VT Communications (VTC) has provided part of the vital link to enable the communities all over Afghanistan to receive radio programming produced live from Kabul. Internews Network has been charged with developing indigenous Afghan media with a focus on radio as part of USAID’s Office of Transitional Initiatives efforts to rebuild the country.
Internews Afghanistan approached VTC with a requirement to live feed a network of FM and AM affiliate stations being built in 35 key locations broadcasting the programming of Salaam Watandar. In addition the programming needed to be made available on short wave radio for the rural population and those not yet served by an FM transmitter.
VTC supplied and installed a VSAT uplink to feed programming onto the Europe*Star satellite. Programming is downlinked at VTC’s Woofferton transmitting station in Shropshire, UK before being fed to its Central London Control Room. VTC distribute programming to its transmission sites for short wave coverage and to Eutelsat’s Hotbird 6 satellite to feed the FM and AM rebroadcast transmitters in Afghanistan.
The flexibility provided by passing through the control room allows programming to be backed up or provided from other locations in Afghanistan or the world. The solution ensures that engineers are on hand 24 hours per day to ensure the smooth transmission of this very important community voice.
Richard Hurd, VTC Head of Transmission Services said: “We are delighted to have been able to assist Salaam Watander reach millions of listeners throughout Afghanistan and the region. A free and neutral radio service, that is available to the entire population, can significantly help develop the nation and its identity”.
Christian Quick, Technical Director of Internews Afghanistan said: “VT Communications has been extremely proactive in helping Internews Afghanistan in arriving at flexible and cost-effective solutions for delivering vital radio programming to some of the most underserved radio listeners in the world. The near total absence of existing communications infrastructure in Afghanistan has required an innovative, quickly deployable and user-friendly approach to satellite program distribution. VT Communications’ flexibility coupled with their short wave broadcast services made them a natural and their continued support has been invaluable to our project.”