UPC Direct switches to Telenor

UPC Direct is to begin broadcasting from 1º West next year after signing a deal with Telenor Satellite Broadcasting.

The agreement will provide UPC with an initial seven transponders for its DTH service, on Thor 5 and Thor 6, which is due to launch in the fourth quarter of 2009. UPC will begin to re-locate from its current Astra location to 1º West during late spring 2010.

Telenor’s 1º West orbital position currently serves over two million DTH households in Romania, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Moldova. Gene Musselman, president and COO of UPC Broadband said: “The move to one degree allows us to enrich our offers to our subscribers in our markets both with additional local valuable content as well as regional qualitative channels.”