Telstra (Australia) Taps Scopus Digital Video Platforms for Athens 2004 Olympics 

Tel Aviv, August 2/Satnews Daily/ — Australia's telecommunications giant, Telstra, will be utilizing Scopus Network Technologies digital video transmission equipment to broadcast coverage of this summer's Olympic Games from Athens, Aug. 13 - 29. The Seven Network will transmit the signals from the International Broadcast Center in Athens to Melbourne for broadcast to all Australian States on Channel 7. 

Telstra and the Seven Network chose Comsyst, Scopus' Australian agent, to provide system integration and around-the-clock on-site engineering staff support during the Games.

Our confidence in the quality of the equipment and the outstanding technical support from the development and systems engineers at Scopus were key factors in determining how this critical project was implemented," said Howard Jones, Project Manager for Comsyst.

Scopus, whose platforms have already been chosen by NBC Olympics for the transmission of the 2004 games, have supported worldwide sports events including the 2002 FIFA World Cup in Korea. For Telstra, Scopus is providing full digital broadcast solutions to transmit round-the-clock coverage of the summer Games over ten channels.  To ensure system integrity, Telstra is equipping two headends: one in Athens and the second in Melbourne. Transmission will be conducted over DS-3 Telco lines to provide complete diversity and redundancy.

“We sought high quality, reliable and field proven platforms for the transmission of our Olympic broadcasts to Australia. We found Scopus’ solutions to fully meet our requirements,” said Darren Wilson, Project Manager for Telstra. “We are happy to be working with Scopus and Comsyst. Both have demonstrated the ability to provide the type of installation and support required for a major broadcast event such as the Olympic Games.”

Scopus platforms, based on the CODICO® product line, include the E-1000 MPEG-2 broadcast encoders with 4:2:0/4:2:2 encoding profile, statistical multipexing and a low delay mode; IRD-2800 professional integrated receiver decoders (IRDs) with 4:2:0/4:2:2 decoding profile, SDI output and embedded audio; and RTM-3800 multiplexers with ASI and DS-3 output, capable of simultaneous multiplexing up to 19 inputs. The compression systems are managed by Scopus distributed network management system, the NMS-4000 with Scopus Navigator, allowing the total system to be controlled via a 2MB/s link from either Athens or Melbourne.

“Scopus high-quality compression and high reliability are absolute necessities for Olympic broadcasts,” said Ellen Schurr, Scopus Sales Director. “The quality engineering of our products will create flawless delivery of broadcasts from our platforms for Telstra during the Olympics.”