[SatNews] Astrium Services has signed a contract with France Télévisions, a leading French broadcasting group, for its KA-News service.

The new KA-News service will enable France Télévisions teams to transmit high-speed data and broadcast live HD via Ka-band terminals with automatic deployment antennas, even in the most remote locations, without having to worry about the technical aspects of the connection. Using Eutelsat's KA-SAT satellite, the KA-News service, developed in-house by Astrium
Services, revolutionizes journalists' ‘user experience’. With small satellite antennas on-board light vehicles, the easy to use KA-News Service provides journalists with greater independence.

Much more compact than traditional antennas (only 77cm in diameter compared to 1.5m on average), the Drive Away antenna chosen by France Télévisions is a 360 degrees self-pointing motorised antenna, ready for use in just a few minutes. The antenna enables journalists to connect extremely quickly, saving the time it would normally take for a satellite operator to prepare for operation (‘line-up’). This unique automatic connection system means the connection is available almost immediately.

The small size of the antenna does not affect the performance of KA-News communications services which is exceptional, thanks to the very high speeds provided by the KA-SAT satellite (up to 10Mbps in reception and transmission). Users also have an optimal bidirectional access, enhanced by the opportunity to benefit from on-demand dedicated bandwidth. Following a successful six month trial period on several France Télévisions vehicles, the collaboration now extends to over nine France Télévisions vehicles for a period of three years.