Arabsat and etisalat are launching a new direct-to-home (DTH) TV bouquet on the BADR-8 satellite. BADR-8 sits at 26° East and mainly covers the Middle East and North Africa. Arabsat is the Riyadh-based Arab Satellite Communications Organisation, while etisalat is the UAE telecom group.
DTH is the classic satellite set-up: a dish picks up channels straight from orbit with no internet connection involved. The deal pushes etisalat deeper into space services, a business it now wants to grow across the region.
The partners described the arrangement as a strategic partnership. The bouquet’s signal will go up from etisalat’s TAS ground station in Sharjah, a high-capacity facility built for satellite communications. BADR-8 will carry it to viewers across a large part of MENA.
Our partnership with Arabsat to launch the BADR-8 bouquet is a strategic step towards expanding etisalat’s space business and offering advanced satellite solutions to our customers.
Nabil Bagouche, chief executive of operators and wholesale at the etisalat Group
The announcement doesn’t say when the bouquet will go live, which channels it’ll include, what it’ll cost, or whether it’ll be free-to-air or paid.
The satellite itself isn’t new. Arabsat ordered BADR-8 from Airbus in 2020. SpaceX launched it with a 15-year design life, and Arabsat’s website dates the launch to 2023. Back then, Arabsat’s chief executive Khalid Balkheyour said it would carry “massive satellite transponders” for TV broadcasting and telecoms in Ku-band and C-band. It joined a fleet of 10 Arabsat satellites spread across four orbital positions.
The bouquet also lands in a crowded market for TV in the UAE and wider region. Samsung’s StreamPass bundles OSN+, STARZPLAY, and others under one pass, and Starlink’s satellite internet now offers residential plans in the UAE.
