Africa/Middle East News

ECS, OH TV Partner on Massive Satellite, IPTV Hybrid Service Offering

European Communication Services (ECS) has partnered with OH TV to offer joint broadcast and IPTV services to the African broadcast market and various regions around the world, the companies announced.

The partners said they would provide both a turn-key satellite broadcast service across Africa and an IPTV service via OH BoX’s IPTV Platform for the United Kingdom, Europe and international markets.

GMV Selected by SANSA to Help South Africa Improve Navigation Capabilities

GMV has been selected to lead a satellite navigation project in collaboration with the South African National Space Agency (SANSA).

The SBAS Awareness and Training for South Africa (SATSA) project aims to increase the technological navigation capacity in the South African region and to improve location identification and tracking capabilities during emergency or disaster situations.

The SANSA program is set to run for 18 months, during which GMV will install testing platforms in South Africa for conducting practical tests.

GMV said the first training session was held in May at the SANSA Space Operations Minitrack training facility and dealt with the basic aspects of satellite navigation. The next training session is being held this month and the testing period will be conducted from February through April 2013.

NigComSat Orders Hub, Evolution Platform from iDirect

African satellite network operator Nigerian Communications Satellite Ltd. (NigComSat) has purchased a new Series 15100 Universal Satellite hub from iDirect and will deploy an Evolution-based service in Nigeria.

The iDirect Evolution platform aims to enhance NigComSat’s existing VSAT solutions for military and government customers, while enabling the company to pursue new opportunities in the enterprise and education markets. The platform also provides NigComSat with a scalable platform and the ability to switch between TDMA and SCPC return channels to adjust service levels based on dynamic applications and changing traffic patterns.