Orange plans to launch pay satellite-TV in France

Orange is getting set to launch pay-TV satellites to households in France in early July, the company said

A Satellite Today report said the launch of the direct-to-home service in conjunction with Eutelsat will mean 24 million French households, about 98.3% of the mainland population will be able to enjoy Orange TV.

Previously, broadband TV technology only enabled half of France's households to benefit from the offer.

Canalsat is the market leader in direct-to-home services in France with more than 5.2 million subscribers. Orange has nearly 1.3 million IPTV subscribers in France, and the launch of the new service should increase its impact in the French pay-TV market.