LONDON and RE'EM, Israel, June 16,
2010 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- BT's Media & Broadcast
division and RRsat Global Communications Network Ltd (RRsat)
announced today a five year strategic alliance. The alliance will
enable their customers to benefit from high quality broadcast
services over a deeper global reach - as well as being a catalyst
to facilitate both companies growth in their global media
businesses.
The alliance will combine RRsat's world-class capabilities in
content management and global distribution services to the
television and radio broadcasting industries over satellite, fibre
and IP with BT's Global Media Network and existing satellite
portfolio.
RRsat will gain access to BT's media switch in London linking in to its Global Media Network,
satellite services and offering dedicated bandwidth for short-term
event coverage, while BT's media customers will benefit from the
RRsat Global Network which offers extensive distribution coverage
currently provided to more than 550 channels using over 50
satellite platforms in more than 150 countries.
Each company has agreed to bring between GBP5-GBP10million of additional business to the
other party.
BT Wholesale's Media & Broadcast director of global sales
& marketing, Mark Wilson-Dunn,
said: "This is an important step towards the formation of a global
ecosystem to support the creation, movement and monetisation of
content, and we are delighted to be taking that step alongside
RRsat."
David Rivel, founder and CEO of
RRsat Global Communications Network, said "Bringing together the
energy, culture and capabilities of both parties - and both our
high quality service standards - promises exciting new prospects in
the global broadcast and satellite market, delivering significant
benefits for all our customers."
Notes to Editors
BT's Global Media Network provides access to all the key
locations around the world where content is either created or
distributed. It offers low operating costs, fast connectivity,
bandwidth and low latency. It provides 99.999% availability with no
single point of failure and the functionality to control bandwidth
allocation through online scheduling.
BT's continues to invest in its Global Media Network year on
year and as well as expanding the footprint, this investment is
enabling M&B to offer additional internet based applications
and media file transfer capabilities.
For places beyond the reach of our terrestrial solutions,
M&B offers satellite solutions to over 100 countries, with hubs
in a number of locations around the world, with our greatest
capabilities being developed in the UK, Europe and across Africa.
For further information
BT
Enquiries about this news release should be made to the BT Group
Newsroom on its 24-hour number: 020 7356 5369. From outside the UK
dial +44-20-7356- 5369. All news releases can be accessed at our
web site: http://www.btplc.com/News
RRsat
About BT
BT is one of the world's leading providers of communications
solutions and services operating in more than 170 countries. Its
principal activities include the provision of networked IT services
globally; local, national and international telecommunications
services to our customers for use at home, at work and on the move;
broadband and internet products and services and converged
fixed/mobile products and services. BT consists principally of four
lines of business: BT Global Services, Openreach, BT Retail and BT
Wholesale.
In the year ended 31 March 2010,
BT Group's revenue was GBP20,911
million.
British Telecommunications plc (BT) is a wholly-owned subsidiary
of BT Group plc and encompasses virtually all businesses and assets
of the BT Group. BT Group plc is listed on stock exchanges in
London and New York. For more information, visit
http://www.bt.com/aboutbt
About RRsat Global Communications Network Ltd
RRsat Global Communications Network Ltd. (NASDAQ: RRST) provides
global, comprehensive, content management and distribution services
to the rapidly expanding television and radio broadcasting
industries, and communications solutions to the maritime,
terrestrial and aviation markets through Station711, its mobile
satellite arm. Through its proprietary "RRsat Global Network,"
composed of satellite and terrestrial fiber optic transmission
capacity and the public Internet, RRsat is able to offer
high-quality and flexible global distribution services for content
providers. RRsat's comprehensive content management services
include producing and playing out TV content as well as providing
satellite newsgathering services (SNG). RRsat concurrently provide
these services to more than 550 television and radio channels,
covering more than 150 countries. For more information, visit
http://www.rrsat.com
Safe Harbor Statement
This press release contains forward looking statements within
the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as
amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as
amended, including statements regarding (i) the growth of our
business and the television and radio broadcasting industries, (ii)
the success of the strategic alliance with BT, (iii) our
expectation to expand our client base and sell additional services
to our existing client base, (iv) our ability to expand the product
and service portfolio of Station711, (v) our ability to
successfully integrate the teleports we acquired, (vi) our ability
to develop and commercialize the RRinternetTV service, (vii) our
expectation to extend the average length of our contracts in the
future, (viii) our ability to report future successes and (ix) our
intention to distribute dividends in the future and the size of any
dividends declared. These forward-looking statements involve known
and unknown risks and uncertainties and are based on current
expectations, assumptions, estimates and projections about the
companies and the industry as of the date of this press release.
The company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking
statements to reflect subsequent occurring events or circumstances,
or to changes in its expectations, except as may be required by
law. Forward-looking statements are subject to risks and
uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially
from those contemplated by the forward-looking statements,
including the risks indicated in our filings with the Securities
and Exchange Commission (SEC). For more details, please refer to
our SEC filings and the amendments thereto, including our Annual
Report on Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2009 and our Current Reports on Form
6-K.
Enquiries about this news release should be made to:
Company Contact Information:
Gil Efron, CFO
Tel: +972-8-861-0000
Email: investors@RRsat.com
External Investor Relations Contacts:
Ehud Helft / Kenny Green
Tel: +1-646-201-9246
SOURCE BT & RRsat Global Communications Network Ltd