JOHANNESBURG and PARIS, May 17,
2013 /PRNewswire/ --
As part of their commemoration of World Telecommunication and
Information Society Day (WTISD), Eutelsat Communications and
MultiChoice Africa announce the return of the DStv Eutelsat Star
Awards for 2013. The awards inspire innovative thinking among
secondary and high school students in Africa, to create awareness on how science and
technology can be applied to everyday life and showcase the many
ways that satellites already impact on the development of the
African continent.
According to Nico Meyer, Chief
Executive of MultiChoice Africa, the 2013 awards are perfectly
aligned with the objective of WTISD, namely to raise awareness of
the impact of information and communication technologies (ICTs),
and in particular satellites, on society. "The new edition
of our Awards
challenges high-school
students from over 42 African countries to
propose how they would use satellites in
space for Africa, their country
or their community," he
added.
The annual awards, which grew from 800 entries in 2011 to over
1,000 last year, take the form of a competition open to 14-19
year-old students to write an essay or design a poster on a
specified topic. Country winners, besides winning country prizes,
will go on to compete for the overall continental awards. Like
their 2011 and 2012 counterparts, this year's overall essay and
poster winners will win a once in a lifetime trip for two to the
Eutelsat facilities in Paris, with
the essay winner travelling onwards to witness a live rocket
launch. Runners-up will win a trip to South Africa as guests of MultiChoice Africa.
Schools attended by the overall winners will also receive a DStv
installation, including dish, television, state-of-the-art PVR
decoder and free access to the DStv Education Bouquet.
For Eutelsat Chief Executive Officer, Michel de Rosen, the ability of the competition
to stimulate thinking among young Africans on how satellite
technology can shape society and economies, and the first-hand
exposure of winners to the space business, is unique. "The
awards present an opportunity to actively stimulate and showcase
emerging science and technology talent
on the African
continent.They are the only
competition aimed at promoting knowledge and understanding of
satellite technology among African youth and
kindling their
interest in exploring the
career paths and
opportunities that the world of satellites
offer. We are delighted, as a
leading satellite operator engaged in developing
communications in Africa, to celebrate the
2013 World Telecommunication and Information Society Day in such a
fitting way."
The power of the awards to enrich lives is attested by the 2012
best essay winner, Anthony Oyom from Uganda, whose recent trip to Paris and French
Guiana was an exhilarating experience. Says Anthony:
"The visit to the Guiana Space Centre was
breathtaking and the tour of Parissimply
amazing. Meeting and interacting with the various
stakeholders in the launch
programmes in Kourou was a
once in a lifetime opportunity, and as I flew back to
Uganda, I reflected on the
achievements of these amazing people and
the lessons we can learn from
them."
Students can enter the awards by collecting an entry form and
other resources from their nearest MultiChoice office or download a
copy at http://www.dstvstarawards.com.
Entries for the awards close on 19
September 2013.
About Eutelsat Communications
Eutelsat Communications is the holding company of Eutelsat S.A.
With capacity commercialised on 31 satellites delivering reach of
Europe, the Middle East,
Africa, Asia, significant parts of the Americas and
the Asia-Pacific, Eutelsat
Communications (Euronext Paris: ETL, ISIN code: FR0010221234) is
one of the world's leading satellite operators. As of 31 March 2013, Eutelsat's satellites were
broadcasting more than 4,600 television channels to over 200
million cable and satellite homes in Europe, the Middle
East and Africa. The
Group's satellites also provide a wide range of services for TV
contribution, corporate networks and fixed and mobile broadband
markets. Headquartered in Paris,
Eutelsat and its subsidiaries employ over 780 commercial, technical
and operational professionals from 30 countries.
http://www.eutelsat.com
About MultiChoice Africa
MultiChoice Africa Limited ("MultiChoice Africa") is an African
pioneer of pay TV services in sub-Sahara Africa, having launched
the first digital satellite service in the 1980s. The company is
registered in Mauritius, and is a
wholly-owned subsidiary of the Naspers Group. MultiChoice Africa
provides multi-channel digital pay television services containing
channels from Africa, America,
China, India, Asia
and Europe. The company has over
twenty years experience as a Pay TV operator in Africa, offering cutting-edge digital
technology and a selection of DStv bouquets containing premium
television channels for subscribers in 47 African countries and the
adjacent Indian Ocean islands.
SOURCE MultiChoice Africa and Eutelsat Communications