Eutelsat/ SES ASTRA Joint Venture Appoints CEO

Eutelsat Communications and SES ASTRA have appointed Steve Maine as CEO of their jointly-owned venture offering Mobile Satellite Services (MSS) in S-Band. Maine previously led the expansion of Kingston Communications from a local UK telephone company into a major player in voice, data, television and Internet services. He began his career at British Telecom (BT) where his posts included Director of Visual and Broadcast Services, which pioneered a strong and lasting satellite broadcasting business across Europe. He has also served on the board of Scottish Media Group, Scotland's main television and radio broadcaster.


The Joint Venture, known under the name "Solaris", will commercialize the first satellite infrastructure in Europe for broadcasting video, radio and data to mobile devices and vehicle receivers as well as a range of interactive mobile services.


Eutelsat`s W2A satellite carrying the S-Band payload is scheduled for launch in early 2009.
http://www.eutelsat.comhttp://www.ses-astra.com