ZAP is a digital satellite television provider mainly for Portuguese-speaking countries in sub-Saharan Africa, owned by Finstar. ZAP launched in Angola in 2010, providing a subscription based TV service covering the sub-Saharan countries to south of Angola. ZAP operates from the Eutelsat 36B satellite, placed over Africa at 36,0 degrees East, broadcasting in DVB-S2 in five transponders with MPEG-4 compression and Nagravision encryption.[1]
ZAP provides an unprecedented number of Portuguese-language channels for a region where Portuguese-speaking African countries account for more than 40 million people.[2]
In order to subscribe to ZAP's television service a subscriber can use either one of the two available decoders. The "HD+" decodes the encrypted signal, provides an electronic programming guide, high definition image and 5.1 stereo sound. The "HD+DVR" decoder provides the additional functionality of digital video recorder.
History
On March 25, 2009, Zon acquired 100% of Teliz Holding B.V., a Dutch company Zon planned to use to enter the Angolan market. Teliz acquired 30% of Angolan company Finstar in the second quarter of the year, with limitations in accordance to Angolan laws. 70% of the new company was to be owned by Isabel dos Santos, responsible for its presidency.