Using the enhanced power and stretched coverage of the new BADR-4 satellite, seamless high speed content & file exchange to/from any location within the whole Middle East / North Africa will now be easier and cheaper than ever.
Today at the International Broadcasting Convention (IBC), Arabsat (Arab Satellite Telecommunications Organization), the leading satellite operator in the Middle East and North Africa region, based in Saudi-Arabia, the ASBU (Arab States Broadcasting Union), based in Tunisia, and Newtec, based in Belgium, announced they have signed a major partnership for the progressive deployment of their MENOS project. The ASBU, which is currently operating a large international radio and television satellite exchange network on the Arabsat satellite fleet, has awarded a contract to Newtec for the supply and installation of a revolutionary broadband IP-based satellite network for the exchange of multimedia services to be operated on Arabsat’s soon-to-be launched new BADR-4 satellite.
The “Multimedia Exchange Network Over Satellite” system that will be proposed to ASBU members and Arabsat customers as a result of this partnership will definitely open amazingly exciting new horizons for satellite-based content exchange throughout the Arab world –and beyond, by providing our region with a truly ground-breaking project at the forefront of cutting-edge technologies. MENOS will be the largest and fastest ever feed and file exchange network for Broadcasters and Corporates, encompassing the entire Middle-East/North-Africa (MENA) and Europe.
Uniquely combining the power and flexibility of IP-based communications with the most advanced satellite transmission and data compression technologies, the MENOS system fully exploits the bandwidth efficiency of the DVB-RCS, DVB-S2 and MPEG-4 standards. It’s been developed by Newtec specifically to match the particular requirements of the ASBU members for media files exchange within the MENA region.
Mr. Khalid BALKHEYOUR, Arabsat President & CEO, enthusiastically welcomed the official launch of this major project on which Arabsat and the ASBU have already been actively working together with Newtec for 2 years as part of Arabsat’s strategy to rapidly expand its offering of Value-Added Services throughout the MENA region: We are extremely proud to have been able to reach this stage hand-in-hand with such remarkable organizations as ASBU and NEWTEC, introducing together into the Middle East this unique and amazing combination of IP and cutting-edge satellite transmission technologies” he commented, confirming Arabsats strong commitment to always remain at the forefront of state-of-the art technology and service offering. “We are honored by their trust in our system and confidence in the unbeatable performance of Arabsat’s constellation of BADR satellites at our 26° East primary video location he concluded.
In the first phase of its deployment, this system will be used daily by the 25 full members and associated members of ASBU to exchange real-time broadcasting content via a central HUB and 52 remote terminals; Ultimately, ASBU members have already planed to use up to 450 remote terminals within MENA: The MENOS concept offers exactly what broadcaster and satellite operators are looking for: More services and less satellite costs. MENOS will offer the technology required for our members and as well as other potential users in the region to build their own VPNs for their own national and regional operations. We are pleased with the partnership with Arabsat in this project that will allow us to continue our successful cooperation with them. We relied on Newtecs expertise in the past for the successful digitalization of our radio and television networks and trust they will show the same high level of innovation, quality and service for this project said Mr. Abdelhafidh HARGUEM, ASBU Director General.
Arabsat and the ASBU have entered into a Joint-Venture agreement for the MENOS space segment whereas Ku-band will be used from the new Arabsat BADR-4 satellite, scheduled for launch early November 2006.
The implementation of MENOS by ASBU and ARABSAT will offer numerous opportunities for ASBU members and other ARABSAT customers to access new services or improve existing business models. Newtec considers it as a privilege being able to support ASBU and ARABSAT to strengthen their leading position in the Arab world added Mr. Serge Van HERCK, Newtec CEO.
In a second phase, MENOS will be made available to any Arabsat customers for either Media content file exchanges or to large Corporations, Enterprises, and SMEs for high-speed data file exchange. — The network operational readiness is expected by mid-2007.