In Broadcast - March 2013 - 89

ISSUE 17 - MARCH 2013 | WWW.INBROADCAST.COM

I N T E R N A T I O N A L

N E W S

InMEDIA

Satellite Broadcasters’
Present United Front
By David Hartshorn
Secretary General
The Global VSAT Forum (GVF)

S

atellite interference is a huge
issue for the entire satellite
industry and the effect on satellite
broadcasters is no exception, with
associated costs, such as replacing
or de commis sioning fault y
equipment, the extra resources
associated with resolving the
result of interference, and crucially,
the loss of service for customers,
normally at the crucial stage of
some major sporting event, for
example.
One thing is certain, for us to
have any kind of effect on satellite
interference, we need the support of
the entire industry and broadcasters
have a key role to play.
Carrier ID technology is one, very
substantial piece of the larger puzzle,
however it is a reactive solution.
Whilst it will still be important, we
are also looking to implement some
more proactive initiatives, helping
to prevent interference before it
happens. One of those initiatives
is around product testing and
type approvals.
By ensuring the equipment
being used meets certain industry
specifications, we can reduce
interference caused by poor
equipment. For broadcasters, this
means if they refer to the framework
before purchasing new equipment,
they can use products that are less
likely to cause interference.
Twenty years ago, the world’s
leading satellite operators
administered rigorous in-house
product quality assurance
programmes. In this environment,
manufacturers routinely pursued
type approvals when required to do
so, and they satisﬁed other product
quality assurance measures, which,
whilst not perfect, led to a generally
high standard of equipment.

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However, several years ago,
with increasing competition and
privatisation of the world’s major
satellite operators, in-house product
quality assurance programmes were
either scaled back or eliminated
by a signiﬁcant number of satellite
operators. GVF has been continuing
to provide industry testing and
type approvals, but the use of the
programme was limited.
More recently, operators reported
that the industry is experiencing
major issues associated with
signal interference, a signiﬁcant
percentage of which is associated
with insufﬁcient product quality.
This is in part due to the fact
that the satellite industry has
increased at an astounding rate
over recent years, with satellite
being used for a whole plethora
of applications. This, coupled
with a lack of product testing and
approvals, had led to large-scale
deployments of equipment, many
of which are being manufactured
by untested manufacturers. This
has naturally driven down the
costs of satellite equipment and
with strong competition, it is all too
easy to end up, often unwittingly,
with poor equipment, which is prone
to design or production ﬂaws, many
of which go undetected.
GVF’s Earth Station Compliance
Framework now fills the gap
for satellite operators and their
customers. Dozens of products have
already been tested and awarded
type approvals in co-ordination with
the GVF Earth Station Compliance
Framework, and the full list is
posted on the GVF website at www.
gvf.org, as well as being promoted
at key industry exhibitions such as
CABSAT in Dubai and Satellite 2013
in Washington, DC.
The
framework
helps
manufacturers strive for perfection.
The next step to address the product
quality issue is for broadcasters to
take advantage of GVF Approved
earth station equipment and support
the manufacturers of tested and
approved systems.
If everyone looking to purchase
equipment refers to the list, it can
surely have a major impact on
occurrences of interference.

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