Global satellite operator SES announced that SES Platform Services, a wholly owned subsidiary of SES, has strengthened its partnership with K-NET, an ICT and telecoms platform services company based in Ghana, to create a joint venture. The new partnership will contract SES capacity, SES Platform Services and K-NET’s services, and aims to bring high picture quality content to the homes of millions of viewers by strengthening the direct-to-home platform and also providing digital terrestrial television services via SES’s prime orbital position at 28.2 degrees East.
The joint venture will use SES’s high-powered satellite capacity, K-NET’s efficient teleport services and SES Platform Services’ reliable video platform services. This partnership will offer a unified bouquet of high quality free-to-air and free-to-view channels, from all over West Africa, as well as some popular international channels, to millions of viewers in the region.
The partnership will ensure that consumers, especially in Ghana where 98% of satellite households are serviced by SES satellites, receive newer and higher quality viewing formats and also have access to connected services when they become available.
Wilfried Urner, CEO of SES Platform Services, said, “We are proud to be K-NET’s partner of choice. We are at the forefront of the provision of FTA and FTV channels in the sub region and driving further DTH penetration in various West African countries. The partnership will further accelerate the globalisation of SES’s video business, increase our channel growth and establish us as a world-leading next generation video and media service provider.”
Richard Hlomador, Chairman of K-Net says, “We have worked with SES since 2001 and are pleased to be able to extend our partnership with SES Platform Services. We have built a robust DTH platform, and delivering content in consistently high-quality is a top priority for us. This makes SES Platform Services the ideal partner of choice.”
SES has a fleet of more than 50 geostationary satellites. The company provides satellite communications services to broadcasters, content and internet service providers, mobile and fixed network operators and business and governmental organisations worldwide. SES Platform Services brings audio visual content – linear and non-linear on any device, in any format, through any distribution channel. SES Platform Services supports television stations, production companies and platform operators with a portfolio of services in the implementation of their business models.
KNET operates a large MPLS core backbone network with several points of presence throughout Ghana, interconnected using a combination of diverse fibre and high-capacity SDH microwave links. KNETs Network Operation Centre and Teleport is located at McCarthy Hill in Accra, which has diverse connections to multiple international POPs.
