Tunis, February 24, 2010 -- The Arab States Broadcasting Union (ASBU) signed recently with its partners in the award winning MENOS content exchange network -- the Arab Satellite Communication Organization (Arabsat) and Belgium’s manufacturing company, Newtec -- agreements for expanding the MENOS network to use the new Arabsat 5A satellite, due to be launched shortly.

ASBU, Arabsat and Newtec will be able to provide additional TV/Radio contribution and exchange services to their existing users and facilitate services expansion to additional customers on this successful and growing network.
In addition to Ku-Band FSS capacity, the services will also make use of the new extended “Appendix 30B” Ku-Band transponders and will include the construction of a new earth station in the MENOS Hub at the ASBU Exchange Centre in Algiers to operate on the expanded frequency range.

MENOS (Multimedia Exchange Network Over Satellite), a revolutionary all-IP networking concept used to exchange media 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 also provides a complete range of tools to facilitate the coordination of tasks and provide additional IP services across the network. 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.

ASBU continued efforts with its members and other users in the region added to the visible benefits of the system have showed increasing demands usage of the MENOS platform.

Arabsat has committed to supporting the joint service platform with yet more capacity on future satellites, to satisfy the growing service demands from additional parties throughout the Middle East & North African region and beyond.

Slaheddine Maaoui, Director General of the ASBU added: “Yet another MENOS milestone for us, the Arab region and the broadcasting industry as a whole. The expanded MENOS services that will be enabled by this agreement will further benefit the entire regional community”

Khalid Balkheyour, CEO of Arabsat, said: “The continued expansion of satellite bandwidth to MENOS is one of our key strategic goals as we continue to enhance our fleet and service offerings. Our motto of ‘Our world. Your world’ has no better demonstration than in our steadfast support to our MENOS partners”.
 
Serge Van Herck, CEO of Newtec said: “The success of the MENOS network is reflected in the growing demand for additional bandwidth. It is with great pride that we see continued expansion of the platform to expand the service offering in the region”.

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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:

Arab States Broadcasting Union
Abdelrahim Suleiman
Engineering Director
Tel: +216 71 849000
E-mail: a.suleiman@asbu.net

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

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.

More details about MENOS are available at www.newtec.eu/MENOS.

For more information on Newtec’s products and solutions visit Newtec at Satellite MENA (CabSat MENA) show in Dubai, booth E2-11 Hall 2, 2 until 4 March 2010: www.newtec.eu/CabSat2010.

For more information please contact:

Newtec Cy.
Kerstin Roost
Public Relations Director
Tel: +49.30.43095-562
E-mail: kerstin.roost@newtec.eu