PARIS, March 23, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

Eutelsat Communications (Euronext Paris: ETL) announces that Jean-François Leprince-Ringuet is joining the Group as Chief Commercial Officer and member of the Executive Committee, succeeding Andrew Wallace who is leaving Eutelsat to pursue other professional interests. Jean-François will join Eutelsat on April 16 to assume overall responsibility for Eutelsat's commercial activities.

Jean-François Leprince-Ringuet brings 30 years of experience in IT and telecoms to Eutelsat. He has held commercial strategy, sales and marketing positions in Europe and North America at IBM, Hewlett-Packard, Cap Gemini and Bull, and has also been President of the IDATE^[1] Foundation. Jean-François is a French national and a graduate of the Ecole des Mines.

"Eutelsat's ambition is to consolidate its place in broadcast and broadband markets with the highest quality of service, and to leverage innovation that can expand the role of satellites in the digital economy. Jean-François Leprince-Ringuet's background in international telecom markets and his experience in developing sales and partner relationships will add to our commercial strengths and I am very pleased to welcome his broad talents to our management team," commented Michel de Rosen, Chief Executive Officer of Eutelsat. "I thank Andrew for his commitment to our Group and wish him continued success in his career."

About Eutelsat Communications

Eutelsat Communications (Euronext Paris: ETL, ISIN code: FR0010221234) is the holding company of Eutelsat S.A.. With capacity commercialised on 28 satellites that provide coverage over the entire European continent, as well as the Middle East, Africa, India and significant parts of Asia and the Americas, Eutelsat is one of the world's three leading satellite operators in terms of revenues. As of 31 December 2011, Eutelsat's satellites were broadcasting more than 4,150 television channels. More than 1,100 channels are broadcast via its HOT BIRD video neighbourhood at 13 degrees East alone which serves over 120 million cable and satellite homes in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. The Group's satellites also serve a wide range of fixed and mobile telecommunications services, TV contribution markets, corporate networks, and broadband markets for Internet Service Providers and for transport, maritime and in-flight markets. Eutelsat's broadband subsidiary, Skylogic, markets and operates access to high speed internet services through teleports in France and Italy that serve enterprises, local communities, government agencies and aid organisations in Europe, Africa, Asia and the Americas. Headquartered in Paris, Eutelsat and its subsidiaries employ just over 700 commercial, technical and operational professionals from 30 countries.  

http://www.eutelsat.com

1. The IDATE association tracks global telecom, Internet and media markets.

SOURCE Eutelsat Communications