Egyptian satellite operator Nilesat and TVU Networks, which specialises in cloud- and IP-based live video solutions, have expanded their partnership to increase contribution capability for Nilesat’s African customers and extend transmission service to customers in Africa.
Due to launch in Q2 next year, the Nilesat-301 satellite will deliver digital broadcast services to its existing customer base and extend its footprint into North Africa, East Africa and the Middle East. On top of this, TVU Networks will offer an IP contribution and delivery solution to Nilesat customers throughout Africa in addition to its MLink rack-mount transmitter and G-Link for point-to-point transmission to Nilesat customers in the region to create an end-to-end, IP-based delivery platform.
TVU Networks’ servers are currently in place to receive IP streams from digital television customers sent to Nilesat’s Cairo headquarters, while TVU Networks’ TVU One mobile transmitters and TVU Anywhere mobile production app are widely deployed for remote production by Arab and African media companies.
Nilesat chief technology officer Hamdy Mounir said: “With contribution and distribution over IP networks, our customers can send their feeds to our TVU server in Cairo for uplink in a far more cost-effective way than transmitting via fibre, SNG or satellite. We want to reduce the cost of transmission while increasing coverage reliability.
“In the past, video transmission via traditional methods has proven cost-prohibitive and there has been some signal interference in some countries. We’ve seen the stability and flexibility TVU technology provides our customers. They can send any IP source to our uplink with complete confidence in the transmission.”
Sushant Rai, VP of sales for South Asia, the Middle East and Africa at TVU Networks, added: “Given our strong regional presence, we can provide 24/7 support and a solution that’s plug-and-play in a very short period of time. The TVU server accepts all streaming protocols. No matter what IP format customers use, the TVU server can decode the signal. That also eliminates the cost of additional equipment at the headend. It’s one server, one solution for any IP protocol.”
In addition to an established customer base in the region, TVU Networks has offices in Kenya, North Africa, Nigeria and South Africa.
tagged in: Nilesat, TVU Networks