NTV-Plus, Russia's Leading Pay-TV Platform, Expands Resource on Eutelsat's W4 Satellite Through New Contract With RSCC

NTV-Plus, Russia's Leading Pay-TV Platform, Expands Resource on Eutelsat's W4 Satellite Through New Contract With RSCC

PARIS, March 21/PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Eutelsat Communications (Euronext Paris: ETL) announces that
NTV-Plus, Russia's leading direct-to-home pay-TV platform, is boosting its
capacity on Eutelsat's W4 satellite from six to eight transponders. The new
agreement for high-power capacity on Eutelsat's W4 satellite has been
concluded between NTV Plus and the RSCC (Russian Satellite Communications
Company), Russia's national satellite communications operator and a
longstanding partner with Eutelsat in the Russian market.

The new capacity will be used by NTV-Plus to expand its pay-TV
platform which was launched in 1997 and today serves 450,000 subscriber
homes, mainly located in Russia, through Eutelsat's W4 satellite. Since the
beginning of March three new television channels (NTV-Plus Tennis, NTV-Plus
Sport Classic, Nash Football) have already joined the existing offer of 60
digital channels. Up to 20 further channels are planned for launch in the
coming months.

"Since its launch on Eutelsat, NTV-Plus has built up its
position as a key player in eastern Europe's vibrant broadcasting landscape,"
said NTV-Plus Director General Dmitry Samokhin. "Through this new capacity we
are now equipped to extend and diversify the range of channels we offer
subscribers. The superior coverage provided by Eutelsat's W4 satellite will
also support our expansion in CIS countries which are experiencing rapid
development of digital services and present great potential for growth for
our digital platform."

For Giuliano Berretta, Eutelsat CEO, "The development of our
key video neighbourhood for eastern Europe at 36 degrees East sits at the
heart of our strategic objectives for Eutelsat's continued growth. NTV-Plus
was the first broadcaster to deliver pay-TV to Russia from 36 degrees East
and the first client to join our W4 satellite when it was launched in 2000.
Today, the success and the expansion of NTV-Plus consolidate our position in
a region in which we have built a longstanding presence and which we firmly
believe will continue to expand as the demand for broadcast and broadband
services rapidly take hold."

About NTV Plus

NTV-Plus is an independent Russian satellite broadcaster
covering all of European Russia. NTV-Plus went on air on September 1, 1996,
when its first fully-owned analogue channel, Nashe Kino (Our Cinema) started
broadcasting. By December 1997 four channels were broadcasting: Nashe Kino,
Mir Kino (Cinema World), NTV-Plus Sport and Detsky Mir (Children's World). On
February 1, 1999, the company started digital broadcasts of all its channels.
Today, the NTV-Plus platform serves 450,000 homes, equivalent to more than
1.5 million viewers, and employs over 900 people.

NTV-Plus offers its subscribers best Russian and foreign
channels alike, as well as its own channels. Today, subscribers of NTV-Plus
can receive more than 60 stereo sound channels (with DOLBY DIGITAL 5.1 since
2005) that are transmitted directly from satellite. They include five news
channels, 13 movie channels, 10 sports channels, five learning channels,
music and children's channels. Broadcasts are dubbed in Russian, English,
Italian, Spanish, French and Chinese.

NTV-Plus is particularly proud of its own sports channels -
NTV-Plus Sport, NTV-Plus Football, NTV-Plus Tennis, NTV-Plus Sport Classics
and Sport Online. The company owns a number of exclusive broadcast rights to
show sports events including NHL and NBA matches, Grand Slam tennis, the
Federation Cup, the Davis Cup and the Cup of Russia figure-skating tournament
as well as professional boxing. NTV-Plus offers five of its own film channels
including the highly acclaimed NTV-Plus Premiera and NTV-Plus Kinoklub
(Cinema Club). Each year the fully-owned channels of NTV-Plus show 365 brand
new productions and a selection of around 1000 films from the world cinema
collection.

www.ntvplus.ru

For further information

NTV-Plus Press Service: +7-495-775-5634, Anastasia Kazakova,
E-mail: Anastasia.Kazakova@ntvplus.com

About Eutelsat Communications

Eutelsat Communications (Euronext Paris: ETL, ISIN code:
FR0010221234) is the holding company of Eutelsat S.A. The Group is a leading
satellite operator with capacity commercialised on 23 satellites providing
coverage over the entire European continent, as well as the Middle East,
Africa, India and significant parts of Asia and the Americas. The Group is
one of the world's three leading satellite operators in terms of revenues.
Its satellites are used for broadcasting nearly 1,800 TV and 900 radio
stations to more than 120 million cable and satellite homes. The Group also
provides TV contribution services, corporate networks, mobile positioning and
communications, Internet backbone connectivity and broadband access for
terrestrial, maritime and inflight applications. Eutelsat Communications is
headquartered in Paris, and the Group's workforce comprises over 480 from 27
countries.

www.eutelsat-communications.com

For further
information
Press Relations
Vanessa O'Connor Tel: +33-1-53-98-38-88 voconnor@eutelsat.fr
Frederique Tel: +33-1-53-98-38-88 fgautier@eutelsat.fr
Gautier
Investor
Relations
Gilles Tel: +33-1-53-98-35-35 investors@eutelsat-communications.com
Janvier

Source: Eutelsat Communications

Press Relations: Vanessa O'Connor, Tel: +33-1-53-98-38-88, voconnor@eutelsat.fr Frederique Gautier, Tel: +33-1-53-98-38-88, fgautier@eutelsat.fr Investor Relations: Gilles Janvier, Tel: +33-1-53-98-35-35, investors@eutelsat-communications.com, NTV-Plus Press Service: +7-495-775-5634, Anastasia Kazakova, E-mail: Anastasia.Kazakova@ntvplus.com

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