In Broadcast - July 2014 - 26

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

WWW.INBROADCAST.COM | ISSUE 33 - JULY 2014

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SIS LIVE: From SNG Trucks To Fibre Services
Managing Director David Meynell discusses the broad portfolio
of broadcast products and services provided by SIS LIVE...

InBroadcast: How is your
company changing to meet client
demands?
David Meynell: SIS LIVE constantly
strive to push the boundaries in
the development of our product
ranges, and work to enhance our
proven, market-leading systems.
We have developed the lightest
and most robust products on the
market. We are highly experienced
in providing broadcast solutions
to our clients, combining products
and services from our wideranging business to deliver endto-end and cost efﬁcient results.
In particular, due to demands
for ever increasing bandwidth
we are having to apply the latest
compression and modulation
techniques to ensure most efﬁcient
use of our satellite capacity. We also
evaluate each opportunity with the
view to investing in ﬁbre connectivity.
Multi-platform high bandwidth
content delivery across TV, web etc.
InB: What criteria does the market
use to make buying decisions for
your services?
DM: I believe that there are
four key areas: reputation,
relationships, price and availability.
Our impressive portfolio of
products have been developed
and built in-house by the SIS
LIVE engineering team based on
specific requirements identified
and feedback gained in the ﬁeld.
Our portfolio ranges from compact
60cm VSAT terminals with no loose
parts to larger, fully-automated 1.8m
vehicle mount antennas featuring the
best wind resistance on the market.
The ManPak100/120 is a 1m
or 1.2m tripod style antenna
featuring simple manual satellite
acquisition; an award winning
GUI; and a range of optional
extras including an integrated
COFDM receiver for mobile
camera connectivity, a Wi-Fi router
enabling a secure satellite internet
network and integrated housing
and connections for high grade
encryption devices. The system
is available in Ku and Ka bands.
Our satellite hardware division
forms just one part of a wider
portfolio which includes a UK and
international fibre network; two
teleports, MCRs and iDirect hubs;

over 500MHz of permanently
leased satellite capacity; a
record breaking satellite internet
department; and the largest mobile
satellite uplink fleet in Europe.
Any combination of these services
can be called upon to create a truly
tailored service.
InB: Which territories are showing
particular activity?
DM: We're seeing growth in all areas
for ad hoc services, product sales
growth particularly in Asian markets.
Consequently we exhibited for the
ﬁrst time at CommunicAsia this year.
We recently were able to
announce the sale of six uPod
satellite terminals and pending
ANATEL certification in Brazil.
The uPod satellite systems are
initially being used to transmit
news coverage around the current
football tournament before fulﬁlling
regular newsgathering duties.
uPod features fully automated
acquisition, an integrated bookings
system, delivering a simple and
seamless satellite connectivity
s o l u t i o n f o r b ro a d c a s t e r s .
In a move which sets us apart
from many of our competitors,
we've recently undertaken the
approval process for official
ANATEL certification for uPod.
The National Telecommunication
Agency (ANATEL) is the regulatory
body for telecommunications in
Brazil responsible for regulating
and authorising service providers;
managing the national spectrum

and orbital usage; and defining
telecommunications standards.
The pending accreditation for SIS
LIVE ensures its ability to deliver
quality uplink services in the region.
InB: Any innovations ahead that
you can discuss?
DM: We are at the forefront of
Ka Band development in the UK,
developing new products and
working with all major satellite
operators to offer exceptionally
cost effective solutions for mobile
and ﬁxed data requirements. We
are the only company to design,
develop, manufacture and operate
its own range of antennae, and
its satellite systems have been
specifically developed to make
the very best use of Ka Band.
SIS LIVE owns and operates an
impressive inventory of facilities to
support its wide-ranging service
offerings in the connectivity markets.
Its Ka Band capable satellite
antennae form just one part of a
wider portfolio which includes a
national ﬁbre network; two teleports
and network operations centres; and
the largest mobile satellite uplink
ﬂeet in Europe.
InB: Please give some examples
of your company in action?
DM: We are currently working on the
completion and delivery of vehicles
as part of its seven year Ka Band
SNG contract with ITV and ITN. This
highly-speciﬁed uplink truck will
form part of a ﬂeet of 18 HD vehicles,

all due to be delivered this year.
The new ﬂeet, entirely designed
and integrated by SIS LIVE's in
house project team, is based on
Mercedes Sprinter and Vito vans
with 1.2m and 1.0m SIS LIVE uplinks.
The antennas are the lightest,
most flexible vehicle mounted
satellite systems in the world. The
reduced weight, compared to
competing antennas, allows for a
higher spec system to be installed in
a smaller 3.5T vehicle, thus avoiding
the 56mph speed restriction of the
5T vehicles and allowing the swiftest
response to breaking news stories.
On board equipment includes
HD, SDI, ﬁbre and wireless camera
inputs as well as highly speciﬁed
vision and audio mixers. Each (ITN)
truck is dual path capable with
redundant transmit chains and
features a generator with batterypowered UPS backup. An enhanced
dual modem system ensures the
most efﬁcient and reliable use of
bandwidth for IP over satellite.
We are in the process of
commissioning high bandwidth
dedicated ﬁbre networks to key sports
and leisure venues across the UK.
SIS LIVE operates the largest
uplink ﬂeet in Europe and provides
satellite uplink services to all major
UK broadcasters for live news,
sport and entertainment events.
The company is currently installing
new enhanced fibre links to all
Premier League football grounds,
providing connectivity to its rapidly
expanding broadcast infrastructure.
We a l r e a d y o p e r a t e a
signiﬁcant ﬁbre network between
its transmission sites, major
broadcasters, network operators
and UK sports stadiums. We
plan to install permanent fibre
connectivity to 50 sports stadiums
in the UK by August 2014.
We are also proud to have been
awarded a Guinness World Record
for 'most concurrent live web
streams for an event' for Red Bull
Media House. SIS LIVE worked on
a unique project to broadcast 31
concurrent live streams , to more
than a million viewers all over the
world, from 31 of the 32 pods on
the EDF Energy London Eye.
InB: Thank you for taking time to
answer our questions.

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In Broadcast - July 2014

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