Tunis, September 14, 2009 -- The  Arab States Broadcasting Union (ASBU) announced today that MENOS has won the prestigious IBC2009 Innovation Award for Content Delivery as well as the Judges’ Prize for most influential project of the year.

MENOS (Multimedia Exchange Network Over Satellite), a revolutionary IP based networking concept for the exchange of multimedia content over satellite, allows broadcasters to share video and audio material among scattered sites in a fully automated and cost efficient way. The MENOS system provides to ASBU  a complete range of tools to facilitate the coordination of TV -and radio exchange as well as providing additional IP services across the network towards all Member States. The system was jointly developed by ASBU and the Belgian manufacturing company NEWTEC, ARABSAT provided satellite capacities.

Slaheddine Maaoui, Director General of the ASBU said: “The introduction of MENOS has been an extremely important milestone for us, the Arab region and the broadcasting industry as a whole. The MENOS service is not only a powerful international exchange platform for radio and television, but a powerful IP based service that is going to revolutionize broadcast transmissions. We are all extremely proud of this award, which also gives recognition to our investment and belief in such a revolutionary concept.”.

MENOS is fundamentally different from traditional satellite contribution systems: with IP as the core-protocol, all exchanged material transmits through a central hub station, which also provides permanent two-way satellite IP connectivity among all remote stations. Advanced DVB-S2 modulation technology, combined with the statistical multiplexing of the data, voice, television and radio signals, ensures the optimum efficiency of the satellite bandwidth usage.

“This success – coming at such a showpiece event for our industry – caps another remarkable year for Newtec and is really an acknowledgement, not just of our own people and their commitment but for the teamwork between ourselves, Arabsat and the ASBU,” said Serge Van Herck, CEO of Newtec. “Newtec always had a strong reputation for technological innovation, and there is no better demonstration than in the realization of MENOS. Shaping the future of satellite communication is our passion and it gives us great pride and satisfaction that the industry is recognizing our achievements with this award, confirming that our vision is the right one. This will encourage and spur us on for the future road ahead.”.

The 2008 Olympics saw the first use of MENOS by ASBU. Members were able to receive live Olympic coverage. After a year of operation, the system has proved to be highly reliable, including outstanding performance and quality of satellite VoIP.

The ASBU MENOS system was launched into full production in January 2009 and has been in continual and expanding use since that date.

Khalid Balkheyour, CEO of Arabsat, added: “The introduction of MENOS has been a historical moment for the broadcast industry, and we are delighted that the Arabsat satellites are playing a key role in this. We have worked closely with the ASBU to ensure that they have a real technological leadership with this advanced service and are proud of the recognition from the industry, validating our vision for the future.

About ASBU   www.asbu.net

The Arab States Broadcasting Union (ASBU) is a professional, non-profit organisation. It groups all the Arab governmental radio and television corporations. Since 1996, membership has been extended to Arab privately owned radio and television channels. ASBU has also been joined by non Arab, foreign radio and television corporations as Affiliate Members. It holds an outstanding place among international and regional broadcasting unions with which it has strong professional relations. ASBU has ever accorded a major importance to developing and promoting news and programs exchange between its members and strived hard to implement technical frames of leading edge technologies to support its exchange activities.

ASBU has always been very active also in negotiating and acquiring TV rights for major sport events on behalf of its members. It offers also a wide range of professional services. ASBU offers also its services to a large number of other Arab and international broadcasters. 

For more information, please contact:

Abderrahim Suleiman
Technical Director
Tel: +216 71849000
Fax: +216 71843054
E-mail: a.suleiman@asbu.net

Mohamed abdalla
Technical Department
Tel. + 216 71849000
Fax. +216 71843054
Email: mohamed.abdalla@asbu.net

About NEWTEC www.newtec.eu

Newtec is the European market leader in Satellite Communications, offering highly reliable products and solutions including DVB-S2 modulators and modems, Digital TV & Radio Distribution and Exchange networks, IP Broadband Access Networks as well as software solutions for the optimization of Internet traffic to customers worldwide.
With its ambitious policy of re-investment in R&D, Newtec is recognized as a forerunner in several innovative satellite communication technologies, which have been published as industry standards (DVB, DVB-S2, DVB RCS and iSatTV Cenelec pr EN50478).
Established in 1985, and headquartered in Belgium, the company has regional offices located in Stamford (US), Singapore (Singapore), Beijing (China), Dubai (UAE) and São Paulo (Brazil). Newtec’s Tellitec® IP software products for Internet traffic optimization and data communication are engineered in Newtec’s research and development facilities in Berlin (Germany). Newtec's subsidiary TurboConcept in Brest (France), develops Intellectual Property Cores for turbo and LDPC building blocks.

For more information please contact:

Tom De Baere
Director of Marketing Communications
Tel: +32.3.608-4218
E-mail: tdb@newtec.eu

About ARABSAT  www.arabsat.com

Founded in 1976 by the 21 member-states of the Arab League, ARABSAT has been serving the growing needs of the Arab world for over 30 years. It carries over 340 TV channels and 160 Radio stations reaching tens of millions of homes in more than 80 countries across the Middle East, Africa, Europe − and way beyond around the world − including an audience of over 164 million viewers in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region alone tuned into Arabsat’s video “hotspot” at 26°East. Operating a growing fleet of satellites at the 26°East and 30.5°East positions of the geostationary orbit, ARABSAT is the only satellite operator in the MENA region offering the full spectrum of Broadcast, Telecommunications and Broadband services. This capacity will continue to expand with the launch of one new satellite every year from 2009 to 2012, making the ARABSAT satellite fleet the
youngest in the region.

For more information, please contact:

Saad al-Tehaif
Public Relations & Media Manager
Tel: +966.1.281-9603
E-mail: saadt@arabsat