Designed for television and radio broadcasting, the HOTBIRD 13B satellite has 64 Ku-band transponders spanning the entire range of frequencies used at Eutelsat's HOTBIRD neighbourhood.

With three high-power satellites, the HOTBIRD family at 13° East forms the largest broadcasting systems in EMEA, delivering 1000 television channels to more than 135 million TV homes in Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. Direct-To-Home reception in beam centre is possible with antennae smaller than 70 cm, and with slightly larger antennas throughout Europe, North Africa and as far East as Moscow and Dubai.

The HOTBIRD video neighbourhood hosts 10 premium platforms, over 600 pay-TV channels, 400 free-to-air channels and over 300 HDTV channels. In addition to broadcasting television services, the system provides over 500 radio stations and multimedia services.