GPB Signs with SES Americom for Satellite Capacity


December 18, 2003 Princeton, NJ SES AMERICOM, an SES GLOBAL company (Luxembourg and Frankfurt Stock Exchange: SESG), announced today that Atlanta-based Georgia Public Broadcasting (GPB) has signed a long-term agreement for Ku-band satellite capacity on AMC-3. GPB will use the AMC-3 satellite, located at 87 degrees west longitude, to distribute their family of services, which includes Georgia Public Television (GPTV), Georgia Public Radio and PeachStar Education Services.

Georgia Public Broadcasting?s statewide public radio and television networks serve audiences throughout Georgia with both national and local programming and news events. GPTV is recognized for providing a safe viewing medium for children that is both violence and commercial free. PeachStar Education Services operates the PeachStar Satellite Network, a statewide network of 2,428 downlink sites providing educational programming to classrooms at all grade levels including postsecondary.

?Georgia Public Broadcasting has a long and distinguished history dating back to the 1960s of providing entertaining and educational programming to their viewers who tune to Georgia Public Television at the rate of 4 million weekly,? said Carl Capista, Vice President, Media & Entertainment Services, SES AMERICOM. ?We find their style of programming to be a perfect complement to the broadcast community that can already be found on AMC-3, which includes the PBS Television Network."

?When we began looking for replacement satellite capacity for our multiple networks, we wanted bandwidth in an orbital location close to our prior location to minimize the work related to repositioning our more than 2,000 downlink sites. We found AMC-3 to be a perfect fit both for its 87 degree location, for the well-established broadcast neighborhood there, their record of dependability and their willingness to work closely with us to quickly meet the needs of our various audiences,? said James M. Lyle, Executive Director of Georgia Public Broadcasting, headquartered in Atlanta.

AMC-3 is a hybrid satellite launched in 1997. The hybrid spacecraft features twenty-four 36 MHz C-band transponders with 16 watt SSPAs while the Ku-band payload has twenty-four 36 MHz transponders with 60 watt TWTAs.


About Georgia Public Broadcasting

In existence since the 1960s, Georgia Public Broadcasting serves the population of Georgia through its family of services consisting of Georgia Public Television, Georgia Public Radio and PeachStar Education Services. Today, Georgia Public Television is a network of 9 stations affiliated with PBS and with a weekly viewership of almost four million. Georgia Public Radio, a 15-station network affiliated with NPR and PRI, consistently receives state and national recognition for being among the best in radio broadcasting. PeachStar Education Services maintains the PeachStar Satellite Network that delivers three channels of instructional programming to more than 2,000 downlink sites. PeachStar Network provides a full schedule of high quality educational programming to support learning in Georgia classrooms, colleges and universities, technical colleges, public libraries and youth development centers.


About SES AMERICOM

The largest supplier of satellite services in the U.S., SES AMERICOM, Inc. is recognized as a pioneer of global satellite communications services. Established in 1973 with its first satellite circuit for the U.S. Armed Forces, the company currently operates a fleet of 16 spacecraft in orbital positions providing service throughout the Americas, across Europe, over the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, and throughout Asia. As a member of the SES GLOBAL family, AMERICOM is able to provide end-to-end telecommunications solutions to any region in the world. SES AMERICOM?s key customers include ABC Radio Networks, AT&T Alascom, AOL Time Warner, Deutsche Welle, Discovery, EchoStar, Fox, TV Guide/Gemstar, Gannett, HBO, Hughes Network Systems, NBC, The New York Times, NHK, PaxNet, PBS, TELE Greenland, TV Europa, Verestar, Viacom and, through AMERICOM Government Services, various agencies of the U.S. government.

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Contact: Monica Morgan
              SES AMERICOM
              +1-609-987-4143