April 27, 2012

Satellite Challenger Enters In-Home IP Arena

Satellite service provider SES, in partnership with other industry players, now is offering SAT-IP, an IP-based satellite reception technology it says demodulates and converts satellite signals to IP for in-home distribution to any compatible device.

A recent live demo of SAT-IP multiswitches showed the distribution of satellite programming over various IP-based infrastructures (CAT5 Ethernet, power line, plastic optical fiber and Wi-Fi).  The first SAT-IP-based products will be released later this year.

In a SAT-IP environment, such IP-enabled devices as tablets, PCs, laptops, smartphones, connected TVs, game consoles and media players will be able to receive satellite programming. According to SES, with SAT-IP, “large varieties of satellite offers including the most important lineup of HD channels will be accessible for consumers on IP-enabled devices in highest and original satellite picture quality and without using Internet connectivity.”

The carrier also predicts SAT-IP will become an official standard open to all manufacturers; current prototypes already allow reception of as many as eight programs on eight different screen devices at home.

Says Thomas Wrede, vice president/Reception Systems, “With SAT-IP, we put ourselves at the top of the trend and ensure that viewers can watch satellite TV potentially on any IP-based device at home and with an unrivalled flexibility when they move around. With SAT-IP, we also give an important impulse to the industry, creating an open standard that allows manufacturers to realize innovative distribution solutions."