Intelsat and du expand television programme distribution solutions on Intelsat 10
October 27, 2011
Intelsat S.A., the world’s leading provider of satellite services, has partnered with du, an integrated telecommunications service provider in the United Arab Emirates, to jointly offer turnkey multichannel per carrier (MCPC) television programme distribution solutions on the Intelsat 10 satellite.
Located at 68.5ºE, the Intelsat 10 satellite offers a premier video neighborhood spanning Africa, the Middle East and Asia-Pacific. The new MCPC platform, part of the IntelsatONE network, will enable programmers in the Middle East to reach viewers in these growing regions. The platform leverages MPEG-4 and DVB-S2 technology to optimize bandwidth and offer cost-effective solutions for customers.
“The new Intelsat 10 MCPC platform is an ideal solution for programmers in the Middle East who seek to deliver their content to millions of viewers across three vast regions,” said Mohamed Al Shahi, du’s Senior Director of Broadcasting. “This agreement will broaden our services portfolio, allowing us to offer an advanced communications platform to our clients.”
du will leverage its international fibre connectivity to bring content to the Middle East, and then uplink it from the Intelsat MCPC platform. du will host the new platform at its state-of-the-art teleport facility, located near Dubai Media City, which currently provides 221 television channels on various platforms. The MCPC services will include encoding, encryption, multiplexing, uplinking and space segment. Customers can backhaul their channels to the teleport via fiber or satellite for insertion into the platform.
“This new MCPC platform strengthens our presence in the Middle East and improves our service capabilities, allowing television programmers in the region to expand their reach across multiple continents,” said Kurt Riegelman, Intelsat’s Senior Vice President of Global Sales. “This collaboration will greatly improve the accessibility of our satellites and IntelsatONE ground infrastructure in this region, thereby supporting the strong demand for television programming originating in the Middle East.”