The direct-to-home (DTH) platform — which Rohde & Schwarz has designed, installed and commissioned — is claimed to not only meet all of ONT’s current TV broadcast needs but also future-proof its business expansion strategy by virtue of its IP basis. It also enables Tunisian and regional broadcasters to have a direct access from Tunis to the growing 26°E neighbourhood with a coverage encompassing MENA and Western Europe. The deployment is the result of the agreement by Arabsat and ONT in February 2017 to launch a Tunisian broadcast platform on Arabsat Badr-4 at 26°E, which became fully operational in October.

In the project, Rohde & Schwarz has installed its R&S AVHE100 encoding and multiplexing solution supporting the transmission of ten standard-definition (SD), two high-definition television (HDTV) channels and 24 radio stations. The AVHE100 encoding and multiplexing solution is fully IP-based, which says R&S creates significant efficiencies in terms of space and power saving. The solution can encode in MPEG2 and MPEG4 today and a future transition to HEVC, and Ultra HD is possible with the addition of new software systems and minimal extra hardware.

Rohde& Schwarz identified the provision of professional services as a key element of the contract with Arabsat covers. Through its local team of engineers and product specialists, Rohde & Schwarz  provided factory acceptance testing and factory-based training as well as project management services. In addition, Rohde & Schwarz Middle East & Africa staff provided installation, onsite configuration and training of ONT engineers. All design, installation, commissioning and training requirements were provided by Rohde & Schwarz locally while Turkey-based SVS supplied the platform’s satellite earth station.

With the project, Arabsat says that it has developed a strategy that will see significant expansion of the DTH platform, bringing many new services to market in the near future and catering for new service provision as required by ONT and Arabsat.