Increasing HD demand in Europe has led France Telecom media transport subsidiary GlobeCast to strike a five-year contract with Eutelsat Communications to deploy a third transponder on the latter’s EUROBIRD 9A satellite carrying a full HD DVB-S2 platform.
The first clients for the platform are already signed up, including the pan-European sports broadcaster Eurosport and Fashion One. Eutelsat's EUROBIRD 9A satellite was chosen for its potential to reach more than 5 million direct-to-home and cable homes across the continent.
The satellite's proximity to Eutelsat's HOT BIRD video neighborhood at its 13 degrees east orbital location adds the opportunity for broadcasters to reach homes and headends equipped with dual-feed reception from both positions.
The platform is ideal for channels that want to reach a large audience spanning multiple European countries, with a neighborhood of flagship broadcasters as well as prime access to cable networks and ISPs. Channels currently in SD planning to launch an HD DVB-S2 offer, or existing HD channels looking for new options, will be targets for the platform. GlobeCast's service to broadcasters can include content management, playout, origination and encoding. Uplink to EUROBIRD 9A is possible from Paris, a central location in Europe that enjoys connectivity to more than 30 points-of-presence via GlobeCast's five-continent fiber network.
