• Al-Anezi : We have a solid partnership with the Arab States Broadcasting Union, and we are proud of our role in enriching the satellite and communications industry

Tunisia: The Arab Satellite Communications Organization (Arabsat) announced its sponsorship of the Arab Radio and Television Festival, which is organized by the Arab States Broadcasting Union (ASBU) in Tunisia, from 12 to 15 June 2023.

The festival is the largest artistic and technology-focused event in the Arab world, bringing together Arab ministers of information, media, prominent artists, and creators in various fields, along with Arab and international media as well as production companies.

Arabsat's sponsorship of the festival coincides with the launch of its Badr 8 satellite, which is stationed 26 degrees east in geostationary orbit. The new satellite provides the latest in innovative services and is widely considered as a revolutionary addition to the broader Arab communications network.

The 23rd edition of the festival is held under the theme "Arts and Culture Bring Us Together" and provides the opportunity to showcase the latest innovations and advanced technologies that provide new solutions to meet the aspirations and goals of customers in the region.

Commenting on this occasion, Eng. Alhamedi M. Alanezi – Arabsat President & CEO, expressed his enthusiasm regarding the sponsorship of the festival, which is the foremost annual event of the ASBU. "This festival brings together media and satellite broadcasting experts, and allows for the exchange of experiences and ideas, highlighting the latest innovations in the field and their key role in developing the industry on a large scale," he said.

He referred to Arabsat's solid partnership with the ASBU, which has resulted in many projects that have enabled Arabsat to provide its services to promote the sector. He added, "This partnership allowed us to acquire modern solutions and technologies that helped us expand our reach in the Arab and international space. These developments have allowed us to effectively keep pace with the aspirations of our customers in the region and around the world. Therefore, we consider the festival the most important occasion of the year as it gives us the opportunity to gauge and identify the objectives of our partners and customers, subsequently allowing us to provide them with the best solutions in the media and entertainment sector."

The recently launched Badr8 from Arabsat is the first seventh-generation satellite in the Middle East. It provides a wide range of television broadcasting and communications capabilities and includes state-of-the-art technology for optical communications.

Badr 8 is designed to provide coverage for the Middle East, Europe, Africa, and Central Asia, and through Airbus' TELEO optical communications device, it provides communication capacity from space to Earth at speeds measured in gigabytes. It also enables the validation of scenarios and technical innovations for space-to-Earth communications with a capacity of one terabyte per second.

The current edition of the festival features many informative seminars that discuss important issues such as AI tools in content production and Arabic drama in the digital age, in addition to the opening and closing ceremonies, honoring  participants in various competitions.

On the sidelines of the festival, a technology exhibition and a program market will be held, during which production and content distribution companies, along with radio and television organizations present and promote their latest productions.

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About ARABSAT:

Founded in 1976, Arabsat has been serving the growing needs of the Arab world for almost 40 years. Now one of the world’s top satellite operators and by far the leading satellite services provider in the Arab world, it carries over 500 TV channels, 160 radio stations, pay-TV networks and a wide variety of HD channels reaching tens of millions of homes in more than 80 countries across the Middle East, Africa and Europe—including an audience of over 170 million viewers in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region alone tuned into Arabsat’s video “hotspot” at 26° E.

Operating a growing fleet of owned satellites at the 20° E, 26° E, 30.5° E and 34.5° E, ARABSAT is the only satellite operator in the MENA region offering the full spectrum of Broadcast, Telecommunications and Broadband services. This capacity will continue to expand with the launch of new satellites, making ARABSAT satellites’ fleet the youngest in the region. Arabsat also maintains strategic partnerships with most of the world's leading satellite companies and VAS integrators and recently acquired Hellas Sat, one of the leading telecom groups in southeastern Europe.

The Arab States Broadcasting Union (ASBU) is an Arab joint-action institution related to the League of Arab States and the Pan-Arab Association of Public Service and Commercial Broadcasters. Founded in February 1969 in Khartoum, ASBU is a professional organization with the objective of strengthening ties and promoting cooperation among broadcasters in the Arab States for better production and content development. ASBU provides important services such as engineering and consulting services, radio and television exchange of news, programming and sports, as well as radio and TV training. It also strives to acquire broadcasting rights at preferential rates for a number of competitions and sports events to the benefit of its members, as well as to ensure the appropriate broadcasting coverage of such events.[1][2]

Its headquarters are in the Tunisian city of Tunis.