The
Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) has inked a five year deal
with Ericsson to supply a variety of head-end equipment for a free to
air satellite service that is being created to provide rural homes with
digital TV signals after the country makes the analog switch over.
The government is currently planning to end all analog broadcasts by the end of 2013, with the transition being done in phases.
The
free satellite service, which is being funded by the Australian
government, will serve about 247,000 Australians who live in so-called
"digital black spots" that are unable to receive digital signals with TV
antennas. Programming will include both standard definition and high
def fare from the commercial and public broadcasters.
The system
will use a variety of Ericsson head-end equipment, including
bandwidth-saving MPEG-4 AVC EN8190 HD and EN8130 SD encoders. Deployment
of the Ericsson equipment is slated to begin in December of 2010.
