• BFBS chooses Arqiva to provide MPEG-4 coding to increase number of TV channels to Falklands, Belize and Royal Navy ships
• Prime-time TV time-shifted for locations across the globe
• Full spread of broadcast services provided on co-located site

Arqiva has been awarded a contract by the Services Sound & Vision Corporation (SSVC) to significantly increase the number of BFBS (British Forces Broadcasting Service) television channels being broadcast to UK armed forces personnel stationed overseas.  In Europe and the Middle East, Arqiva has recently expanded the BFBS service from 6 to 10 television channels and, with this contract, the same channels will be delivered to the American and Atlantic regions.

At the same time Arqiva will introduce new flexibility and features, including the delivery of time-shifted channels to the Falkland Islands and Afghanistan.  Under a five-year deal, Arqiva will implement the service using MPEG-4 coding and statistical multiplexing, with the current DVB-S2 modulation completing the highly efficient package.

Arqiva currently provides SSVC with TV and radio satellite distribution services across three geographic regions: Europe & the Middle East on the Eutelsat W3A satellite; the West Atlantic Ocean and North & South America on NSS806; and to the East Atlantic and Africa on New Skies NSS 703.  British military locations served include the British Army Training Unit in Alberta, Canada, the Falkland Islands , Belize and Ascension Island.

Arqiva and BFBS will take advantage of the higher compression ratios offered by MPEG-4 technology, cost-effectively delivering more TV channels at bandwidths as low as 2 Mbit/s, without compromising picture quality or increasing their existing transponder capacity.  Arqiva will use Harmonic video and audio (for 20 radio channels) encoding and multiplexing systems, supplied and installed by Simac Broadcast of The Netherlands.  Additionally, Simac Broadcast will install and commission Thomson Sapphire time-delay servers, initially enabling up to six TV channels to be time-shifted, which will allow prime-time content to be viewed locally at prime time.

Arqiva's Chalfont Grove facility, where BFBS is also located, will continue to provide studio facilities, ingest, editing, quality control, encoding and playout support services through Arqiva's Media Centre.

Alastair Duncan, Managing Director, Services Sound & Vision Corporation said: "Throughout our long relationship with Arqiva we have found them a highly flexible and accommodating technology partner. Their ability to provide a full spread of broadcast services, co-located and complementing our own services, brings us significant advantages in a constantly evolving industry and marketplace."

Nick Thompson, Managing Director of Arqiva's Satellite Media Solutions division, added: "We are delighted to be further expanding our relationship with SSVC and to support the improvements they are making to an important and highly valued international service. MPEG-4 technology is a simple and cost-effective way for customers like SSVC to maximise their existing bandwidth and take advantage of the flexibility this affords. We look forward to growing our strong partnership further in the future."

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