[SatBroadcasting(tm)] Stratos Global has been providing integrated media solutions that are enabling many of the world’s largest news organizations to broadcast ongoing coverage of the Egyptian political crisis.

The solutions include Inmarsat BGAN mobile broadband satellite services with GuaranteedAccess managed end-to-end IP network connectivity. These organizations began broadcasting reports of the crisis from Cairo and other Egyptian cities on January 25th. Days later, the Egyptian government shut down all terrestrial Internet connectivity and mobile phone service. BGAN enabled these broadcasters to continue newsgathering in Egypt and transmitting live reports to their studios, without interruption. BGAN from Stratos streaming services are being used by the BBC, Fox News and others for live video streaming from the protest sites. The broadcasters also are using BGAN for Internet connectivity, store-and-forward video clips, and audio streaming for radio broadcast. All BGAN traffic from these organizations is routed via the Stratos global IP network, known as StratosNexus, into the broadcasters’ studios worldwide.

As it did for last year’s Haitian disaster, Stratos is continually monitoring its BGAN network and StratosNexus during this period of heightened usage in Egypt – and is providing frequent status reports to its media customers. Inmarsat also is taking measures to ensure the usual high level of availability and reliability of its Inmarsat-4 satellite network during this crisis. BGAN from Stratos enables media organizations to perform at optimal levels at any remote location. Journalists can effectively use BGAN services with minimal training. The premium BGAN X-Stream service allows a guaranteed minimum symmetrical video streaming rate of 384 kbps, with up to 450 kbps expected under optimal conditions.