LiveLinx, a live broadcast service from AirSpeed Telecom and Digital Space, can now be used across Europe and North Africa following expansion onto the Ka band Hylas satellite platform. The new service should offer ‘significant operational and financial savings for broadcasters’. It will initially be offered to Irish broadcasters, with subsequent roll out in Europe and North Africa, and will provide broadcasters with a mobile SNG vehicle or flyaway terminal equipped with a LiveLinx MPEG4 uplink. At launch, Livelinx is offering a vehicle-based system for self-operated lease. Connectivity with broadcasters is via a dedicated IP connection from the AirSpeed Telecom PoP, and the IP-based service can include web, VPN access and telephony from the remote location. “The availability of the Ka band satellite platform for broadcasters heralds a game changer in satellite news gathering, said AirSpeed MD Liam O’Kelly. “Now, for the first time, we have small terminals capable of delivering excellent broadcast quality signals at a much lower cost than was possible with Ku band.” “The fact that this solution is IP-based allows a greater range of services to be easily delivered over the link. By adding auto acquire antennas, we have developed a turnkey solution that can be operated by any member of a crew without the need to have a satellite uplink engineer in attendance.” – By David FoxOE117
