Afrique Telecom, Eutelsat and Wikimdia France to offer free acce to French-language Wikipedia in Africa

From left to right: the partnership agreement was signed by Michel Azibert (Eutelsat), Nathalie Martin (Wikim dia France) and Philippe Tintignac (Afrique Telecom)

Paris, 1st December 2015 - Afrique Telecom, Eutelsat and Wikim dia France combine skills in large-scale initiative to extend free access to French-language Wikipedia in Sub-Saharan Africa via Wi-Fi hotspots

Free access to Wikipedia

Afrique Telecom is progressively deploying Internet solutions over Sub-Saharan Africa in combination with Eutelsat's satellite capacity. Its TamTam service extends access to the Internet in rural areas using Wi-Fi hotspots for collective access. In a new step announced today, TamTam will be used to offer free access to French-language Wikipedia content for many thousands of users. This initiative, starting in French-speaking Africa, supports Wikim dia France's strategy to promote free access to educational content, in particular through Wikipedia.

In order to offer free, unlimited access, Afrique Telecom has developed a server located at TamTam hotspots that will locally host French-language Wikipedia content. The content will be updated regularly via a satellite link provided by Eutelsat.

A major pilot project

Afrique Telecom's ambition is to roll-out TamTam to between 4,000 and 8,000 hotspots in the next two years. Eutelsat has agreed to finance servers hosted by the first 1,000 hotspots as a springboard that will also measure the impact of the service.

The Wikimedia movement has made a priority of improving accessibility and content creation on Wikipedia for so-called Southern countries. There is still a large gap between Northern and Southern countries in terms of the number of readers and contributors to Wikimedia platforms as well as content on Southern countries. French-speaking Africa is a priority action area for the Wikim dia France Foundation, as a complement to its Afrip dia project.

Wikim dia France

Wikim dia France, an association for free knowledge-sharing, was founded in 2004 to promote and support all projects hosted by the Wikimedia Foundation in France. Wikim dia France does not produce or host any Wikimedia Foundation projects, but strives to enrich them and raise their profile through its members' support of its actions.

For further information:

Press

Anne-Laure Pr vost Tel: 33 7 62 93 42 02 annelaure.prevost@wikimedia.fr

Afrique Telecom

Founded in 2005, Afrique Telecom (NYSE Euronext Paris: MLAFT, ISIN code: FR0011233659) is an innovative telecommunications service operator offering economic models of satellite-based connectivity solutions that are unique on the market. The expertise of Afrique Telecom's development teams is acknowledged in Africa for their work to reduce the digital divide on the continent. With more than 4000 stations in operation, Afrique Telecom is one of the leading players in satellite-based connectivity in Sub-Saharan Africa. www.afrique-telecom.com

For further information:

Press

Virginie Tintignac Tel: 33 3 86 94 26 41 vtintignac@afrique-telecom.com

About Eutelsat Communications

Established in 1977, Eutelsat Communications (Euronext Paris: ETL, ISIN code: FR0010221234) is one of the worlds leading and most experienced operators of communications satellites. The company provides capacity on 38 satellites to clients that include broadcasters and broadcasting associations, pay-TV operators, video, data and Internet service providers, enterprises and government agencies.

Eutelsat's satellites provide ubiquitous coverage of Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia-Pacific and the Americas, enabling video, data, broadband and government communications to be established irrespective of a user's location.

Headquartered in Paris, with offices and teleports around the globe, Eutelsat represents a workforce of 1,000 men and women from 37 countries who are experts in their fields and work with clients to deliver the highest quality of service.

For more about Eutelsat please visit www.eutelsat.com

Press

Vanessa O'Connor Tel: 33 1 53 98 37 91 voconnor@eutelsat.com

Marie-Sophie Ecuer Tel: 33 1 53 98 37 91 mecuer@eutelsat.com

Violaine du Boucher Tel: 33 1 53 98 37 91 vduboucher@eutelsat.com

Investors and analysts

Joanna Darlington Tel. : 33 1 53 98 35 30 jdarlington@eutelsat.com

C dric Pugni Tel. : 33 1 53 98 35 30 cpugni@eutelsat.com

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