Al Jazeera, one of the world’s largest broadcasters, has deployed AVIWEST’s DMNG PRO180 3G/4G uplink solutions for the delivery of live video transmissions for breaking news and events. Recently, Al Jazeera used AVIWEST’s digital mobile newsgathering (DMNG) solutions to simultaneously broadcast live video coverage of the elections in Tunisia, Ukraine, and Brazil to more than 40 million viewers via 3G/4G networks.
The broadcaster is currently using DMNG PRO180 to deliver live news updates from various locations across Europe, the Middle East, Asia-Pacific, and Africa to the centralised reception headquarters in Doha, Qatar as well as studios in London and Washington, D.C.
“Relying on an SNG van to contribute live news coverage is not only expensive, but also time-consuming and burdensome to deploy onsite due to their large physical size. We needed a more cost-effective and reliable newsgathering method,” said Nick Taylor, manager of newsgathering operations, Al Jazeera English. “We chose AVIWEST’s DMNG PRO180 systems because of their strong performance in tough environmental conditions, affordability, and ease of use, which is especially beneficial during events such as elections, which require simultaneous reporting from multiple locations.”
Weighing about 1kg, the DMNG PRO180 video uplink systems feature up to ten cellular connections, including eight 3G/4G internal modems with custom antenna arrays, two USB interfaces, and a built-in Wi-Fi modem. Equipped with dual Gigabit Ethernet outputs, the DMNG PRO180 allows Al Jazeera to stream video signals via LAN, BGAN, Thuraya, or the Ka-band. AVIWEST Safe Stream technology is designed to deliver live transmissions even in unpredictable cellular network conditions, while an H.264 video encoder streams live HD video.
“Al Jazeera is a world-class broadcaster reporting on live news from numerous corners of the world in multiple languages,” said Erwan Gasc, CEO, AVIWEST. “Our DMNG PRO180 3G/4G uplink solution allows Al Jazeera to deliver crystal clear, quality video images in real-time by instantly detecting and utilising available networks for transmission, making their live election coverage far superior to competitor news organisations.”
