The Chilean Logistics Association, Alog Chile, has awarded the Prize for the most outstanding company in 2008 to abertis logística, in recognition of its important participation and contribution to the logisitics sector in Chile this year.

Alog Chile has taken into consideration the enormous investment that abertis logística is making in Chile and its consolidation worldwide, in addition to the success of abertis logisticspark santiago, the new logistics park that the company is developing in the district of Pudahuel, in Santiago de Chile. Manel Martínez, director general of abertis logística in Chile, received the award from Rolf Gremler, chairman of Alog Chile, at a formal event held in the Chilean capital.

abertis logisticspark santiago is the first comprehensive logistics park project to be developed in Santiago. The urban planning work commenced in February 2008 and it is planned that the first 20,000 square metres of the industrial premises will be handed over during the first quarter of 2010. The project, which is located in ENEA industrial estate, envisages the construction of 350,000 square metres of industrial premises and more than 15,000 square metres of land for services.

The most important feature of the logistics park is its privileged location in the capital of Chile. It can be accessed directly from the two most important motorways in the Metropolitan Region (Costanera Norte and Vespucio Express). In addition, the park is close to Pudahuel airport (which is only 2.2 km away) and the main access routes to the ports of Valparaíso and San Antonio, both of which deal with more than 80% of all the country's exports and imports.

Once the project has been implemented, the total estimated investment will be 300 million dollars, including the cost of the land acquired from ENEA The investment forecast for developing the park will be carried out in a progressive manner over the next ten years and adapted to the evolution in demand. Furthermore, it is estimated that the logistics park will create more than 5,000 direct jobs and 10,000 indirect jobs, once it is fully operative.

• The consortium comprising abertis (57.7%) and Santander Infrastructure Fund II, through Infraestructuras Americanas and Sandgate (42.3%), have completed the acquisition from ACS of the latter’s stakes in Autopista Central (48%) and Rutas del Pacífico (50%). The deal, for a total amount of €728Mn (€420Mn of which corresponds to abertis), is being effected via the acquisition of 100% of the shares of Inversora de Infraestructuras S.L (Invinsl), the Spanish subsidiary of ACS which holds these investments.
• This transaction gives abertis control over 79% of Rutas del Pacífico (a direct stake of 50% once the acquisition of Itinere’s stake is completed, and an indirect stake of 29% through the consortium together with the Santander Infrastructure Fund II).
• The consortium will own 50% of Autopista Central via the acquisition of the 48% stake owned by ACS plus an additional 2% from minority shareholders.
• The deal consolidates abertis’ presence in Chile, where it operates in all five business lines, thanks to this acquisition of high quality assets, which lengthen the average life of abertis’ concession portfolio.

Barcelona, 25 November 2008.- abertis telecom, a telecommunications company belonging to the abertis Group, has a new control centre in its Torre de Collserola facilities, from where it provides telecommunications services with coverage for more than five million people.

From this site, abertis telecom transmits analogue and digital television and radio to the city of Barcelona and its greater area, in addition to other telecommunications services for operators, companies and public institutions. After the "analogue switch-off" which, according to the requirements of the Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) Technical Plan, must take place in 2010, the whole area of influence of this centre will only receive a digital signal. The improvements introduced now form part of the process for the adaptation and digitalisation of the abertis telecom network.

The Torre de Collserola centre has more than 40 Abertis Telecom professionals who are responsible for ensuring it works correctly 24 hours a day, in order to guarantee the service. abertis telecom, with 42%, is the main shareholder of Torre Collserola, S.A., the company that owns this emblematic telecommunications centre.

 Control and supervision of the signal

 The improvements that abertis telecom has introduced in the Torre de Collserola control centre include those affecting the system for the monitoring of TV and FM radio signals. This system has now been strengthened with the incorporation of two new elements:

 Þ     Video Wall. Enables the generation of image mosaics and the establishment of alarms that provide notification of a lack of signal or its degradation, allowing the simultaneous control of up to 300 video signals.

 Þ     Video and audio switching matrices, which speed up the sending of the signals to the Broadcast Centres, as well as the exchange of signals towards client production centres. It also facilitates the transmission of signals to measuring equipment, enabling the response time for signal quality incidents to be reduced.

 The network of centres and systems for the transport and broadcast of television and radio located in the east of Spain is supervised from this control centre, covering the autonomous regions of the Basque Country, Navarra, Rioja, Aragon, the Valencia Region, Murcia, the Balearic Islands and Catalonia through the corresponding terminals of the equipment and infrastructure management network.

 Services offered by abertis Telecom from Torre Collserola

 Designed by the architect Norman Foster, with a height of 288 metres, the Torre Collserola is the most emblematic technology facility in Catalonia. It was opened 1992, unifying the services until then offered by various centres located in the Collserola mountain range, in Barcelona. That same year, for the Olympic Games, this centre offered more than 31,000 hours of television to TV stations all over the world.

The services offered from this site are as follows:

Þ     1. Broadcast and transport of analogue and digital signals.

Distribution of the main programmes broadcast in Catalonia, in addition to the exchange of signals with the Torrespaña telecommunications centre in Madrid, and the Arganda del Rey satellite centre in order to establish various services. Occasional links are also established in order to guarantee the audio-visual coverage of various events and sports broadcasts. Altogether,

 o       35 analogue TV programmes

o       45 DTT programmes,

o       25 FM radio broadcasts,

o       18 DAB digital radio programmes

o       4 DTT head-ends are broadcast

 Þ     2. Mobile communications.

The management and supervision of the TETRA networks is carried out at Torre Collserola, by means of which abertis telecom offers a mobile communications service to the safety and emergency services of various autonomous and local governments (including the Catalonia Government and the Valencia Autonomous Region, among others).

 Þ     3. Automatic water information system.

Through this service offered by abertis telecom to the Agència Catalana de l'Aigua, the supervision and control of 150 points (reservoirs, supply stations and rain gauges) spread throughout Catalonia is carried out.

 About Abertis Telecom

 abertis telecom is one of the leading European operators in telecommunications infrastructures and services and, with more than 3,200 centres, has the biggest network of sites in Spain for the broadcast and distribution of audio-visual signals. In Spain, it is at the forefront of DTT implementation and is working on the development of mobile DTT. It has thus promoted several projects which also include the international arena. abertis telecom forms part of abertis, an international group in the field of mobility and telecommunications infrastructure management.

In the satellite sector, abertis telecom is the main shareholder of the operator Eutelsat, with 32%, and Hispasat, with 28.4%. Last October, it acquired an additional 5% in Hispasat in a transaction awaiting approval by the Council of Ministers.

RTVE (Spanish Radio and Television) Corporate Director Jaime Gaiteiro and Abertis Telecom's Business Director, Oriol Sitjá, have signed an agreement that will complete DTT coverage of TVE signals to the entire national population.

 Televisión Española and Abertis Telecom this morning signed an agreement to ensure that 100% of the Spanish population can receive DTT programmes broadcast by TVE: terrestrial coverage will reach 98.5% of the population whilst the remaining 1.5% will receive signals via satellite.

The solution provided by Abertis Telecom reuses existing TVE signals in the satellite that have, in the past, been used to send signals to terrestrial broadcast centres. For this purpose, Abertis Telecom will adapt the conditional-access system so as to leave it open and accessible to the industry for the development of the necessary decoders.

Furthermore, the technological system used will be available for use by other national DTT broadcasters. Therefore, national broadcasters shall be able to use the system, given that, as in the case of TVE, existing DTT satellite broadcast signals will be reused. In addition, the Abertis Telecom system allows regional Spanish programmes to be integrated into the platform.

The system of providing DTT coverage using satellite technology will be available to people living in areas inaccessible to DTT as soon as the terrestrial system has been rolled out and prior to the analogue switch-off.

In line with its strategy of consolidating its minority stakes and pursuant to the announced acquisition of Itinere Infraestructuras by Citi Infrastructure Investors, abertis and Citi Infrastructure Investors have reached a deal whereby abertis will acquire a number of Itinere’s stakes in companies in which abertis is already a shareholder.

The total amount of the stakes to be acquired is €621Mn. The deal will be executed once Citi Infrastructure Investors has made a public offer to acquire the Itinere shares owned by Sacyr. The transaction is subject to obtaining the pertinent authorizations.

Barcelona, 21 October 2008.- abertis, through its telecommunications subsidiary abertis telecom, has reached an agreement with EADS/CASA to acquire a 5% stake in the Spanish satellite operator Hispasat for €35 Mn. This raises abertis’ stake in Hispasat to 32.4% and strengthens its position as the Spanish satellite system’s largest shareholder.  The agreement is subject to the authorisation of the Spanish cabinet.

The increase in abertis telecom’s stake in Hispasat responds to its strategic positioning in the satellites business. This strategy rounds off abertis telecom’s position in the terrestrial signal transmission network with a satellite transmission network and broadens the geographical scope of abertis’ telecommunications business.

In July, abertis acquired 28.4% of Hispasat for €199 Mn from Ensafeca Holding Empresarial (previously Auna) and BBVA, private shareholders in Hispasat, following clearance from the European anti-trust authorities and the Spanish government, which had already agreed to authorise the acquisition in February.

Hispasat’s current fleet consists of 3 satellites (Hispasat 1C and 1D and Amazonas 1), which give coverage over Europe, North Africa and America. These satellites provide audiovisual and business services, broadband solutions and advanced communications systems. Through Hisdesat, two other satellites are managed (Spainsat and Xtar-Eur), which give services to government.

With over 1,000 TV and radio channels broadcast, Hispasat is the leading operator in communications in Spanish and Portuguese and the main communications bridge by satellite between Europe and America. In the coming years, Hispasat plans to launch three new satellites, which will double its space orbiting capacity. In 2007, Hispasat recorded income of 128 million euros, an Ebitda de 101 million euros and a net profit of 36 million euros. 

The system will be based on TETRA technology 10/09/2008 - Barcelona

Barcelona, 3 September 2008.- abertis telecom, the telecom infrastructures arm of theabertis group, hs recently been awarded the tender to set up a digital radio communications system for the Government of Navarre. The operator will manage the safety and emergency network for four years.

abertis telecom will use EADS TETRA technology (Terrestrial Trunked Radio) to deploy the network after experiences in other autonomous regions have demonstated its effectiveness when conventional commmunication systems become swamped in emergency situations.

This network, which will service the different safety and emergency organizations of the Navarre Regional Government, will ensure straightforward, reliable communications under any circumstances. It will have more than 30 base stations and various mast head amplifiers to guarantee coverage of over 99% for mobile terminals and 95% for portable terminals.

The network, which will be dimensioned to service 3,000 users, will be deployed over the next six months and the system is guaranteed to be fully operational by 1 January 2009.

 About Abertis Telecom

Within its range of mobile radio comunications services, abertis telecom has specialized in the design, deployment and operation of networks for security and emergency forces. These networks are based on digital trunking technology and allow for a series of essential features for each individual client type.

Abertis telecom's mobile communications services are also aimed at companies and organizations whose operations involve extensive coverage and require dedicated networks, for example, in the environmental sector for reservoir control, forestry surveillance and weather forecasting.

The assignment of abertis telecom to provide the TETRA network for Navarre comes in addition to the services that the operator has already been providing in the security and emergency network sector for over 10 years, notably the Ágora network (Catalonia), COMDES (Valencia) RADIERCAM (Murcia), SECORA (Seville), and the mobile radio communications networks for Jerez de la Frontera and the Bilbao Metro.

abertis telecom is part of the abertis group, the international group that manages mobility and telecommunications infrastructures.

The Ministry of Development has awarded Retevisión S.A., a branch of abertis telecom, the contract for “Provision of the Rescue Service for the Safety of Human Life at Sea”, for a period of 4 years, extendable for another 4 years, and for a sum of 42.5 million euros. As from the 27 April 2009, abertis telecom will provide the Office of the Merchant Navy with the communication services on the VHF, MF, and HF wavebands for the different maritime navigation zones, as well as the establishment and maintenance of the Network of Coastal Stations and Radio-maritime Communication Centres.

abertis telecom will install and put into operation the series of new transmitting and receiving stations in strategic locations along the Spanish coastline to cover the navigation zones, as well as making available the Radio-electrical Communication Control Centres and the undertaking of the permanent listening operation of ships, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, in accordance with the provisions of the Global Maritime Distress Safety System.

The contract includes the undertaking of transfer tasks of operations involving help calls to the Rescue and Safety at Sea Society, the radio transmission of Warnings to Navigators, as well as safety, emergency, radio medical service and meteorological information messages.

abertis telecom will install and run the VHF Network of Coastal Stations to cover to strip of coastal waters of at least 35 nautical miles, MF Medium Wave stations for Communications of up to 150 nautical miles and a specific Short Wave station with coverage of a greater reach including the west African coastline.

Among these audiovisual services provided by abertis telecom features the establishment in several autonomous communities of mobile radio-communication systems for public safety and emergency networks. abertis telecom currently provides a service to more than 30,000 policemen and women, firefighters, forest guards and ambulances.

In an act attended by the Minister for Justice and Public Administrations of the Generalitat Valenciana, Fernando de Rosa, and which also had the presence of the Mayoress of Torrent, Mª José Catalá, the Technical Control and Management Centre of the COMDES Network was opened, located in the Torrent Transmission Centre, which forms part of the network of abertis telecom centres.

Also attending the act was Pablo Oliete, Managing Director of Adesal, the company whose Partners are abertis telecom, Aguas de Valencia and Banco de Valencia. Adesal is the company that carries out the installation and maintenance of the “Comdes Network”, the emergency and security digital mobile communications network of the Generalitat Valenciana, awarded to Adesal in December 2007. 

From this Technical Control and Management Centre the tasks for controlling and supervising the COMDES Network is carried out, which is the Emergency and Security Mobile Digital Communications Network, an infrastructure that gives Communications coverage to the different security and emergency bodies in the Valencia Autonomous Community, such as Civil Protection and Emergency, the Generalitat’s Police Force, Local Police, Fire Service, Emergency and healthcare assistance. 

The Torrent Centre has specialised personnel 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and has high security and power supply mechanism, appropriate for emergency and security networks. It also has the support of the Collserola (Barcelona) and Tres Cantos (Madrid) control Powers of abertis telecom, with longstanding experience in the supervision of Communications Networks, which will be able to act as back-up centres for the Torrent Technical Control and Management Centre. 

The specific equipment and computer tools with which this centre are provided enable the detection and localisation of incidents in real time, with the consequent improvement in response and recovery time of the service.

- Under the terms of this preliminary agreement<B>, abertis telecom</B> would acquire 65% of TDF’s stake in the operator, Axión.

- The price agreed for the 65% stake is €104 Mn.

The offer submitted by abertis telecom, which has the support of TDF, involves the acquisition from TDF of its stake in the network transport operator and audiovisual broadcasting company, Axión. The operation amounts to €104 Mn and is contingent, among other issues, on obtaining authorisation from the anti-trust authority and the other Axión's shareholders waiving their pre-emptive acquisition rights. The price implies a multiple of approximately 11,3x EBITDA 2007, consistent with other recent transactions.

In addition to TDF, Axión’s shareholder structure comprises Sandetel (in which the Andalusian regional government holds an interest) with a 23% stake, and savings banks Unicaja and Cajasol, with an aggregate 12%.

Axión operates a total of 549 broadcasting and distribution sites in Spain,   the majority of them located in Andalusia to give service, in particular, to the Regional television and radio channels.

abertis telecom is one of the leading telecommunications infrastructure and services operators in Europe, with more than 3,200 sites and the largest network of audiovisual broadcasting and distribution sites in Spain. abertis telecom is leading the rollout of digital terrestrial television in Spain and is working on the development of mobile DTT. The company has been the driving force behind several projects in Spain and Europe.

In the satellite sector, abertis telecom is the largest shareholder of  Eutelsat (32% stake) and is waiting for to obtain the go-ahead from the anti-trust authorities to become the largest shareholder of Hispasat, with a stake of 28.4%. abertis telecom is part of abertis, one of the global leaders in infrastructure management in the area of mobility and telecommunications.