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Spacecom, the Israeli commercial satellite communications provider that operates the fleet of AMOS satellites, is linking up with Encompass, the global technology services company dedicated to advancing innovation between broadcast and digital media industries, to build a new European TV distribution platform.
The new service will be distributed throughout Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) using the Ku Pan-European beam on its AMOS-6 satellite due to be launched later this year and positioned at 4°W in geostationary orbit.
The Encompass and Spacecom initiative will provide channels and other content providers with a complete and comprehensive solution for all playout, uplink and European space segments, for a full range of media distribution services over the AMOS-6 satellite.
Spacecom has also partnered with Satellite Mediaport Services Ltd., (SMS), located in Rugby, UK, to provide uplink services for the platform.
The EMEA Managing Director for Encompass, Marco Tinnirello, said of the new initiative with Spacecom, that, “Our new joint TV distribution venture will ensure top of the line quality from both a content and communication standpoint. AMOS-6’s Ku Pan-European beam will enable us to bring new and exciting services to our European viewers and add more services to our channel, programmer and digital provider clients.”
David Pollack, the CEO and president of Spacecom, added that, “The addition of AMOS-6 to our fleet will expand the types of services and coverage we provide throughout Europe, Africa and the Middle East. Together with Encompass, we will offer a complete solution meeting the needs of clients seeking a one-stop shop that will boost the types of available services for growing channels. Throughout all of the continent with a new Pan-European beam and with its HTS Ka-band spot beams, the satellite will take us into new markets and provide tremendous services to our clients.”
AMOS-6 is due to be launched on a Space-X Falcon 9 in the third-quarter of 2016 and will have 39 Ku-band segments and 24 Ka-band beams to provide a wide array of services. AMOS-6 will be larger than AMOS-2 and AMOS-3 combined, and will incorporate new technologies such as High Throughput Ka-band spot beams for improved broadband internet access.. The Ka-band beams will be used by Facebook to be the satellite backbone of its initiative to bring broadband Internet to Sub-Sahara Africa with Paris, France-based Eutelsat.
Spacecom’s current satellite fleet include the AMOS-2 and AMOS-3 satellites co-located at 4°W, and AMOS-4 at 65°E. All three satellites provide broadcast and communication services to Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia via direct-to-home (DTH) and direct broadcast satellite (DBS) operators, Internet service providers (ISPs), telecom operators, network integrators, and government agencies.
The launch of AMOS-6 will extend Spacecom’s coverage over Africa, Europe, and the Middle East, and will include High-Throughput Satellite (HTS) spot-beams for improved performance.
