Harris Broadcast used by India’s Doordarshan for nationwide digital transition

INDIA: Harris Broadcast was recently selected by national broadcaster, Doordarshan to deploy a new DVB-T2 transmission infrastructure across the country.

The government of India is pushing ahead with plans to complete the move from analogue to digital television transmission by 2017, and as such, Doordarshan has an obligation to cover the whole country and to reflect the diversity of Indian society, including content in the more than 40 languages.

The national television network is also promoting a boost in quality and viewer engagement by rolling out high definition channels, as well as delivering its multi-lingual content across multiple platforms including mobile devices in the future.

The first of two transmission contracts awarded to Harris Broadcast will add HD channels to digital multiplexes in four major metropolitan areas. Each facility will be served with a new 6kW Harris Broadcast Maxiva ULX DVB-T2 transmitter. The second contract is for 19 Maxiva ULX transmitters, which will be used to roll out digital transmission to the regions of India. In the first instance, these will carry standard definition channels in their multiplexes, but the flexibility of the transmitter and infrastructure design allows for an easy upgrade to HD when the time comes.

‘This is not only a large-scale project for Doordarshan, but it is also one of the most high profile and important projects the broadcaster has undertaken,’ said Joe Khodeir, senior vice president, Asia at Harris Broadcast. ‘Our DVB-T2 solution maximises spectrum capacity, allowing Doordarshan to roll out multiple channels serving different communities as well as offer multiple HD channels. For a project of this scope and significance, Doordarshan looked for a partner with a strong local service commitment and presence along with best-in-class technologies that delivered the lowest lifecycle costs. 

‘Our Maxiva ULX architecture provides the best power efficiency in the market, which was a critical consideration for Doordarshan when energy consumption is such a large part of the operating cost,’ he concluded.

www.ddindia.gov.in
www.harrisbroadcast.com