THE board of public-listed Fiji Television Limited yesterday sealed a long-term agreement with Intelsat Global Sales and Marketing Limited for the lease of 36MHz satellite transponder space, C-band frequency on its satellite, IS19.
This critical migration to the new satellite, IS19 is expected to take place from April next year.
The satellite transponder space leased will see the re-inclusion of Solomon Islands, Nauru and parts of Kiribati for its Pacific SKY signal and Papua New Guinea (PNG).
This, in addition to territories it currently covers with its IS18 pay TV signal that includes Fiji, Tonga, Samoa.
In November 2011, Fiji TV had migrated its pay TV signal from IS701 to IS18, resulting in the exclusion of those three Pacific island countries.
Cook Islands, Niue and Tahiti however, will not be covered when the move to IS19 pay TV signal is complete.
Fiji TV's board chairman Isoa Kaloumaira said the company was delighted with its long-term partnership with Intelsat and that the move was in line with the company's vision of being the communications business for Pacific communities.
"Fiji TV's strategic focus has always been to grow and expand out pay TV business in the Pacific region and the signing of this agreement with Intelsat reaffirms our commitment to providing compelling content to Pacific communities," Mr Kaloumaira said in the South Pacific Stock Exchange's (SPSE) market statement.
The statement, signed by Mr Kaloumaira and group board company secretary Tanya Waqanika, said a project team was now operational in the company, overseeing the move right across the Pacific.
Commenting on the agreement signing, group chief executive officer Tarun Patel said the lease of space on IS19 was a critical one for the business.
"For the long-term viability of our pay TV business, we have to move to IS19 in order to capture the big markets in the Pacific, especially PNG, Fiji and Solomon Islands. We will continue to explore means by which we can make our channels/signal available in those territories that would no longer be served by IS19," Mr Patel said.