Eutelsat has announced that its new W3A satellite was successfully brought into full commercial service at 7 degrees East during the nights of May 15-16 and May 16-17, with the seamless transfer of all traffic to the new satellite from W3.

An artist's concept of W3A. Credit: EADS Astrium

In addition to assuming all services formerly delivered by W3, Eutelsat's new satellite substantially increases the business potential at one of Eutelsat's most longstanding orbital locations, providing more capacity and extending coverage beyond Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa to almost the entire African continent. In addition to Ku-band capacity, Eutelsat has deployed Ka-band frequencies and Skyplex on-board processing on W3A, which creates new opportunities for broadband services between Europe and Africa, such as voice over IP and Internet access.

Following its launch on March 16, W3A was positioned in geostationary orbit by Eutelsat in collaboration with prime contractor EADS Astrium and Telespazio. Tests of the spacecraft bus, the first in the Eurostar E3000 series, were completed on March 31, and the payload was subsequently tested and performance thoroughly verified during April on a test location. On May 3, the satellite was triggered to begin a slow move towards its definitive operational position at 7 degrees East. It arrived on station on May 14 and was prepared for the transfer procedures.

The switch of services followed a meticulously planned sequence of events over two nights, with corporate clients such as Reuters and Hughes Network Systems being the first to move during the night of May 16. Over the night of May 17, the European Broadcasting Union's Eurovision network, Digiturk's pay-TV platform, RAI, TV Poland, and other video clients were transferred. The majority of the switch maneuvers lasted fewer than 30 seconds, with the longest lasting fewer than 90 seconds.

A number of clients commented on the switch of service from W3 and the full entry into service of Eutelsat's new satellite. They included Jean Réveillon, Secretary General of the European Broadcasting Union, the world's leading broadcasting association: "We are thrilled to have the benefits of this new satellite for upcoming events such as the 60th anniversary of the D-Day landings, the UEFA Euro 2004 football and the Athens Olympics. The power and coverage of W3A will be a real asset to the Eurovision network."

Mike Darcy President of Hughes Network Systems Europe, added: "Hughes Network Systems has thousands of terminals pointed towards 7 degrees East that serve the critical communications requirements of our clients in industry, retail, energy, and government sectors. Eutelsat worked closely with us to prepare a seamless switch of all our networks onto W3A and we are delighted to be benefiting from the performance and reach of Europe's newest satellite."

Mark Grainge, Global Communications Director for Reuters, commented: "Service availability is a critical factor for our customers. Our clients select our services to meet their real-time business and financial information requirements on this basis. We were extremely satisfied with how Eutelsat coordinated the transfer without any disruption to data delivery. It was particularly important that W3A was co-located with W3 before the transfer, and I would like to thank Eutelsat for their efforts in making this transition easy for us and the 10,000 clients in 50 countries that we serve."

Eutelsat's W3 satellite, which went into service exactly five years ago, will start its drift later this month to 48 degrees East, where it will continue its full commercial mission for clients with requirements in Europe, the Middle East, North Africa, and central Asia.

With capacity commercialized on satellites that provide coverage from the Americas to Far East Asia, Eutelsat is one of the world's leading satellite operators. This satellite infrastructure gives the company the flexibility to offer direct-to-home broadcasting, video distribution and contribution services, corporate network solutions, positioning and communications services for mobile users and a portfolio of IP applications which include broadband Internet access and Internet backbone connections. Eutelsat has developed a range of turnkey broadband products (D-STAR, D-SAT, OPENSKY) for local communities, SMEs, SoHos and consumers beyond ADSL access. It has also set up a subsidiary called Skylogic Italia to market and operate broadband services through its multimedia platform in Turin (Italy). Eutelsat's satellites broadcast more than 1,400 television and 700 radio stations to an audience of 110 million cable and satellite homes.