A BBC news crew shooting a story on a proposed wind farm on the Isle of Lewis in the Western Isles off Scotland recently got an unwelcome surprise when strong winds tore the VSAT dish they were using from the SNG truck and sent it flying.
With no satellite uplink, the crew abandoned its live broadcast, reported the incident to the BBC newsroom and sought shelter from the wind.
The crew was able to transmit its story back to the BBC, however, using Quicklink software to package the story, a BGAN satellite terminal and an Inmarsat satellite link from Inmarsat distributor Stratos.
The BGAN setup successfully endured the challenging environmental conditions and allowed the crew to get its story on the air.
BGAN, or broadband global area network, satellite coverage is available throughout most of the planet. It allows users to establish broadband Internet connections with laptop-computer-sized terminals that are light and highly portable. Once connected, news crews can transmit media files as an alternative to conventional field contribution techniques.
For more information, visit www.inmarsat.com.
