NovelSat, a world leader in satellite transmission technology, today announced that VRT (Vlaamse Radio- en Televisieomroeporganisatie), the Belgium  national public-service broadcaster for the Flemish Region and Community, has implemented NovelSat satellite broadcasting solutions including NovelSat modems and software.

VRT broadcast services include contribution, DTH channels, and radio, all via satellite and a fiber network, across Belgium and parts of The Netherlands and Luxembourg. They approached NovelSat with a request to replace their ground station links and contribution SNG transmission equipment. VRT had been transmitting using the outdated DVB-S2 satellite transmission standard with 20-35% RoF (Roll-off Factor). In addition to the efficiency issues, one of the primary catalysts for the request was the new regulation from the Belgium government requiring CID insertion in satellite signals as of 2018.

CID (Carrier ID) refers to a unique ID that is injected into video or data transmissions by a satellite modulator or modem so that an interfering carrier can be easily identified to enable quick resolution of interference situations.
The initial solution provided by NovelSat, together with VP Media Solutions, a major Belgium reseller of broadcast solutions and services, includes NS3000 Professional Satellite Modems, with configurations supporting Carrier in Carrier (Carrier Eco Cancellation) and Dual Channel (ASI+IP) capability, all with built-in TCP Acceleration. The NovelSat modem offers 5% RoF with the DVB-S2 and S2X standard, and as low as 2% RoF with the NovelSat NS4 satellite waveform. These and other features make the NovelSat NS3000 the most bandwidth-efficient modem in the satellite industry.

“At NovelSat we strive not only to provide the most efficient satellite transmission products and solutions. We also take pleasure when our customers find it easy to get the features they want without a complicated integration process,” said Gary Drutin, NovelSat CBO. “The NovelSat broadcast solution for VRT meets the customer’s needs for greater efficiency, bi-directional video and data transmission, CID insertion and more. We look forward to providing additional capacity and capabilities to VRT in the future.“

“The new NovelSat modems have improved our contribution efficiency with Carrier-in-Carrier transmission, dual channel IP and ASI for video contribution feeds, and a return IP stream for data sharing with our SNGs,” said Tom Grenson, VRT System Engineer ICT Networking & Telecom. “This has provided benefits to our fleet for large scale events where bandwidth demand is high, and cellular coverage or WIFI are often not sufficient.“

“VP Media Solutions was happy to introduce this flexible NovelSat solution to VRT to meet their growing satellite requirements. We supported the project from POC through installation and the first successful implementation for a large-scale live international sporting event covered by VRT,” said Emmanuel Charlet, Partner, Head of Sales and Pre-sales, VP Media Solutions. “Improved spectral efficiency and better control of both the forward and return channels under the same frequency has proven to be highly economical for VRT in a variety of scenarios.”

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