Asia-Pacific Broadcasting (APB) December 2018 Volume 35, Issue 11 | Page 14

14 Arabsat, Forsway roll out satellite broadband services across Africa Under the Arabsat Broadband package, Arabsat and Forsway have deployed “affordable satellite broadband services” across Africa. Tobias Forsell, CEO of Forsway, commented: “We are excited to be working with Arabsat, a leading satellite operator, to create a new way of delivering highly cost-effective broadband services in Africa. “Tapping Forsway’s hybrid technology, we are helping Arabsat Broadband Services enable rapid deployment of robust, satellite- based Internet services and eliminate the need to deploy costly additional infrastructure. The Forsway Odin F-50 technology is furnishing Arabsat Broadband Services with a competitive, low-cost alternative to VSAT for the new Arabsat Broadband service model and offering.” Feel the power of point-to-point transmitter Just Add Power (J+P), a provider of 4K/ Ultra HD (UHD)-over-IP video distribution, has released the 709P2P 3G point-to-point transmitter. According to J+P, the Power- Over-Ethernet (PoE) transmitter allows integrators to utilise a single-power input to distribute video, audio, power and control to all downstream devices over Cat-5e cable. Integrators can also pair the 709P2P with any model of J+P receiver to create a simple point-to-point connection, or combine it with the company’s PoE daisy-chain receiver for installations of up to four screens. PANELLISTS Martin Coleman Executive Director The Satcoms Innovation Group Amitabh Kumar Director, Corporate Zee Network Louis Boswell CEO AVIA (Asia Video Industry Association) December 2018 Broadcast satellite draws on new technologies for efficiency gains While content delivery over satellite is being faced with a number of challenges, technologies exist to make the process more efficient. A s uncertainty continues to mark the satellite industry, broadcasters need solutions that will help boost effi- ciency, performance and busi- ness potential as a new era of broadcast looms, sug- gests Hans Massart, market director, broadcast, Newtec. He tells APB: “The broadcast industry is facing a host of challenges that are only set to increase. Today’s audiences expect to see and hear about newsworthy events im- mediately, as it is happening. This means that newsrooms have to take this fresh from the scene, and straight to the viewer with little lag time.” As a result, broadcasters choosing to deliver this content over satellite are seeing increasing pressure placed on their band- width and profit margins. Due to the use of 4K/Ultra HD (UHD) and high dynamic range (HDR), these next-generation TV broadcasts require higher bitrates and significantly more bandwidth, Massart observes. Thus, new technologies that provide broadcasters with efficiency gains are incredibly important to ensure effective space segment usage, he adds. “DVB-S2X and technologies such as High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC)/H.265 are exam- ples of new technologies and techniques that enable broadcasters, satellite opera- tors and service providers to become more efficient as uptake of 4K/UHD gathers pace.” Besides offering a fully DVB-S2X- enabled modem and modulator portfolio, Newtec has also developed a range of its own technologies to provide maximum throughput under all satellite link con- ditions, including Equalink, FlexACM, Mu lt ist re am and C l e an C han nel Technology. Designed to compensate for the ef- fects of imperfections in the filters and amplifiers of the satellite, Equalink 3 is a Newtec’s MCX7000 multi-carrier satellite gateway splits a large transport stream into two or three parts over the satellite, circumventing the bandwidth limitation of a standard Ku-band transponder. ❝ Because today’s audiences expect to see and hear about newsworthy events immediately, broadcasters choosing to deliver this content over satellite are seeing increasing pressure placed on their bandwidth and profit margin. ❞ — Hans Massart, Market Director, Broadcast, Newtec “revolutionary” linear and non-linear pre-distortion technology, which pro- vides breakthrough performance gains on direct-to-home (DTH) satellite links, according to Massart. Alongside this, FlexACM combines a range of technologies to opti mise IP Trunking and IP Backbone satellite links in the most efficient way, while Multistream allows users to aggregate a number of independent transport streams or IP streams into one satellite carrier in a fully transparent manner, maintaining the integrity of the origi- nal content. Finally, Clean Channel Technology further improves satellite efficiency by up to 15% compared to the current DVB-S2 standard for IP trunking, backhauling and govern- ment networks, as well as broadcast contribution. Massart continues: “We are also pio neering the use of Channel Bonding. Our MXC7000, for example, is paving the way to providing custom- ers with the 4K/UHD programming they demand, in a cost-effective and efficient way. “Using DVB-S2X, this technique splits a large transport stream into two or three parts over the satellite, cir- cumventing the bandwidth limitation