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For the first time in history the FIFA World Cup Football will be held in Africa, and it will be broadcast worldwide by four satellites operated by Eutelsat (News - Alert) Communications.

The satellites have high-power capacity and are focused over Africa, Europe and the Middle East. TheW2A, W3A, W4 and W7 satellites of Eutelsat help in the deployment of extraordinary resources by rights-holding organizations and television channels. This assistance will help to attain a global coverage of World Cup that last for 30 days.

The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) will strengthen its existing permanent capacity on Eutelsat satellites with the integration of two extra 72 MHz transponders on the W2A satellite. These satellites will facilitate the live broadcast of the games, summary reports and highlights of the championship from the international broadcast centre of EBU which is situated in Soweto for the event. 75 broadcast members and many other clients are situated in extended Europe. EBU will then deliver the images to them via W2A for Europe and W3A for Africa and the Middle East.

Customers operating in South Africa can access the satellite links provided by Eutelsat. This helps journalists working in the field to get direct connection to studios in their own countries. Clients such as GlobeCast, APTN, Arqiva (News - Alert), Telenor and TVI are planning to strengthen their resources on W2A, W7 and W3A for these transmissions.

Michel de Rosen who is the CEO of Eutelsat said that 'This 19th edition of the FIFA World Cup, in South Africa, presents Eutelsat with a new opportunity to support customers with resources optimized for live broadcasts to audiences around the globe. With our coverage of Africa significantly boosted over the last 12 months by the W2A and W7 satellites, Eutelsat is delighted to be part of the infrastructure mobilized for the World Cup and to pursue a year of remarkable sports events.'

In terms of revenues, Eutelsat ranks one among the three well known satellite operators in the world. Eutelsat Communications is having a capacity commercialized on 26 satellites. It covers the nook and corner of European continent, as well as the Middle East, Africa, India and significant parts of Asia and the Americas.