Canal+ Overseas is rolling out a DTT platform in Africa, TNT Africa.
The new platform is a multi-country sub-Saharan Africa project, is designed to work alongside its existing DTH service Les Bouquets Canal+.
The new service is due to launch by the end of the year and will consist of a basic package of 25 channels and a selection of national channels per country.
In Congo Brazzaville (Republic of Congo), TNT Africa is already present and Canal+, already present in 23 African countries, will make DTT available to residents of Pointe-Noire in November 2015, and the entire country in early 2016.
Earlier this month, Eutelsat has announced it signed a deal with Canal+ for the delivery of these channels to the various TNT services.
Canal+ also got a DTT license in the DRC. Canal+ will continue to respond to DTT tenders in other countries.
Meanwhile, Canal+ has elected Enensys as a key technology partner for the rollout of the broadcaster’s new DTT platform.
Enensys is supplying the key content insertion and regionalisation technology in the form of its T2-Gateway product at the Paris headend and then T2-Edge systems at the main transmitter sites in each country. All the content will be supplied via the Paris headend, over satellite, to each transmitter site. This includes country-specific services and even services for sub-regions in some countries.
Emmanuel Jacques, Sales Manager, Enensys, said, “Regionalisation is a key differentiator for DTT from satellite-delivered services, though this does require knowledge and specific technology to achieve. We do this using PLP (Physical Layer Pipes) aggregation. This is central to our network regionalisation systems.”
Enensys technology will aggregate the content at the transmitter site in order to insert the regionalised content, which has also been supplied by satellite, for that country. This fully optimises the satellite bandwidth using standardised DVB-T2 technology along with Single Frequency Network (SFN) compatibility, which is crucial. Without this deterministic capability, interference would occur where there was crossover between transmitters.
Jacques added, “We were the first to be able to offer this cost-effective and precision local DVB-T2 insertion technology for regionalisation that’s suitable for SFN use. We have many years of experience with DTT deployments, including with Multichoice’s GOtv in southern Africa, and we can handle the complexities of these projects, of which there are plenty. We are excited to be working with Canal+ Overseas on this major project.”
