DStv moving to new satellite Eutelsat W7

By
Oluniyi D. Ajao
-

Eutelsat W4, the satellite that beams DStv signals to residents of West Africa, is fast nearing the end of its life span. It was launched on 24th May 2000 from Space Launch Complex 36B at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in the USA. According to Wikipedia:

Following its launch and on-orbit testing, it was placed in geostationary orbit at 36° East, from where it provides communications services to Russia and Africa. It carries thirty one transponders, and has an expected on-orbit lifespan of 12 years.

MultiChoice Africa, operators of the DStv service, have big plans for Africa. It is thus only a natural progression that they aim to offer more channels and better service. This is where the new Eutelsat W7 satellite comes in.

Eutelsat W7 is a communications satellite in the W Series, operated by Eutelsat. It will be located at 36°E. It was launched by November 23, 2009 14:19 GMT, and will have a lifetime of about 15 years (up to 2024). W7 will be the most powerful spacecraft in the fleet of Eutelsat. It will be colocated with Eutelsat’s W4 satellite at the 36 degrees East position. Digital broadcasting and direct-to-home video services will be beamed to customers in Russia and sub-Saharan Africa using W7.

See below, two of Eutelsat W7 downlink coverages:

Related
Sub-Sahara African beam, covering much of West Africa, Central Africa, East Africa, and parts of Southern Africa. Image courtesy of Eutelsat.com
Eutelsat W7's Sub-Sahara African beam, covering much of West Africa, Central Africa, East Africa, and parts of Southern Africa. Image courtesy of Eutelsat.com
South African beam, focusing on southern African countries. Image courtesy of Eutelsat.com
South African beam, focusing on southern African countries. Image courtesy of Eutelsat.com

So how does Eutelsat W7 fit into the overall growth strategy of DStv? This was the question put to Harry Pratt, Business Development Manager at MultiChoice Africa by VIA (Eutelsat’s magazine) in March 2009:

What are your plans for the future and how will Eutelsat’s W7 satellite, which launches later this year, fit into your strategy?
W7 will give us additional capacity, enabling us to expand the number of channels we offer and to develop our service to countries in the horn of Africa. It will also allow MultiChoice Africa to bring another first to Africa with the delivery of high definition channels to subscribers in Sub-Saharan Africa. We have invested more than one billion dollars over the past ten years, in both infrastructure and content, across 48 countries and the introduction of HDTV channels will further enhance our offering, to ensure it is in line with the best operators from around the world.

Since W4 and W7 are colocated at 36.0°E, DStv subscribers would not have to turn their respective satellite dishes but might only have to edit some parameters on the DStv decoder. DStv is yet to release these parameters but I would mess with mine so you don’t have to, and release the data via this blog, later.

Stay tuned for details about DStv’s High Definition TV (HDTV) strategy.

This is my first blog post in 2010. Happy New Year and I wish you the very best in 2010 and beyond. Keep reading this blog for useful information and analysis regarding technology & more, in Africa.

Following its launch and on-orbit testing, it was placed in geostationary orbit at 36° East, from where it provides communications services to Russia and Africa. It carries thirty one transponders, and has an expected on-orbit lifespan of 12 years.

Previous articleA review of MTN Ghana Mobile Broadband service
Next articlePresident Yar’Adua seems alive; Important Questions
Oluniyi D. Ajao
Oluniyi D. Ajao
https://olu.ceo
Oluniyi D. Ajao is an Internet Entrepreneur and Tech Enthusiast based in South Africa. Follow him on twitter @niyyie for more tech updates.
Facebook Instagram Linkedin Myspace Path Pinterest Twitter WordPress Youtube

70 Comments

  6. iam adstv suscriber in nigeria portharcourt i will like to know the new side of dstv at nile sat will it in clud arab channells will it be abble to ad more free to air thanks

  7. I am in Dubai (Middle east). My Mnet has stopped recieving since last night, is that something related to this satellite switch which Oluniyi talked about???

    Does anyone in the UAE faced the same issue??

    Paul.

  8. Paul, I beleive it is due to the satellite switch. We lost our DSTV too!! Missing Supersport!!Have you found any alternative way to get DSTV in the UAE? My searches have come up empty………..

    Anton

      • Hello, my dear i need some information in multichoice really i missed sports channels dear i m in pakistan how can i see tha all channels plz advised me dish position dish size i have a full 10ft dish and ku band LNB’S i m waiting for ur reply

        love

        Muhammad Junaid Khan
        Pakistan

        • my dear maybe you get 2meter or 3meter it must pan or fibre then you do not need to worry for any sports channels ok every thing is here they are the most reachest company in Africa.so work hard and get the signal. there is big market in middle east as a whole ok, shipping goods is not a problem

  9. Hello. Can you tell me of the new DSTV frequency and Symbol rate for me to change from my old parameters. I am a subscriber and I use a strong SRT4669x decoder. I have lost mnet action channel with the migration to eutelsat7.

  17. thanks for your good works. i followed your instructions on how to add channels and im a good installer of multi tv now. can you please send to me the satellite and transponders to use to get all the CRTV channel. im using strong 4669x

    • For a start, you should be thinking of sharing some of the money you’re making, with me! 🙂

      Unfortunmately, I don’t know the frequencies for CRTV’s “50 channels”. I would freely share when I have it.

  22. Dear viewafrica customer service provider. May you please send me public bouquets settings for my DSD1131 dstv receiver. Since there was an electric cut-off and i lose the channels, i could never restore them. I have tried to use settings for the previous dstv receivers but invain. Please help me. I’ve missed your special channels (which is my soul/spritual food) so much. I am looking forward to your responce. Thank you.

  23. I am lin South Africa,have a DSD990 Multichoice Decoder.Paid regularly monthly subscription and stopped the payment due to exams.Decoder was switched off by multichoice,previously I could still get SABC1,2,3 & Etv+free2air channels and Btv,now I cannot get any channels on tv anymore and would like to get settings for BTv free2air channel on Multichoice DSTV Decoder.
    Thank you kindly

    Reply

  25. Please help me to get more channels I’m using eutelsat w3 and eutelsat w4 ,help me with frequencies and symbol rate.from nigeria

  33. Hi ever body i’m in somalia i need some information about dstv & how i can watch in this country & i need to know where i can get the frequecy & symbol rate plz it important plz plz plz tell me i need your help thnx all

  44. Thanks for the job u are doing. As u know DSTV services have been made unaffordable to most Nigerians by Multichoice hence the need to explore other means. Kindly oblige me with the dstv africa frequencies and SR on EW7.

  45. Hi,
    I live in Cape Town and my dish points to 37 deg but I see dishes in my neighbourhood pointing closer to 0… what package or satellite would they be watching?

  47. hi my name is Gham Elvis and am from Cameroon. please here are some frequencies
    Frequency: 11731 Symbol rate: 8751 Polarization: Vertical FEC: 3/5
    Frequency: 11716 Symbol rate: 3141 Polarization: Vertical FEC: 3/4

    In South Africa – Frequency: 11637 Symbol rate: 22000 Polarization: Vertical FEC: 3/4
    Rest of Africa – Frequency: 11940 Symbol rate: 27500 Polarization: Horizontal FEC: 3/4 and Frequency: 11862 Symbol rate: 27500 Polarization: Horizontal FEC: 3/4
    before you do the above check to see if you are beamed to these satellite. also you can go to http://www.lyngsat.com and select your region.

  48. hai,i am living in saudi arabia and did not receive the signal eutelsat36b on 110 cm dish ,so plese help me how big size dish requerd for watching multichoice channels,please must reply should i get signal,thanks

  49. hello! that new satelite(W7) use the same frequency and symbol rate of 12245 and 27500 or they changed because i can’t get the signal thanx

  51. Hallo. Located at Beledweyne Somalia and struggling to find dstv signal. could you please assist me in setting up the dish! must the dish point E at 36degrees and must I do it on the Eurosat W7 frequency?

    • HELLO DEAR CO.WORKERS CAN SOME ONE GIVE AN AGENT FOR GHANA WHOM I CAN PAY MONTHLY PAYMENT FOR DSTV IN GHANA CAN SOME SEND ME THE NUMBER OF THE AGENT I WANT THE PRICE IS BEACUSE SOME ARE DOING IT 120 GHC AND OTHERS AND I WANT LESS ONE SO KINDLY SEND ME THE AGENT NUMBER TO ME HERE IS MY NUMBER CALL ME 0557448477

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.