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BLUCOM Awarded 'Product of The Year'; Nomination By the Renowned Trade Publication Cable & Satellite International

Posted on: Tuesday, 12 September 2006, 12:00 CDT

SES ASTRA, an SES GLOBAL company (Paris:SESG) (LuxX:SESG), has announced today that its interactive BLUCOM service has been awarded "Product of the Year 2006" by the renowned European technology magazine Cable & Satellite International. The award is granted annually at the International Broadcasting Convention (IBC) in Amsterdam. BLUCOM was nominated in the category "best playout/connectivity/service/solution", one out of 16 categories. The Cable & Satellite International awards are one of the most prestigious technology awards internationally. With more than 1,000 exhibitors, the IBC is one of the most important trade shows in the areas of digital consumer electronics, broadcast and media.

The innovative interactive BLUCOM technology is already used by several German TV and radio channels. BLUCOM supports services like program guides, weather and sports information and other added value services. Furthermore, it enables voting, downloads, advertising, chats and transaction television, thus allowing the consumer to interact directly with the program. The mobile phone with its SMS functionality is used as a return path. As BLUCOM can be received via a set-top box as well as via UMTS/GPRS, virtually every household - be it cable, satellite or terrestrial - can use the service. BLUCOM has been developed by the SES ASTRA affiliate ASTRA Platform Services (APS) in Germany.

About SES ASTRA www.ses-astra.com

The ASTRA Satellite System is the leading Direct-to-Home (DTH) satellite system in Europe, delivering services to some 107 million Direct-to-Home and cable households. The ASTRA satellite fleet currently comprises 13 satellites, transmitting in excess of 1700 analogue and digital television and radio channels as well as multimedia and Internet services. ASTRA's two prime orbital positions for DTH services are 19.2(degree) East and 28.2(degree) East. Professional services such as Direct-to cable (DTC), Satellite Newsgathering (SNG) and Occasional Use are offered from the orbital position of 23.5(degree) East.

SES ASTRA is an SES GLOBAL company (Paris:SESG) (LuxX:SESG). SES GLOBAL wholly owns three market-leading satellite operators, SES ASTRA in Europe, SES AMERICOM in the US and SES NEW SKIES in the rest of the world. The Company also holds strategic participations in AsiaSat in Asia, Star One in Latin America, SES Sirius in Europe, Ciel in Canada and Quetzsat in Mexico. Americom Government Services provides network solutions and bandwidth to the US government and its contractors. SES GLOBAL provides outstanding satellite communications solutions via a fleet of 44 satellites across the globe. Additional info on SES GLOBAL at: www.ses-global.com.

Source: Business Wire

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