Satellite service provider Intelsat, together with content management and delivery company GlobeCast, are launching a new media platform on the Intelsat New Dawn satellite, the companies said on Thursday.

The media platform will use New Dawn’s Ku-band satellite system. The satellite is a joint venture between Intelsat and SA’s Convergence Partners, controlled by businessman Andile Ngcaba.

The platform provides a solution for both regional and international programmers looking to expand their distribution to cable and direct-to-home (DTH) services across sub-Saharan Africa, according to the companies.

Intelsat says it currently carries more than 800 television channels in Africa.

GlobeCast will provide ground and uplink services for the platform from its facility in Johannesburg. Customers can contribute content to the platform from anywhere in the world, either via Intelsat’s global satellite fleet and the IntelsatOne network, or through the GlobeCast Backbone Network.

The Intelsat New Dawn media platform is Intelsat’s fourth such Ku-band system on the IntelsatOne network.

The platform is based on DVB-S2 modulation and Mpeg-4 compression technology and can be received with dishes smaller than 1m in much of the coverage area.

“One of the most exciting things about this new platform is that our broadcast customers can now uplink directly from Africa to a prime position for the DTH market in our region of the world,” says Alan Hird, CEO of GlobeCast Africa.

“With our global satellite capacities and fibre network, the content can easily come from anywhere worldwide to GlobeCast’s facility in Johannesburg. We expect this to quickly become a key neighborhood for broadcasters in Africa.” — Staff reporter, TechCentral