Cairo-based public broadcaster Egyptian Radio and Television Union, has selected GatesAir FM radio transmission technology to expand coverage of its FM radio services across Egypt.
Under the contract, GatesAir, together with its local partner in Egypt, Cairo Communication Systems, will provide ongoing technical and installation support for ERTU. The installation, which GatesAir says is the largest digital FM radio rollout to date in the Middle East, is scheduled to begin during the second quarter of 2017 and be completed at the end of the year.
The deal involves the deployment of 27 GatesAir Flexiva FLX 10 kW liquid-cooled, solid-state transmitters configured in an 8+1 single-frequency network. When finished the infrastructure will comprise three transmission sites, each with eight synchronized Flexiva transmitters, plus one additional transmitter serving as a backup that is set-up for automated failover.
“ERTU broadcasts many FM radio services, predominantly in central Egypt. With the addition of this powerful, energy-efficient FM radio SFN transmission infrastructure, they’ll be able to greatly expand their FM radio coverage area to include remote regions hundreds of kilometers away where people cannot currently receive any over the air radio stations,” said Rich Redmond, chief product officer for GatesAir. “By delivering these government-run radio services to underserved areas, the public will now have access to the valuable information, music, talk and public service programming ERTU’s FM stations air.”
GatesAir adds that the installation will bring particular benefit to Northern Egypt, where it is not uncommon to find long stretches of freeway that run from Cairo to the beaches on the Mediterranean Sea. There, the company says, the SFN will provide motorists with reliable FM radio reception, thanks to each network of eight transmitters that will broadcast the same signals simultaneously, aligned to the same GPS timing source. GatesAir Intraplex IP Link audio codecs will provide the synchronization and support IP networking requirements from ERTU’s studio in Cairo and at the transmitter sites.
GatesAir will show the IP Link and the Flexiva FLX liquid-cooled transmitter on stand D1-50 at CABSAT in Dubai, which runs from March 21–23.
