Eutelsat Communications has announced, during the inaugural day of AfricaCom 2019, the successful signing of a multi-year contract with the Democratic Republic of Congo’s Orao Telecom, for video capacity aboard one of its Eutelsat 7-series satellites, located at 7°E, which has been reported to be a privileged position for Africa. The contract includes access to Eutelsat CIRRUS, a hybrid satellite/OTT (Over-The-Top) delivery of channels.

The three-day event, held from 12-14 November, is the largest ICT exhibition on the continent with a total of 15,000 attendees, 450 speakers and 500 exhibitors, focusing primarily on connectivity infrastructure, digital services, ICT strategy and disruptive technologies, such as Internet of Things, Blockchain, Artificial Intelligence, Cloud data and fintech. This year’s edition had topics such as 5G, wholesale telecoms and digital video content and distribution on the spotlight.

The telecommunications market in Africa, although budding, is one of the fastest-growing in the world. Service providers are now scrambling to meet up with consumers demand for quality and accessible content, including authenticated video-on-demand. Most consumers now prefer to watch events from news agency sites or social media networks to reading articles about them.
President of the Directors Committee of Orao Telecom, François Mbilo, Bompate, said that Orao was delighted to embark on its first satellite broadcast enterprise with Eutelsat, to bring quality and original Congolese content to viewers in the Democratic Republic of Congo and beyond.

According to Eutelsat, Orao is set to launch a pay-TV bouquet of 15 channels from mid-December. The channels will feature Congolese content comprising of series, movies, sports, kids shows and news. The DTH (Direct-To-Home) bouquet will broadcast to the Democratic Republic of Congo, while Orao leverages the Eutelsat CIRRUS content delivery platform to offer an OTT service, aimed at the Congolese diaspora.
Eutelsat CIRRUS is a fully integrated, user-friendly, content delivery platform, designed to help broadcasting firms overcome challenges in building a content distribution business while leveraging state-of-the-art technologies to meet customer expectations for the choicest content experience across multiple devices with improved analytics to better monetise content.

Philippe Oliva, Chief Commercial Officer of Eutelsat said, “We are proud to have been selected by Orao to launch its new TV offer. This contract is a reflection both of the unparalleled reach of Eutelsat’s 7° East orbital position over DRC, as well as its compelling portfolio of services and solutions enabling broadcasters to reach viewers worldwide via a satellite/OTT service.”

Access to CIRRUS will allow operators to integrate new features and maintain a competitive stance without the need for support or technical upgrades.