Eutelsat

"Satellite provider Eutelsat agreed with media services company Arqiva to block the Irib channels as of Monday morning because of 'reinforced EU council sanctions' Eutelsat spokeswoman Vanessa O'Connor said. Irib's access to Eutelsat was via a contract with Arqiva. Eutelsat would not comment on eventual financial consequences of the cutoff. Iran's Press TV said Irib could take legal action against Eutelsat over the cutoff. Irib's chief was among those targeted in a round of EU sanctions against Iran adopted in March, based on what European officials said were human rights violations in its programming, according to Eutelsat... Press TV says it's among the channels cut by the Eutelsat decision. Others include Farsi-language channels for Iranian expatriates and Arabic-language offerings, including the news channel Al-Alam." (Fox News, "European satellite provider cuts off 19 Iranian TV and radio stations because of EU sanctions," 10/15/2012) (http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/10/15/european-satellite-provider-cuts-off-1-iranian-tv-and-radio-stations-because-eu/)

"Paris Ambassador to Tehran François Sénémaud announced that the French-based satellite provider, Eutelsat, plans to win [a] contract with Iran to build a satellite for the country. "The Eutelsat company seeks cooperation with the Iranian Space Agency and is preparing a draft of its proposals to participate in the tender for build a satellite," Sénémaud said in a meeting with Iranian Communications and Information Technology Minister Mahmoud Vaezi in Tehran on Saturday. He said that Eutelsat and the French telecommunications operator, Orange, are also in talks with the Iranian firms to increase mutual cooperation." (Fars News, "French Envoy: Eutelsat Eager to Send Offer to Iran Satellite Tender," 10/26/2016). (http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13950801001039)

"European satellite provider Eutelsat also took Iranian channels off the air last week, saying that the decision was made by the European Union." (Trend, "Intelsat takes Iranian channels off air," 10/22/2012)  (http://en.trend.az/regions/iran/2079596.html)

Eutelsat website lists a satelite, EUTELSAT 7B, that provides TV services in Iran. (http://www.eutelsat.com/deploy_tvLineUp/struts/infosTechniquesTv.do;jsessionid=863B4CC85D8D4BD6A407E8504F4E74FA?channelName=IRAN+INTERNATIONAL&channelId=5294)

“Manoto TV, a commercial Persian-language TV channel, is launching on the Eutelsat 7B satellite.  The channel has signed a capacity agreement with Eutelsat Communications for exclusive broadcasting in HD from Eutelsat 7B, to expand its audience in Iran and the Middle East.”  (Broadband TV News, “Manoto TV choses Eutelsat 7B for HD broadcast,” 6/16/2016).  (http://www.broadbandtvnews.com/2016/06/16/manoto-tv-choses-eutelsat-7b-for-hd-broadcast/)

"Eutelsat Communications SA said it stopped broadcasting the Iranian channels in light of European sanctions approved in March and a French regulatory decision. The move comes a little over a week after Iran escalated the jamming of Eutelsat satellites to censor broadcasts during recent protests over a plunge in the local currency... Though Eutelsat's decision to remove Iran's government-owned channels isn't related to the nuclear standoff, the move serves to isolate the Islamist Republic further... For years, IRIB has rented space on the popular Eutelsat satellite through Arqiva Ltd., a U.K.-based transmission company and middleman. Both companies said Monday they were suspending the Hotbird contract with Iran. Eutelsat is also planning to remove IRIB from other satellites it owns, a spokeswoman for the French company said, and has notified other transmission companies that rent space to IRIB on Eutelsat satellites apart from Hotbird... In explaining their move, Eutelsat also noted that the EU added IRIB Director Ezzatollah Zarghami to its sanctions list in March... Iranian human-rights organizations and opposition activists praised Eutelsat's decision." (The Wall Street Journal, "A Top Satellite Provider Cuts Off Iran State Broadcaster," 10/15/2012) (http://professional.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390444354004578058931263559160.html?mg=reno-wsj)

"The BBC, for example, launched its Persian-language channel in 2009 and beamed it from the 'Hotbird' satellite of Paris-based Eutelsat Communications SA, which is a satellite that large numbers of rooftop dishes in Iran are pointed at to receive free Persian channels... Besides Eutelsat, companies it uses include Intelsat SA, Telesat Holdings Inc. and AsiaSat, a Hong Kong-based operator in which General Electric Co. has a stake... Eutelsat, meanwhile, says it has been targeted repeatedly... The chief executive of Eutelsat, Michel de Rosen, said, 'I get pressure from many governments about many channels. Our permanent answer is: We will not do anything about a channel if we do not get a clear order backed by law.' Eutelsat says it did pull Libyan government channels in April after the European Union barred any technical aid to the Gadhafi regime. Later, North Atlantic Treaty Organization forces bombed the Libyan state satellite-television facility, which NATO said was being used to incite attacks on civilians... For 70 years it has had a Persian-language radio station, which is hard to block because it is short-wave; the BBC also has a Persian website, which is blocked in Iran but accessible via circumvention tools. For its TV channel, the BBC rented a frequency on Eutelsat's Hotbird, the most popular satellite in Iran for TV watchers... Because the jamming was causing collateral damage to neighboring channels on Hotbird, the BBC reluctantly agreed to a request from a satellite-space middleman to move to another Eutelsat satellite, called W3A... Eutelsat says it has filed numerous complaints with a U.N. agency that manages outer-space frequencies, the International Telecommunication Union, an arm of which stated in March that the interference 'appeared to be emanating from Iran.'" (The Wall Street Journal, "In Skies Over Iran, a Battle for Control of Satellite TV," 12/27/2011) (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203501304577088380199787036.html)

"European satellite companies like Eutelsat, Intelsat and Arqiva provide extensive services to the Iranian state-owned Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), including for domestic Iranian radio and television broadcasts, and for Iran's growing list of foreign-language channels, like the English-language PressTV and the Arabic Al-Alam... But Eutelsat also hosts many of the stations whose programming Tehran jams... Over the past two years, during which Iran increased its jamming of Persian-language broadcasts from abroad, Eutelsat and Arqiva have done little to hold the Iranian government accountable... Either company could have contractually required Iran to stop its jamming, which is politically motivated censorship, or refused to carry IRIB. Instead Eutelsat's response was to discontinue broadcasting BBC Persian and VOA Persian on the most accessible and popular satellite, Hotbird6, and to move them to less accessible satellites... Last month, the European Parliament adopted a resolution calling for Eutelsat to cease service as long as illegal jamming is taking place." (The Wall Street Journal, "Broadcasting Tehran's Repression," 12/9/2011) (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204903804577079970310000322.html?KEYWORDS=Broadcasting+Tehran%27s+Repression)

"The U.S. gave European satellite companies Intelsat SA and Eutelsat Communications SA another six months to win back Iran's business lost after lawmakers barred them from transmitting Iranian programming... The waiver has also allowed Eutelsat, which says it had its satellites jammed by Iranian authorities as far back as 2009, to again beam IRIB broadcasts. A spokeswoman said it wouldn't be feasible for a satellite provider to monitor content for forced confessions or other televised human rights abuses. 'We believe that's the responsibility of regulators,' she said. 'Each party has to do their own job. The main thing for us is to be compliant with the relevant parties.'" (The Wall Street Journal, "Intelsat, Eutelsat Granted New U.S. Waivers," 8/28/2014) (http://online.wsj.com/articles/satellite-firms-gets-new-iran-waivers-1409180260)

"Iran is facing mounting international protests about its jamming of the BBC's Persian TV service (PTV) after the channel – which has millions of viewers and is hugely popular with opposition supporters – was taken off a satellite owned by Europe's leading operator. The BBC said today it was 'actively supporting' a formal complaint to the International Telecommunication Union, a UN-affiliated body, about "deliberate interference" from Iran. The ITU confirmed it had received representations from regulators in France, home to Eutelsat, owner of the Hotbird 6 satellite, which transmitted PTV until the end of last month... Eutelsat says PTV was removed from Hotbird 6 'in agreement' with the BBC, though sources close to the affair say the operator caved in to commercial and legal pressures from other customers broadcasting on the same transponder. Another Eutelsat satellite, Hotbird 8, provides capacity to Iranian state media channels, including English-language Press TV, which has offices in London. Iranian opposition supporters are accusing satellite companies of 'siding with dictators'. Eutelsat and GlobeCast, a France Télécom subsidiary which leases bandwidth from Eutelsat — and which made the decision to take down PTV — refuse to say publicly that the Iranian government is responsible for the jamming." (BBC News. "BBC joins international protests against Iranian TV interference," 1/14/10) (http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jan/14/bbc-joins-iran-tv-protest)

"Peyman Jebeli, IRIB's [Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting] Vice President of Overseas Operations, said al-Kawthar, Iran's Arabic-language TV channel, was dropped by Eutelsat after five years of "strategic" operations, because it was unable to satisfy satellite expenses. Press TV and al-Alam are other TV channels that face shutdowns." (Diyaruna, "IRIB satellite TVs face shutdown amid US maximum pressure campaign," 7/3/20). (https://diyaruna.com/en_GB/articles/cnmi_di/features/2020/07/03/feature-01)

"Eutelset stopped broadcasting 19 Islamic Republic networks from its Hotbird satellite starting October 15." (Radio Zamaneh, "Russia steps in to broadcast Iranian channels," 11/5/2012) (http://radiozamaneh.com/english/content/russia-steps-broadcast-iranian-channels)

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