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Eutelsat confirms to Alcatel Alenia Space the S-band mission on the W2A satellite

30 October 2006

Eutelsat Communications (Euronext Paris : ETL), one of the world's leading satellite operators, and Alcatel (Paris: CGEP.PA and NYSE: ALA) today announced that Eutelsat has confirmed the decision to embark an S-Band payload on the W2A satellite for which the construction contract was awarded earlier this year.

Alcatel welcomes this decision which is a major success for its strategy to promote Mobile TV in S band in Europe, and confirms its vision of the market and the attractiveness of its solution.

Based on the Alcatel Alenia Space Spacebus 4000C4 platform, W2A's missions also comprise up to 46 transponders in Ku-band and a C-band payload of 10 transponders. Designed with a lifetime of more than 15 years, W2A has a maximum launch mass of 5.7 tonnes and will deliver 11 kW of payload power.

The state-of-the-art S-band payload at 2.2 GHz on W2A will allow the delivery, for the first time, of mobile multimedia broadcast services (Mobile TV, digital radio...) directly onto user terminals over France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain or the UK. It will therefore initiate the building of a hybrid infrastructure over Europe, combining satellite and terrestrial networks, providing both universal coverage and indoor penetration for Mobile TV services. W2A's S-Band payloads will also enable other communications services, for example for security communications or crisis management.

Alcatel confirmed its support to Eutelsat and SES, who joined forces to deliver S-Band services, through its technology development program, necessary for these innovative services. This solution uses an evolution of the DVB-H standard in the S-Band. These developments are carried out by a number of industrial partners including chipset manufacturers and terminal vendors, and have been selected for the support of the French Agence de l'Innovation Industrielle.

The W2A satellite will be in orbit in the beginning of 2009. It is anticipated that the terrestrial deployment associated to this solution could start as early as end 2007.

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 more than 2,100 TV and 970 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.com

About Alcatel Alenia Space
Alcatel Alenia Space is the European leader in satellite systems, at the forefront of orbit infrastructures. Created in July 2005, the company brings together the vast experience and know-how of Alcatel Space and Alenia Spazio to form a new leading force in European space technology. Alcatel Alenia Space represents a worldwide standard for space development that impacts everybody's future: from navigation to telecommunications, from meteorology to environmental monitoring, from defense to science and observation. Alcatel Alenia Space is an affiliate of Alcatel (Paris: CGEP.PA and NYSE: ALA) (67%) and Finmeccanica (Milan:SIFI.MI, FNC.IM) (33%).