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SES AMERICOM Joins Mobile DTV Alliance Board of Directors

SAN RAMON, Calif.-(Business Wire)-September 26, 2008 - SES AMERICOM, a leading provider of satellite communications solutions, has joined the Mobile DTV Alliance board of directors to help drive growth in the mobile digital TV market. The MDTVA broadened its scope this spring to include multiple bearer technologies and to focus on harmonizing the application and service layer.

The company’s first function as a member and director is today’s MDTVA Member Meeting, which includes members of the Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) and the Open Mobile Video Coalition (OMVC). The Washington, D.C., meeting was scheduled to coincide with the ATSC TSG meetings.

“We are building relationships with like-minded mobile digital TV advocates so we can drive and promote mobile TV together through adoption of multiple bearer technologies and a common service layer,” said Walt Tamminen, president of the MDTVA. “SES AMERICOM strengthens our forces as they represent the needs and knowledge base of the leading satellite operator in North America and Europe, as well as global satellite coverage and connectivity.”

MDTVA’s expanded mandate to include multiple broadcast systems like ATSC mobile/handheld and DVB satellite/handheld standards, as well as its original commitment to DVB-H, invites more market stakeholders to work together to drive mobile digital TV to a mass-market service.

“SES AMERICOM sees a pivotal role for our satellite services in the distribution of national content and efficient mobile platform management, as well as for Single Frequency Networks,” said Bryan A. McGuirk, president, North American Satellite Services, SES AMERICOM. “We have joined the MDTVA to help programmers, broadcasters and technology solution providers in creating the U.S. mobile/handheld broadcast TV ecosystem.”

The MDTVA publishes the North American Mobile TV Implementation Guidelines and serves as a primary collaboration forum between companies of various industries interested in mobile TV deployments, implementations and global testing.

The three key aspects of the MDTVA’s implementation guidelines are:

an interoperable technical foundation that builds on the efforts of the Open Mobile Alliance (OMA);
support for multiple broadcast systems under a consistent service layer;
expanded content protection options, which support the application of a wide range of business models to many types of entertainment content.

About the Mobile DTV Alliance

The Mobile DTV Alliance is an open industry consortium that selects and promotes the best practices and open standards to deliver premium-quality broadcast television to mobile devices in North America and globally. Leading companies from across the mobile business system and entertainment value chain collaborate in the MDTVA. Sponsor members include Disney, Microsoft, and Nokia. For more information on the Mobile DTV Alliance, please visit http://www.mdtvalliance.org.

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