Live television on the back seat of the car is to becoming a reality in the US following a deal between Intelsat and RaySat Broadcasting Corporation (RBC) to deliver the AT&T CruiseCast mobile TV service.
AT&T CruiseCast will provide 42 channels of satellite TV and radio to people in their cars. The service will use capacity on Intelsat’s Galaxy 25 satellite, located at 93 degrees West.
Intelsat will also be providing terrestrial services through its Mountainside Teleport facility in Maryland. This includes aggregation of the channels, hosting of the AT&T CruiseCast hub, and monitoring and troubleshooting support. The same infrastructure and operations team that supports the Intelsat IPTV video distribution platform will be utilized for the CruiseCast services.
AT&T CruiseCast mobile TV service is the In-Car Entertainment offering that will enable families, back-seat commuters and mobile professionals on a break to watch satellite video channels from anywhere in the country.
The AT&T CruiseCast service will have a lineup of 22 television and 20 satellite radio channels that will include a variety of kids and family, documentary, music, comedy, news and sports programming.
The service utilizes a compact, low-profile antenna for use on cars, non-commercial trucks and SUVs, and technology that overcomes line-of-sight obstacles such as overpasses, buildings, trees or tunnels.
The service was developed in collaboration between RaySat, a manufacturer and supplier for the mass market for low-profile satellite antennas, and AT&T.