GlobeCast has signed a three year deal to manage the switch to DTT. For the stage one of the offer, currently operating flawlessly, GlobeCast sends multiple feeds for Rai Way from its headquarters in Rome via fibre to GlobeCast’s technical operations centre in Paris for uplink to Eutelsat’s Atlantic Bird-3 satellite at 5 degrees West. This operation is fully backed up through a second teleport in Madrid, before being distributed via satellite to Rai Way’s DTT transmitters throughout Italy. By mid 2009, GlobeCast will install and manage an uplink station at Rai Way’s premises in Rome where the signal will be uplinked directly, also to GlobeCast’s capacity on Eutelsat’s Atlantic Bird-3. Backed up via Paris, this tailored package will provide Rai Way with an efficient solution for implementing the move to DTT. As part of this service, GlobeCast is providing two transponders on Eutelsat AB3 for the transmission in DVBS-2 of four Rai Way DTT muxes in SFN (Single Frequency Network) mode.
The switchover process in Italy has already started, with Sardinia fully digital and the Aosta Valley scheduled to follow by the end of the year. Next year, Lazio (Rome), Campania, Trentino-Alto Adige, and Piedmont will make the change, with the whole of Italy switched to digital format during 2012. GlobeCast is involved in this transition in several European countries, and is notably the leading provider of content transmission services for DTT in France. The Company delivers to three of the country’s five DTT platforms and routes the majority of channels via fibre to all five DTT multiplexes.