CAIRO/KOUROU, French Guiana: An Ariane 5 rocket was launched from the Arianespace launch site in French Guiana Aug. 4 to place in orbit the Egyptian satellite NILESAT 201. The new satellite will transmit 300 additional television channels and bring HDTV and 3D television to the region, as well as carrying IPTV and broadband services, the Egyptian Ministry of Information said in a statement. The content broadcasted via the satellite is expected to reach to 40 million households in the region. “Wide coverage is ensured as a result of uplink stations in Cairo, Dubai, Amman, Doha, Riyadh, and Beirut,” the ministry said. “The Nilesat 201 will help us to bring even more choice and quality of media to the Egyptian peopleThis step is important as it shows Egypt's ability and desire to lead the entire region in media, as it does in other fields such as information technology, encompassing all new tools of globalization and communications. Egypt will continue to play a pioneer role to propel the region to greater heights of modernity,” Minister of Information Anas El Fekky said in a statement. The project cost around $237 million and the satellite has a design life of around 15 years, according to the statement. The rocket also carried the RASCOM-QAF 1R, a telecommunication service satellite. It will cover the rural African zones and its major objectives will be to allow the reduction of the digital divide and the isolation of the African countries.
