Problems with Eurobird 1 at 28.5 degrees East
September 14th, 2009 - 9:03 UTC by Andy Sennitt

The Eurobird 1 satellite at 28.5 degrees East, which carries a number of TV channels that are part of the BSkyB subscription package as well as number of free-to-air services, has been unstable since 2124 UTC on Saturday. There wasa complete loss of signals from the satellite for around 90 minutes, followed by intermittent problems all day on Sunday. Some viewers are reporting that signals on some transponders are weaker than normal.

Eutelsat has confirmed that the satellite is currently unstable within its orbital position. This is resulting in the fixed uplink antennas being unable to constantly transmit to the satellite accurately causing intermittent loss to all services. Eutelsat is working on resolving the issue.

The problem comes at an embarrasing time for Eutelsat, as the company is currently at IBC in Amsterdam where a number of key business deals are expected to be signed.

The problem does not affect RNW, as we stopped broadcasting at 28.5 degrees East earlier this year.