SES Global
Encyclopedia
SES S.A. is a global satellite owner and operator 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 the LuxX
, CAC Next 20
and Euronext 100
indices
.
SES is the world’s second-largest telecommunications satellite
operator by revenue and operates a fleet of 49 geostationary satellites able to reach 99% of the World’s population. These satellites provide satellite communication services to businesses and government agencies, and broadcast TV and radio channels to audiences worldwide. As of September 2011 SES transmits over 5,900 channels to 245 million households across the world.
Originally founded in 1985 as Société Européenne des Satellites, the company was renamed SES Global in 2001 and in 2006 reverted to SES.
SES is one of the global market leaders of satellite communications services and a pioneer in many important industry developments. SES pioneered direct-to-home transmission (DTH), free-to-air broadcast neighbourhoods and co-location of satellites, digital broadcasting, and HDTV. In 2007 SES was named ‘Satellite Operator of the Year’ and CEO, Romain Bausch is the recipient of honours including ‘Satellite Executive of the Year’ in 2002.
and SES World Skies under one Executive Committee responsible for running the day-to-day operations as well as for preparing the decisions of the Board of Directors. The SES Executive Committee comprises:
and MPEG-4
. SES has been a major player in the development of the direct-to-home market in Europe and the cable TV and DBS
markets in the U.S..
In Europe, SES pioneered the introduction of HDTV and has been instrumental in defining HDTV standards with the HD ready
specification and label. In the U.S., SES provides cable-feed services and HD-PRIME, the U.S.' largest satellite-based HD channel platform. SES has forayed into 3DTV with the recent launches of demonstration channels..
SES also supplies ASTRA2Connect
a satellite-based, broadband internet access for maritime and residential users to offer internet access, telephony and TV reception to end users in remote locations where terrestrial broadband services are not available.
SES supplies satellite capacity to governments for the delivery of video, internet, voice and data to government agencies.
SES is active in the hosted-payloads market, selling space on planned and under construction satellites to governments and institutions, including the U.S. government, and for the European geostationary navigation overlay system EGNOS a supplementary network to the Galileo navigation system.
in 1985 as Société Européenne des Satellites (SES). The Luxembourg State remains a major shareholder
. In 1988, as Europe’s first private satellite operator, SES launched its first satellite, Astra 1A
, to the 19.2° east
orbital position. Rupert Murdoch
’s Sky TV
, along with German broadcasters Pro7, Sat.1
, and RTL
were among Astra’s first major customers.
By 1990, Astra was broadcasting to 14 million cable and DTH viewers. SES was the pioneer of ‘co-location’ by which several satellites share the same orbital position to provide mutual backup and increase the number of channels available to a fixed receiving dish, creating what became known as a 'satellite neighbourhood'. Astra's prime slot, 19.2° east, saw as many as eight satellites sharing the position simultaneously and helped to build up Astra’s reputation for reliability.
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. 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.
In 1996, after the launch of Astra 1E
, 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 UK and Ireland
transmission capacity to this orbital slot.
In the same year, SES went public on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange trading as SESG (in in 2005 SES would also list on the Paris Euronext).
In 1999, SES acquired a 34.13% stake in Hong Kong-based satellite operator AsiaSat and took a foothold in Asia and the Pacific region. A year later, SES acquired 50% of Scandinavian satellite broadcaster Nordic Satellite AB (NSAB), later renamed SES Sirius, which strengthened SES’ coverage in northern and eastern Europe. The same year, SES also took a participation of 19.99% in Brazilian satellite operator Star One, gaining a first presence in Latin America.
In 2001, SES bought 28.75% of Argentina’s Nahuelsat and acquired GE Americom, giving it a solid presence in the important North American market. This resulted in the formation of SES Global, a corporate entity with two operating companies, SES Astra and SES Americom. Altogether, SES operated a fleet of 41 geostationary satellites, the largest in the world in 2001.
Further acquisitions followed. In 2003 SES’ stake in NSAB was increased to 75% and in 2005 SES acquired a participation in Canadian satellite operator Ciel and in Mexico’s QuetzSat, as well as the divestment from Nahuelsat.
SES acquired services provider, Digital Playout Centre GmbH (later Astra Platform Services
) in 2005. and in 2006 SES also acquired ND SatCom, a German provider of government services, developing a services portfolio beyond just bandwidth provision.
Also in 2006, SES acquired New Skies Satellites, later renamed SES New Skies, adding six satellites to the SES fleet and strengthening coverage in Asia, the Middle East and Africa.
In 2007 SES divested from its holdings in AsiaSat and Star One in a complex transaction with General Electric which itself divested from SES.
In 2008, SES increased its stake in NSAB to 90%. and merged its two international operating units, SES Americom and SES New Skies into a new segment which was branded SES World Skies in September 2009.
In 2009, SES and Middle East satellite operator Yahsat announced the formation of a joint venture, YahLive to commercialise 23 Ku-band transponders on Yahsat 1A, serving the Middle East, North Africa and South-West Asia with direct-to-home TV services. Also in 2009, SES announced its investment in O3b Networks a project to build a Medium Earth Orbit (MEO
) satellite constellation to deliver high-speed, low-latency, fibre-like internet broadband trunking to the world's emerging regions (“the Other 3 billion”).
In 2010, SES grew its stake in SES Sirius to 100% and closed the acquisition of the in-orbit satellite Protostar-2, renaming it SES-7 and integrating it into its fleet covering India and South East Asia..
and SES World Skies.
In August 2011 the Astra 1N
satellite was launched to the Astra 28.2°E
orbital position, and in September the QuetzSat-1 satellite was launched to 77°W
Betzdorf, Luxembourg
Betzdorf is a commune and village in eastern Luxembourg. It is part of the canton of Grevenmacher, which is part of the district of Grevenmacher. The commune's administrative centre is Berg....
, Luxembourg
Luxembourg
Luxembourg , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , is a landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany. It has two principal regions: the Oesling in the North as part of the Ardennes massif, and the Gutland in the south...
and is listed on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange
Luxembourg Stock Exchange
The Luxembourg Stock Exchange is a stock exchange based in Luxembourg City, in southern Luxembourg.The Exchange is located on avenue de la Porte-Neuve,...
and Euronext Paris
Euronext
Euronext N.V. is a pan-European stock exchange based in Amsterdam and with subsidiaries in Belgium, France, Netherlands, Portugal and the United Kingdom. In addition to equities and derivatives markets, the Euronext group provides clearing and information services...
under the ticker symbol
Ticker symbol
A stock symbol or ticker symbol is a short abbreviation used to uniquely identify publicly traded shares of a particular stock on a particular stock market. A stock symbol may consist of letters, numbers or a combination of both. "Ticker symbol" refers to the symbols that were printed on the ticker...
SESG. It is a component of the LuxX
LuxX Index
The LuxX Index is the main stock market index of the Luxembourg Stock Exchange, the stock exchange based in Luxembourg City, in southern Luxembourg. The LuxX is a weighted index of the eleven most valuable listed stocks by free floated market capitalisation...
, CAC Next 20
CAC Next 20
The CAC Next 20 is an index of security prices used with the Euronext Paris. It gathers the 20 companies whose market capitalizations are ranked after those of the 40 companies who compose the CAC 40. These 20 are possible candidates to replace the members of the CAC 40 index. The CAC Next 20 was...
and Euronext 100
Euronext 100
The Euronext 100 Index is the blue chip index of the pan-European exchange, Euronext NV.It comprises the largest and most liquid stocks traded on Euronext. Each stock must trade more than 20 percent of its issued shares over the course of the rolling one year analysis period. The index is reviewed...
indices
Stock market index
A stock market index is a method of measuring a section of the stock market. Many indices are cited by news or financial services firms and are used as benchmarks, to measure the performance of portfolios such as mutual funds....
.
SES is the world’s second-largest telecommunications satellite
Satellite
In the context of spaceflight, a satellite is an object which has been placed into orbit by human endeavour. Such objects are sometimes called artificial satellites to distinguish them from natural satellites such as the Moon....
operator by revenue and operates a fleet of 49 geostationary satellites able to reach 99% of the World’s population. These satellites provide satellite communication services to businesses and government agencies, and broadcast TV and radio channels to audiences worldwide. As of September 2011 SES transmits over 5,900 channels to 245 million households across the world.
Originally founded in 1985 as Société Européenne des Satellites, the company was renamed SES Global in 2001 and in 2006 reverted to SES.
SES is one of the global market leaders of satellite communications services and a pioneer in many important industry developments. SES pioneered direct-to-home transmission (DTH), free-to-air broadcast neighbourhoods and co-location of satellites, digital broadcasting, and HDTV. In 2007 SES was named ‘Satellite Operator of the Year’ and CEO, Romain Bausch is the recipient of honours including ‘Satellite Executive of the Year’ in 2002.
Corporate structure
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Corporate management
In May 2011 SES announced that it was operating under a new "streamlined" management structure to consolidate the then subsidiary companies, SES AstraSES Astra
Astra is the name for the geostationary communication satellites, both individually and as a group, which are owned and operated by SES S.A., a global satellite operator based in Betzdorf, in eastern Luxembourg. The name is sometimes also used to describe the channels broadcasting from these...
and SES World Skies under one Executive Committee responsible for running the day-to-day operations as well as for preparing the decisions of the Board of Directors. The SES Executive Committee comprises:
- Romain Bausch - President and CEO
- Andrew Browne - Chief Financial Officer
- Martin Halliwell - Chief Technology Officer
- Ferdinand Kayser - Chief Commercial Officer
- Gerson Souto - Chief Development Officer
SES services
Through its operating companies and participations, SES provides satellite transmission capacity and related services to media broadcasters and businesses, as well for civil government and military communications. SES satellites transmit a variety of formats from radio to High Definition TV, (HDTV) in MPEG-2MPEG-2
MPEG-2 is a standard for "the generic coding of moving pictures and associated audio information". It describes a combination of lossy video compression and lossy audio data compression methods which permit storage and transmission of movies using currently available storage media and transmission...
and MPEG-4
MPEG-4
MPEG-4 is a method of defining compression of audio and visual digital data. It was introduced in late 1998 and designated a standard for a group of audio and video coding formats and related technology agreed upon by the ISO/IEC Moving Picture Experts Group under the formal standard ISO/IEC...
. SES has been a major player in the development of the direct-to-home market in Europe and the cable TV and DBS
DBS
-Automobiles:*Aston Martin DBS, 1967–72 automobile model*Aston Martin DBS V12, 2008- automobile model, officially also called the Aston Martin DBS-Technology:*Database system*Discbox Slider, a carton board disc case...
markets in the U.S..
In Europe, SES pioneered the introduction of HDTV and has been instrumental in defining HDTV standards with the HD ready
HD ready
The HD ready is a certification program introduced in 2005 by EICTA , now DIGITALEUROPE....
specification and label. In the U.S., SES provides cable-feed services and HD-PRIME, the U.S.' largest satellite-based HD channel platform. SES has forayed into 3DTV with the recent launches of demonstration channels..
SES also supplies ASTRA2Connect
ASTRA2Connect
ASTRA2Connect is a two-way satellite broadband Internet service available across Europe, which launched in March 2007, and uses the ASTRA series of geostationary satellites...
a satellite-based, broadband internet access for maritime and residential users to offer internet access, telephony and TV reception to end users in remote locations where terrestrial broadband services are not available.
SES supplies satellite capacity to governments for the delivery of video, internet, voice and data to government agencies.
SES is active in the hosted-payloads market, selling space on planned and under construction satellites to governments and institutions, including the U.S. government, and for the European geostationary navigation overlay system EGNOS a supplementary network to the Galileo navigation system.
Early years
SES was formed on the initiative and support of the Luxembourg GovernmentLuxembourg
Luxembourg , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , is a landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany. It has two principal regions: the Oesling in the North as part of the Ardennes massif, and the Gutland in the south...
in 1985 as Société Européenne des Satellites (SES). The Luxembourg State remains a major shareholder
Shareholder
A shareholder or stockholder is an individual or institution that legally owns one or more shares of stock in a public or private corporation. Shareholders own the stock, but not the corporation itself ....
. In 1988, as Europe’s first private satellite operator, SES launched its first satellite, Astra 1A
Astra 1A
Astra 1A was the first satellite launched and operated by SES . During its early days, it was often referred to as the Astra Satellite, as SES only operated one satellite originally....
, to the 19.2° east
Astra 19.2°E
Astra 19.2°E is the name for the group of communications satellites co-located at the 19.2°East orbital position in the Clarke Belt that are owned and operated by SES Astra, a subsidiary of SES based in Betzdorf, Luxembourg....
orbital position. Rupert Murdoch
Rupert Murdoch
Keith Rupert Murdoch, AC, KSG is an Australian-American business magnate. He is the founder and Chairman and CEO of , the world's second-largest media conglomerate....
’s Sky TV
Sky Television plc
Sky Television plc was a public limited company which operated its four-channel satellite television service, launched by Rupert Murdoch's News International on 5 February 1989...
, along with German broadcasters Pro7, Sat.1
Sat.1
Sat.1 is a privately owned German television broadcasting station. Sat.1 was the first privately owned television broadcasting station in Germany, having started one day before RTL Television....
, and RTL
RTL Group
RTL Group is Europe's largest TV, radio and production company, and is majority-owned by German media conglomerate Bertelsmann. It has 45 television and 32 radio stations in 11 countries...
were among Astra’s first major customers.
By 1990, Astra was broadcasting to 14 million cable and DTH viewers. SES was the pioneer of ‘co-location’ by which several satellites share the same orbital position to provide mutual backup and increase the number of channels available to a fixed receiving dish, creating what became known as a 'satellite neighbourhood'. Astra's prime slot, 19.2° east, saw as many as eight satellites sharing the position simultaneously and helped to build up Astra’s reputation for reliability.
Rapid growth in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, 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. 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.
In 1996, after the launch of Astra 1E
Astra 1E
Astra 1E is a communications satellite owned and operated by SES Astra, and launched in 1995 to the Astra 19.2°E orbital slot to provide digital television and radio for DTH across Europe....
, SES pioneered digital satellite transmission with the French Canal+
Canal+
Canal+ is a French premium pay television channel launched in 1984. It is 80% owned by the Canal+ Group, which in turn is owned by Vivendi SA. The channel broadcasts several kinds of programming, mostly encrypted...
. In 1998, SES launched Astra 2A
Astra 2A
Astra 2A is a communications satellite owned by SES Astra. Launched in 1998, half its expected end-of-life capacity of 28 transponders were pre-booked by BSkyB, who utilised it to launch their new Sky Digital service...
for the UK market, transmitting at the new orbital position 28.2° east, and eventually moving all of its UK and Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
transmission capacity to this orbital slot.
In the same year, SES went public on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange trading as SESG (in in 2005 SES would also list on the Paris Euronext).
Global expansion
From 1999 SES began a period of ambitious global expansion beyond its European home market. Geographic expansion went hand-in-hand with the diversification of SES’ services beyond just TV broadcasting, to cover telecommunication services for businesses, telecommunications companies and government customers, as well as broadband access and technical consultancy services.In 1999, SES acquired a 34.13% stake in Hong Kong-based satellite operator AsiaSat and took a foothold in Asia and the Pacific region. A year later, SES acquired 50% of Scandinavian satellite broadcaster Nordic Satellite AB (NSAB), later renamed SES Sirius, which strengthened SES’ coverage in northern and eastern Europe. The same year, SES also took a participation of 19.99% in Brazilian satellite operator Star One, gaining a first presence in Latin America.
In 2001, SES bought 28.75% of Argentina’s Nahuelsat and acquired GE Americom, giving it a solid presence in the important North American market. This resulted in the formation of SES Global, a corporate entity with two operating companies, SES Astra and SES Americom. Altogether, SES operated a fleet of 41 geostationary satellites, the largest in the world in 2001.
Further acquisitions followed. In 2003 SES’ stake in NSAB was increased to 75% and in 2005 SES acquired a participation in Canadian satellite operator Ciel and in Mexico’s QuetzSat, as well as the divestment from Nahuelsat.
SES acquired services provider, Digital Playout Centre GmbH (later Astra Platform Services
ASTRA Platform Services
ASTRA Platform Services GmbH is a sister company of SES Astra, both are subsidiaries of SES based in Betzdorf, Luxembourg. From its headquarters in Unterföhring near Munich, Germany, APS operates a broadcasting centre, providing a wide range of services, including content management, playout,...
) in 2005. and in 2006 SES also acquired ND SatCom, a German provider of government services, developing a services portfolio beyond just bandwidth provision.
Also in 2006, SES acquired New Skies Satellites, later renamed SES New Skies, adding six satellites to the SES fleet and strengthening coverage in Asia, the Middle East and Africa.
In 2007 SES divested from its holdings in AsiaSat and Star One in a complex transaction with General Electric which itself divested from SES.
In 2008, SES increased its stake in NSAB to 90%. and merged its two international operating units, SES Americom and SES New Skies into a new segment which was branded SES World Skies in September 2009.
In 2009, SES and Middle East satellite operator Yahsat announced the formation of a joint venture, YahLive to commercialise 23 Ku-band transponders on Yahsat 1A, serving the Middle East, North Africa and South-West Asia with direct-to-home TV services. Also in 2009, SES announced its investment in O3b Networks a project to build a Medium Earth Orbit (MEO
Meo
Mayo or Meo or Mewati is a prominent Muslim Rajput tribe from North-Western India. A considerable number of Meos migrated to Pakistan after independence in 1947 and now they are estimated to be over 12 million. In Pakistan, Meos have lost their distinct group identity and cultural traditions and...
) satellite constellation to deliver high-speed, low-latency, fibre-like internet broadband trunking to the world's emerging regions (“the Other 3 billion”).
In 2010, SES grew its stake in SES Sirius to 100% and closed the acquisition of the in-orbit satellite Protostar-2, renaming it SES-7 and integrating it into its fleet covering India and South East Asia..
Recent events
In May and September 2011, SES restructured and rebranded the company to streamline the organisation’s activities under a single management team and one main brand (SES), incorporating the company’s two previous operating entities, SES AstraSES Astra
Astra is the name for the geostationary communication satellites, both individually and as a group, which are owned and operated by SES S.A., a global satellite operator based in Betzdorf, in eastern Luxembourg. The name is sometimes also used to describe the channels broadcasting from these...
and SES World Skies.
In August 2011 the Astra 1N
Astra 1N
Astra 1N is a communications satellite owned and operated by SES Astra, launched in 2011 to join Astra 2A, Astra 2B Astra 2D at the Astra 28.2°E orbital slot...
satellite was launched to the Astra 28.2°E
Astra 28.2°E
Astra 28.2°E is the name for the group of Astra communications satellites co-located at the 28.2° East position in the Clarke Belt that are owned and operated by SES based in Betzdorf, Luxembourg...
orbital position, and in September the QuetzSat-1 satellite was launched to 77°W
See also
- Astra (satellites)
- SES New SkiesSES NEW SKIESSES World Skies—formerly SES New Skies, New Skies Satellites , and SES Americom—is a Dutch operator of communications spacecraft, owned by SES.On 30 November 1998, several former Intelsat satellites were transferred to New Skies’ control...
- SES AmericomSES AmericomSES Americom was a major commercial satellite operator based in the United States. Formerly RCA Americom and GE Americom, the company became one of the principal parts of SES S.A.....
- SES SiriusSES SIRIUSSES Sirius, formerly called Nordic Satellite AB is the owner and operator of the two Sirius satellites, which provide the Nordic countries and the Baltic states, with TV, radio, data and communications solutions...
- ASTRA2ConnectASTRA2ConnectASTRA2Connect is a two-way satellite broadband Internet service available across Europe, which launched in March 2007, and uses the ASTRA series of geostationary satellites...
- ASTRA Platform ServicesASTRA Platform ServicesASTRA Platform Services GmbH is a sister company of SES Astra, both are subsidiaries of SES based in Betzdorf, Luxembourg. From its headquarters in Unterföhring near Munich, Germany, APS operates a broadcasting centre, providing a wide range of services, including content management, playout,...
- Solaris MobileSolaris MobileSolaris Mobile is a joint venture company between SES Astra and Eutelsat Communications to develop and commercialize the first geostationary satellite systems in Europe for broadcasting video, radio and data to in-vehicle receivers and to mobile devices, such as mobile phones, portable media...
- HD+HD+This article is about the television service "HD+"; for the computer screen resolution see Computer display standard.HD+ is a package of high definition digital satellite TV channels for German-speaking viewers and the company providing that package, based in Unterföhring near Munich, Germany...