SES (Euronext Paris and Luxembourg Stock Exchange: SESG), a world-leading satellite operator, Friday announced that SES Platform Services (SES PS), a wholly-owned subsidiary of SES, has strengthened its partnership with K-NET, an ICT and Telecoms platform services company based in Ghana, to create a joint venture.

New partnership will accelerate the digital switchover process and strengthen SES’s leading role in providing free-to-air, direct-to-home services

The new partnership will contract aims to bring high picture quality content to the homes of millions of viewers by strengthening the direct-to-home (DTH) platform and also providing digital terrestrial television (DTT) services via SES’s prime orbital position at 28.2 degrees East.

The venture will use SES’s high-powered satellite capacity, K-NET’s highly-efficient teleport services and SES PS’s reliable video platform services. This partnership will offer a unified bouquet of high quality free-to-air (FTA) and free-to-view (FTV) channels, from all over West Africa, as well as some popular international channels, to millions of viewers in the region.

The partnership will ensure that consumers, especially in Ghana where 98% of satellite households are serviced by SES satellites, receive newer and higher quality viewing formats and also have access to connected services when they become available.

Wilfried Urner, CEO of SES Platform Services, said, “We are proud to be K-NET’s partner of choice. We are at the forefront of the provision of FTA and FTV channels in the sub-region and driving further DTH penetration in various West African countries. The partnership will further accelerate the globalization of SES’s video business, increase our channel growth and establish us as a world-leading next generation video and media service provider.”

Richard Hlomador, Chairman of K-Net says, “We have worked with SES since 2001 and are pleased to be able to extend our partnership with SES Platform Services. We have built a robust DTH platform, and delivering content in consistently high-quality is a top priority for us. This makes SES Platform Services the ideal partner of choice.”