Advanced Television

Vivacom to deliver DTT via Intelsat 33e

March 22, 2017

Intelsat, operator of the Globalized Network, powered by its leading satellite backbone, has announced that telecom provider Vivacom, the leading telecommunication service provider in Bulgaria, will use the Intelsat 33e satellite to DTT services throughout the country.

Intelsat 33e, located at 60° East, the first HTS Ku-band satellite to serve Eastern Europe, provides Vivacom access to higher performance bandwidth over Bulgaria – well-suited for supporting its growing DTT business as well as supporting Vivacom’s expansion beyond its traditional broadband and government applications.

Intelsat 33e also carries the most advanced digital payload available commercially, which allows for connectivity between spectrum types, in any bandwidth increment and from any beam to any beam. This offers Vivacom the capability to use its existing 18.3-meter C-band antenna at Teleport Plana for uplink to increase availability while delivering the content via Ku-band to several hundred DTT retransmission sites. The digital payload technology is available exclusively on the Intelsat EpicNG.

Vivacom is transitioning the DTT service to Intelsat 33e, which entered service in January, from Intelsat 12 at 45° East. Vivacom will continue to use Intelsat 12 and the 45° East location to further expand direct-to-home (DTH) offerings in Bulgaria, uplink business and complement the DTT services.

“Intelsat has designed a customized and flexible solution that enables us to improve our DTT transmission in Bulgaria, relying on Intelsat 33e’s high power beams,” says Vladimir Rangelov, Senior manager Broadcasting services, Vivacom. “Intelsat’s network delivers a robust and flexible solution that we need to quickly adapt to the changing dynamics in the media landscape. Intelsat’s services support our mission to continue to deliver reliable, affordable services and the high-quality content that viewers expect.”

“With the Intelsat EpicNG platform, Intelsat is delivering on the promise of HTS, providing enhanced services that support multiple applications for customers around the globe,” said Rhys Morgan, Intelsat’s Sales Director, Europe and Middle East. “Intelsat EpicNG is designed to support our customers more efficiently in existing markets as well as provide capabilities to open the door for new services that will evolve in the future.”

Categories: Articles, Broadcast, DTT/DSO