RAD's Data/Voice Multiplexers Transmits from the Field via Satellite

The competitive edge in televised news and events broadcasting can be defined in one word: immediacy. For more than two decades, government-owned France 3 television network has enjoyed a near monopoly in offering regional viewers local news and feature stories. Lately, however, other local television stations have taken to the field to fill this niche. This has forced France 3 to become more aggressive in its pursuit of late-breaking events and homegrown sports coverage. To this end, 29 France 3 studios have recently purchased vans equipped with mobile transmission equipment to facilitate fast on-site reporting of local news, sports events, exhibitions, special events and local interest stories.

METRACOM, a major French systems integrator that specializes in satellite transmissions, selected, configured and installed the transmission equipment in the vans, which offer audio, video, telephone, fax and Internet capabilities. Access between the mobile units and the television studios is accomplished via a 64 kbps satellite link using RAD's Kilomux-2004 data, voice, fax and LAN integrating multiplexer.

METRACOM employed the expertise of DYNETCOM, RAD's distributor in France, to install the RAD products. "We selected the Kilomux because its small physical dimensions afford maximum comfort to the four-person crew of the mobile unit," explains Denis Boutoille, Marketing and Sales Manager of METRACOM. "Kilomux offers the best price-performance ratio of any similar equipment," Boutoille concludes.

"This application demonstrates that our Kilomux product line is a perfect solution for merging different services when reliability, space saving and bandwidth optimization are key requirements," says Daniel Dumont, General Manager of RAD France. "The expertise of Dynetcom was the deciding factor that turned this perfect solution into a success story," Dumont adds.