Avanti Brings Ka-band to Satellite Newsgathering Market
By Jeffrey Hill | September 7, 2012
[Satellite TODAY Insider 09-07-12] Avanti Communications has launched a new satellite newsgathering (SNG) product that utilizes Ka-band capacity from the operator’s Hylas satellites providing coverage across the EMEA region, Avanti announced Sept. 7.
Avanti COO Matthew O’Connor said the key to ensuring take-up of the SNG product was to advertise its flexibility to allow broadcasters to buy bandwidth for planned events or immediate usage.
“This means broadcasters can use Ka-band, which delivers significantly increased speeds and data throughput at a much lower cost, for set-piece events such as sports fixtures or political conferences through to breaking news stories such as coverage from disaster zones,” said O’Connor. “The availability of Ka-band technology through Avanti’s Hylas satellites will have a significant impact on contribution services. Our satellites provide a flexible cost effective service perfectly suited to the fast-paced and often unpredictable world of news gathering.”
Avanti developed the Ka-band SNG offering in cooperation with its European terminal manufacturers – an approach it said would ensure broadcasters have a wide choice of technical solutions available to them. To coincide with Avanti’s launch, SIS Live developed its ManPak and uPak ultra-portable satellite ground terminals to make full use of the operator’s new Ka-band SNG service.
SIS Live Managing Director David Meynell said the terminals are fully endorsed by Avanti and are ideally suited to rapid deployment for broadcast and military applications.
“After developing the leading lightweight ground terminals in the market, it is refreshing to work alongside Avanti, another innovative company,” Meynell said in a statement. “The Ka-band proposition offered together is absolutely compelling.”
Avanti currently has two Ka-band satellites in orbit with a third planned for launch in 2015. The company’s first satellite Hylas 1 was launched in 2010 to provide coverage across Europe. Hylas 2 was launched in August and will deploy 24 fixed beams and one steerable beam across parts of Africa, the Middle East and The Caucasus.