Kabelio is a Swiss Satellite TV Service.
Kabelio carries a number of channels from around Europe. Kabelio allows you to receive Swiss television programs (SF1, SF2, SF Info, RTS1, RTS2 , LA1, LA2), as well as a selection of European programs such as 3+, TV24, ProSieben CH, RTL CH, Sat.1 CH, RTL two CH, VOX CH, cable one CH, ORF1, ORF2, ARD, ZDF in HD quality or 54, +, 6+, TV25, TeleZüri, BBC World News, BBC One, BBC Two, ITV, TF1, France 2, France 3, Canale 5.
Kabelio transmits from the Hotbird satellite group at 13 east
The Hotbird satellites cover most of mainland Europe, including Spain.
Kabelio in Spain – Reception
Reception of the Kabelio service on the Hotbird 13 east satellites is very easy in Spain. Generally an 80cm satellite dish will be able to receive the signals easily across all of mainland Spain.
Channels available on Kabelio
With Kabelio, you get access to the most popular cable TV channels from Switzerland and the neighbouring countries – comfortably via satellite and in HD.
With the Kabelio access module, you can comfortably watch all channels of SRG, BBC One, BBC Two, ITV, 3+, RTL, ProSieben, TV24, VOX, SAT.1 and many other programmes from the cable television via satellite and in HD. One module for all channels.
Kabelio Frequencies
Kabelio Transponder 1
Frequency 11.096 MHz
Modulation DVB-S2 8PSK
Polarisation horizontal
Symbolrate 30.000
FEC 3/4
Kabelio Transponder 2
(new frequency)
Frequency 10.853 MHz
Modulation DVB-S2 8PSK
Polarisation horizontal
Symbolrate 29.900
FEC 2/3
Kabelio Cam
To watch the Kabelio channels, you will need to have a satellite receiver that is compatible with the Kabelio CAM. Some TVs are also compatible with the Kabelio CAM.
This Kabelio CAM unlocks the encrypted Kabelio channels.
Without the Kabelio CAM, you cannot watch the Kabelio channels.
Kabelio CAMs are available to order online, from Ebay and Amazon.
As at April 2024, they come with 3 months free viewing.
After the initial 3 months, you will need to pay a subscription. This is done using your Kabelio account, via the Kabelio webpage.
You may need a Swiss postal address to renew the service, since the CAMs are only available to users with a Swiss address.
This video explains the Kabelio service for those people who were using the now non receivable Satback service.
Click to play video
How can Kabelio transmit UK TV Channels?
I doubt that Kabelio has any offical broadcast agreement with the channels that are on their service.
However, I understand that Swiss laws allow companies based in Switzerland the ability to re-transmit and rebroadcast any channel without the need for any contractual agreements that they can freely receive within Switzerland. I suppose this helps due to how the geography of Switzerland and the mountains makes it hard for normal terrestrial signals to be transmitted, and so places have to rely on internet and satellite based transmissions.
But there is always the possibility that the UK broadcasters put pressure on Kabelio to cease transmission.
Further information and the history of Kabelio
The Swiss television market is dominated by cable, with a share of 53.6%, which broadcasts a wide variety of national and international TV channels to the majority of households. However, for the people of Switzerland receiving their TV channels via satellite, it was a very different story. Other than the national broadcaster’s channels, the choice of content was far more limited and distributed between different satellites. Satellite homes were demanding more content variety and a simple solution to receive it. Kabelio has begun to meet that demand.
In Switzerland, cultural diversity is prevalent throughout the landscape. The eight and a half million inhabitants consist of German, French, Italian and Romansh speaking citizens that have traditionally received their entertainment and news through cable TV. The content delivered through cable distribution is from the country’s national broadcaster as well as local and international channels in three of the primary languages of the country.
Swiss TV audiences have grown to demand a wider variety of channels in their different languages. However, this has proved to be a challenge for cable access in a country where more than 50% of the territory is covered in mountains and woodlands. Satellite is the only option for the households in these regions of Switzerland, but in order to access different channels, viewers had to point their satellite dish to more than one satellite. There also wasn’t the same choice of relevant channels for Swiss audiences who used satellite as there was for those who used cable.
This set of circumstances drove Damir Krilcic to create Kabelio, a new DTH platform designed to give choice back to the Swiss people and offer new opportunities for Swiss viewers to access the content they want, no matter where they may be.
Kabelio AG, based near Zürich, markets the Kabelio product to viewers in Switzerland. Damir Krilcic selected the best domestic and European channels, 34 of which in High Definition (HD), supplemented by a range of free-to-air channels to offer the Swiss viewing public. However, the challenge of streamlining satellite reception for Switzerland needed a reliable and trusted partner to bring the vision to life.
Kabelio turned to Eutelsat to help them achieve their vision of an all-in-one HDTV experience for all who reside in Switzerland. The flexibility, power and expertise that Eutelsat could provide would help Kabelio to establish itself in a cable-dominated country. As Joerg Hansen, Chief Operating Officer of Kabelio puts it ‘Eutelsat’s knowledge of the market has allowed us to launch this initiative and the model we worked out together gives us the flexibility we need to grow progressively’.
Despite Kabelio’s relatively small customer base, they were able to secure a mutually beneficial business agreement with the satellite operator that enables them to evolve at their own pace.
With Eutelsat’s support, Kabelio launched their service to over 200,000 satellite-enabled homes throughout Switzerland. Each of their viewers can now receive the best domestic and international channels in all three of the official languages through a single package. Most satellite homes are already pointed to 13° East to receive the national SRG SSR channels, so by simply swapping the CI access module with the Kabelio CI+ module, in their TV set or set-top box, viewers can start receiving all the channels in the Kabelio package.
Today, Kabelio currently comprises 34 TV channels in HD quality, many of which are being broadcast via satellite for the first time through Eutelsat’s HOTBIRD 13° East satellite position. Their signal is available everywhere in Switzerland and can now supply areas where there are no terrestrial networks with a strong and stable signal, and with none of the bottlenecks associated with streaming primetime viewing.
Kabelio has enabled a world of opportunity for their remote, niche audience, and is growing in popularity throughout the country. The most popular German, Austrian, French, Italian and British channels are now available on satellite, as well as some exclusive content that was previously only available through cable.
The partnership between Kabelio and Eutelsat reaffirms the ability of satellite to provide a wealth of content, information and entertainment anytime, anywhere and with an unparalleled quality of viewing to remote viewers.
(source : https://www.eutelsat.com/en/case-studies/kabelio.html )