 satellites at 25 orbital positions making it one of the the world's leading provider satellite communication and transmission services. Originally founded as Société Européenne des Satellites in 1985, it was renamed SES GLOBAL in 2001 and later simply ‘SES’ as the group management company of SES ASTRA, SES AMERICOM-NEW SKIES and other satellite and satellite service companies in which SES holds a stake, SES SIRIUS, ND SatCom and APS ("Astra Platform Services") being the principal ones.

SES is based in Betzdorf, Luxembourg and is listed on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange and Euronext Paris under the ticker symbol SESG. It is a component of both the LuxX and the Euronext 100 indices.

Group companies

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Satellite service companies

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History

Founding and first launches: 1985-1989

SES was formed on the initiative and support of the Luxembourg Government in 1985 as "Société Européenne des Satellites" (SES). The Luxembourg State remains a major shareholder. As Europe’s first private satellite operator, SES launched ASTRA 1A, its first satellite, in 1988. ASTRA 1A entered service at the orbital position 19.2° East in 1989. Rupert Murdoch’s SKY TV, along with German broadcasters Pro7, Sat. 1, and RTL were among ASTRA’s first major customers.

In 1990, ASTRA was already broadcasting to 14 million cable and direct-to-home (DTH) viewers. SES pioneered ‘co-location’ that allows several satellites to share the same orbital position providing instant back up and redundancy at critical orbital slots such as 19.2 East. Co-location helped build up ASTRA’s reputation for outstanding reliability based on the strength in depth of its satellite fleet. Co-location also enabled SES to make more efficient use of its available bandwidth and to expand services more rapidly. This was crucial during the 1990s which witnessed the rapid expansion of the Direct-to-Home market.

Rapid growth and move into digital

Rapid growth in Germany, in what would become ASTRA’s largest European market, was helped by the German government’s decision to liberalize the installation of dishes in 1991, of which there were already 3.5 million in Europe alone. In this time SES became the leading satellite system providing direct-to-home transmission, and became the world’s largest satellite platform for TV distribution.Expansion of SES’satellite fleet in the 1990s with (5 launches between 1995 – 1999) went hand-in-hand with the growth in the number of channels offered via ASTRA, as well as growing sales of ASTRA-enabled dishes. In 1996, after the launch of ASTRA 1E the year before, SES pioneered digital satellite transmission with the French Canal+ . In 1998, SES launched ASTRA 2A for the UK market, transmitting at the new orbital position 28.2° EAST, and eventually moving all of its U.K. and Ireland transmission capacity to this orbital slot. In the same year, and reflecting its rapid growth over the past ten years, SES went public on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange and in 2005, the Paris EURONEXT Stock Exchanges, trading as SESG.

ES services

Through its operating companies and participations, SES provides satellite transmission capacity and related services to media broadcasters, business as well for civil government and military communications. SES satellites transmit a variety of formats from radio to High Definition TV, (HDTV) in MPEG-2 and MPEG-4. SES has been a major player in the development of the direct-to-home market in Europe and the IPTV market in the U.S.. In Europe, SES ASTRA pioneered the introduction of HDTV and has been instrumental in defining HDTV standards with the HD ready label. In the U.S., SES AMERICOM provides cable-feed services as well as IP-PRIME, an MPEG-4 based IPTV platform that allows users to access TV services, including HDTV channels, via the internet.In Europe, SES ASTRA supplies ASTRA2Connect satellite-based, broadband internet access for residential users. The product is used to offer TV reception, internet access and telephony to end users in remote locations.

Government services

SES supplies satellite capacity to governments for the delivery of video, internet, voice and data to government agencies. In the U.S., AMERICOM Government Services (AGS) delivers to both civilian and defence agencies of the U.S. government. Outside the U.S., SES NEW SKIES also provides worldwide satellite transmission services for the U.S. government and U.S. military including non-combat communications, such as TV and internet for serving soldiers. In Europe, SES ASTRA’s government services unit, ND SatCom provides global satellite-based communications services to government agencies, public administration and their contractors.

Future launches

External links

* [http://www.ses.com SES official website]