du named Best Satellite Service Provider of the Year at 10th Annual Digital Studio Awards 2014

Dubai, UAE, 1 May 2014: After being recognised as the Independent Teleport Operator of the Year Award 2013 from the World Teleport Association last year, du’s Broadcast Services division has added another feather to its cap by winning the Best Satellite Service Provider of the Year award at the recently-held 10th Annual Digital Studio Awards 2014, organised by Digital Production ME Magazine.

The award recognises the huge transformation that du Broadcast Services have undergone in the last 12 months, seeing an evolution from traditional uplink plus IPTV provider to becoming a fully-fledged powerhouse, facilitating content inflow and outflow through its state-of-the-art data centre. Parvez Ahmed, Sales Director – datamena and Broadcast, du, received the award during the ceremony on behalf of the company.

“We would like to really thank the panel for acknowledging the growth in capabilities of our broadcast services division. I would personally like to thank all members of the team who have worked tirelessly and continue to pursue excellence,” said Mahesh Jaishankar, Vice President – datamena and Broadcasting, du. “Receiving this award is a confirmation that we are growing in the right direction, where we have been able to expand our services to benefit a wider audience.”

du Broadcast Services operates multiplexed platforms on the Nilesat, Arabsat, Eutelsat and Intelsat satellites. The fibre links connected to broadcasters from du’s teleport are now HD ready to support native HD and ultra HD transmission. du’s teleport in the UAE also commissioned a state-of-the-art redundant Playout system with Pebble Beach automation and Omneon Media Server system, and including multi-language subtitling, dynamic graphics, SMS and Video Quality Check.

du’s teleport operations have also installed a VSAT hub to support enterprises in and around the UAE.

Additionally, du supports the voice and data needs of yachts and oil rigs as need be. Two uplink platforms were implemented on Yahsat to support the state-owned broadcaster DMI and the leading channel group, MBC. Direct contribution to du's IPTV Headend was established to distribute content to over 150,000 households in Dubai.

On the other hand, du Broadcast is seamlessly integrated with datamena, the carrier neutral data centre and connectivity platform based in the UAE and serving the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region. datamena offers a one-stop shop solution for all content owners, syndicators, and distributors who choose to disseminate their content through the datacenter across multiple devices. Free to air and encrypted content is uplinked through du’s teleport; Linear TV and VOD are distributed on all devices through the Akamai content distribution network, located within datamena. There are multiple CDN networks hosted in datamena, which operates as a transit zone allowing customers to own and operate their own equipment. datamena and du's Broadcast Services division have enabled satellite service providers and tier 1/2/3 telcos and carriers to host VSAT hubs and provide internet over satellite, video connect services to customers throughout the globe.