20 NEWS & VIEWS
April 2016
ABU DBS 2016 delegates : IP integral to satellite ecosystem
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highly complex and there is not only one technology that is available to meet this vision , shared Dennis Breckenridge , man aging director , Advanced Broadcast Solutions , Asia . “ Often , there are more questions than answers ,” he said . “ Who is responsible ? The channel owner alone ? The engineering team ? The reseller ? The installer ? We believe that the ultimate goal is to enable channel owners to tell stories with technology .”
At the Measat booth , the company was keen to discuss its continued developments in 4K / UHD with a 4K IP multicast over satellite demonstration . Last September , Fashion One 4K , a 4K / UHD channel , was successfully launched on the Measat-3a satellite .
Expect another 4K / UHD channel to be launched on a Measat platform by this year , revealed Alex Tan , senior sales director , broadcast , Measat , who also predicted that IP can be an integral part of the satellite ecosystem in years to come .
He reiterated Measat ’ s readiness and capabilities to support any customers looking to launch 4K / UHD channels , although he acknowledged that in Asia , the outlook for 4K / UHD remains unclear for the moment .
He explained : “ Do you currently have enough content to launch 4K / UHD channels ? Right now , 4K / UHD is more prevalent for subscription-video-on-demand ( SVoD ) channels , but for sure , Measat is ready to support 4K / UHD channels .”
And for one company making an ABU DBS debut , it was a key opportunity to highlight a recent technology breakthrough .
“ This is the first time we are exhibiting at ABU DBS , and we have had the opportunity to highlight and explain the possibility of open Internet transmission of a live broadcast event ,” said CB Lau , VP sales and marketing , Caton Technology , Asia .
At the recent Taiwanese presidential election , Caton Technology deployed the most number of video contribution channels over the open Internet via the company ’ s Reliable Real-time Transport Protocol ( R2TP ) technology .
Also deployed was IVP3000 , Caton ’ s flagship Integrated Video Processing system , which enabled point-to-point and point-to-multipoints video over open Internet delivery , which is also now able to perform live 4K / UHD encoding . “ Our end-goal is to help fill the gap in video compression technology ,” Lau concluded .
And as more than 1,000 delegates and participants representing 200 organisations from 56 countries found out , ABU DBS 2016 turned out to be an ideal platform , to not only fill the gap for some of the most pertinent issues facing Asia ’ s broadcast industry , but to find some definitive answers at the same time .
Satellite operators look to
by shirish nadkarni
The Middle East and North Africa ( MENA ) media market is expected to record 50 % growth , from US $ 16 billion in 2014 to $ 24 billion in 2019 , according to Strategy &, the global analyst division of Pricewaterhouse Coopers .
It was hence not surprising to find more than 950 exhibiting brands from 60 countries choosing to participate in the cable and satellite exhibitioncum-conference , CABSAT 2016 , that sprawled over five halls at the World Trade Centre , Dubai , between March 8 and 10 .
More than 13,000 local , regional and international media industry professionals attended the 22nd edition of the region ’ s definitive event for the broadcast , satellite and entertainment content sectors , which was thrown open by Sheikh Hasher bin Maktoum Al Maktoum , a member of Dubai ’ s ruling family , and director-general of the emirate ’ s Department of Information .
Trixie LohMirmand , senior VP , exhibitions and events management at Dubai World Trade
Centre , said : “ CABSAT continues to serve as the strategic entry point to a buoyant regional media landscape that is currently transitioning — in line with global
Lakshmi Sundarajan ( left ), principal engineer , customer engineering , Measat , and Rajeev Nair , sales director , Middle East and Africa , Measat , were at CABSAT 2016 to explain what the company ’ s satellites can offer to its customers .
Sheikh Hasher Bin Maktoum Al Maktoum , a member of Dubai ’ s ruling family , and director-general of the emirate ’ s Department of Information , opened CABSAT 2016 , which attracted more than 13,000 local , regional and international media industry professionals .
audience demands — from highdefinition TV to Ultra HD ( UHD ) and 4K TV .”
With traditional or linear television channels ’ historical dominance under increasing threat , as global viewers turn towards the more flexible IPTV ( TV delivered over broadband ) and overthe-top ( OTT ) models — where content is streamed directly to handheld devices — the entire TV industry , and ultimately , viewers , are set to reap the benefits .
And the satellites that carry the content to TV viewers will play a vital role in the mix .
For Malaysian operator Measat Satellite Systems , a fleet of six communications satellites has been providing services at different times since 1996 to more than 150 countries , representing 80 % of the world ’ s population , across Asia , Africa , the Middle East , Europe and Australia . Measat ’ s fleet will be further strengthened in 2016 with the addition of Measat-3c at 91.5 ° E .
According to Lakshmi Sundarajan , principal engineer , customer engineering at Measat , the company supports direct-tohome ( DTH ) services in Malaysia , Brunei , India and Indonesia , providing DTH multi-channel TV services to more than 18 million subscribers .
It is also used by several international broadcasters to distribute TV programming to pay-TV platforms , and by telecommunications operators to support remote connectivity , cellular backhaul and corporate VSAT networks .
“ Customers are attracted to our AFRICASAT-1a satellite for multiple reasons ,” said Yau Chyong Lim , chief commercial officer at Measat . “ Its high-powered C-band beam provides more bits per Hertz , which enables more cost-effective solutions . It provides pan-African coverage with excellent look angles . Measat offers flexible solutions customised to meet customers ’ current and future satellite capacity requirements .”
Acknowledging that the Asia- Pacific region is the fastest-growing TV market in the world , Power Pan , director , marketing of APT Satellite , declared that the company ’ s two satellites , APSTAR-5 and APSTAR-7 , are ideally positioned to service customers in the region .
He added : “ Especially the APSTAR-7 satellite , which was launched in the last quarter of 2012 , and which has a service life of more than 15 years , covers Asia , Africa , Australia and Europe with its C-band beam , and China , Africa and the Middle East with its Ku-band beam .”
APSTAR offers several multiple channels per carrier ( MCPC ) broadcast platforms on its satellite fleet , offering services such as redundant IP gateways , hot redundant earth station facilities , turnkey playout services and solutions , and cloud content management and storage services , which are designed to permit regional and international broadcasters to distribute their content to cable headend or provide DTH services .
“ Our APSTAR-9 satellite , which was launched in October 2015 , has further expanded our transponder capacities and