[Satellite News 07-21-08] Crawford Communications will use capacity on SES New Skies’ NSS-7 satellite to provide content aggregation, media, Internet and satellite services for the U.S. military‘s Digital Video and Imagery Distribution System (DVIDS), the company said July 21.
    Crawford will lease a total of 20 megahertz of bandwidth on the satellite, located at 338 degrees East, for five years. This will provide a reliable connection between the global media and the U.S. military, which will use a network of 106 portable Ku-band transmitters located with deployed military units to send video, audio and still imagery back to the United States.
    Crawford received a contract in June to support the DVIDS program, providing content aggregation, media relations, Internet and satellite services for the military.
    “With the high demand for video and data services from soldiers deployed in the field, NSS-7 is a vital part of the DVIDS project,” Ed Deckert, vice president of teleport and Internet services for Crawford, said in a statement. “The Middle East to North America beam provides our client a single hop solution and easy access to our distribution hub at Crawford on a 24/7 basis.”