Arqiva has been awarded the contract by the BBC to provide a satellite distribution network for Freesat. The free-to-air satellite platform, jointly owned by the BBC and ITV, is scheduled to go live in March 2008.
Arqiva is providing the BBC with an end-to-end distribution solution for the platform management data, with a fully redundant back up. Multiple circuits are being put in place for the platform with the primary circuit in Bedford and back-up at Crawley Court in Hampshire and the BBC’s Broadcast Centre in London.
“We work closely with Arqiva to uplink services for our BBC DSat 3 and DSat 7 DTH platforms, which host the majority of our interactive services, so we know of the company’s capabilities when it comes to supporting our satellite network requirements,” said Alan Boyle, head of distribution operations, BBC.
Testing for the platform began in August and executives from Freesat were present on the Arqiva stand during the recent IBC 2007 exhibition in Amsterdam.
