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TV broadcasters order directional radio and fibre network

Summary

In January 2016 the German public broadcasters commissioned Media Broadcast to connect their around 200 transmitter and studio sites with directional radio and fibre links. The network was to transport the finished live programmes for TV and radio to the transmitters, including the data rates for HD via DVB-T2. No figures on the order volume were given.

Ideas

  • Broadcasting needs its own feeder network between studio and transmitter.
  • Directional radio and fibre complement each other for connecting remote sites.
  • HD via DVB-T2 increased the bandwidth required.

Insights

  • Behind every broadcast signal there is a largely invisible network infrastructure.
  • Critical infrastructure combines several transmission paths for resilience.

Facts

  • Around 200 sites of NDR, RB, MDR, WDR, HR and SWR were connected.
  • The targets were 99.9 percent availability, a maximum delay of 40 milliseconds and a maximum restoration time of two hours.
  • The contract ran for eight years, and handover was planned for October 2016.

References

Critique

  • The report names no costs, even though the order is paid for from licence fees.

Recommendations

  • Plan site connections with at least two independent transmission paths.
  • Use directional radio as a supplement where fibre is unavailable or only available at high cost.

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