Media-Powered: Intelsat 20 in Africa

Did you know that the Intelsat 20 satellite (IS-20) serves 40 million households across six African sub-Saharan countries? That means the power of just one Intelsat satellite brings more than 560 Pay TV and Free-to-Air (FTA) channels to millions of households every day.

Intelsat was the first operator in the region in 1965, and we were among the first to establish satellite services for media and satellite broadband.

Covering the entire region, our video neighborhood is the largest in terms of numbers. According to a 2019 GeoPoll survey our coverage reaches: 14.9 million households in Nigeria, 8.5 million in South Africa and 5.1 million in Kenya, to list only a few markets.

Intelsat also added AfricaXP, a well-known content aggregator in the region, to offer 20x FTA and unencrypted channels, that will include multicultural premium programming, including news and entertainment.

By broadcasting unencrypted, AfricaXP can offer the service free-of-charge, and people across the region can instantly receive content on their satellite dishes, eliminating the need for specific decoders.

“A strong media industry is symbiotic for everyone – strong free to air drives penetration of TV sets, stimulates content development and grows viewing habits. Heavy viewers attract advertisers and are more likely to subscribe to Pay TV services. We hope to make our contribution to stimulating activity to the benefit for all players,” said AfricaXP CEO, Craig Kelly.

“IS-20’s footprint, reaching so many dishes and households, is why AfricaXP moved their content to Intelsat. Our reach has also helped us retain and sign new contracts in-region with media resellers,” said Intelsat Senior Media Account Director Christell Meyer. “Satellites’ ability to reach a large area with no geographic restrictions makes it the technology of choice for video distribution in Africa.”

To learn more about Intelsat’s IS-20 video neighborhood, visit www.intelsat.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Intelsat-IS-20-Channel-Guide-Africa.pdf.

To learn more about Intelsat Media solutions, visit www.intelsat.com/solutions/media/.

To learn more about Africa XP’s Premium Free product, visit https://premiumfree.tv/.