[Satellite TODAY Insider 05-20-11] Intelsat General has won a contract to provide comprehensive satellite connectivity to the Armed Forces Radio and Television Service (AFRTS). The deal was announced May 18.

            Tom Foust, Regional VP, Global Network Solutions for Intelsat General outlined to Satellite Today Insider the company’s role in this particular service. “The AFRTS award solidifies the partnership between the Defense Media Activity (DMA) and Intelsat General. We will not provide any of the AFRTS video content, but instead will carry all required broadcast and backhaul services to and from the DMA broadcast centers on the East and West coasts of the United States. Backhaul services are in place to receive content from Satellite News Gathering (SNG) terminals in Europe and Middle East and terminate these services at the East coast broadcast center,” he says. “DMA edits/reformats this video content for rebroadcast. Intelsat General provides the means to broadcast video and audio under the Pentagon Channel Service throughout CONUS, direct to sailor services throughout the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian Ocean regions, and finally DMA satellite network video and audio content to land based military personnel around the globe.”

            In terms of the video opportunity for Intelsat General, Foust says, “Intelsat General enjoys the ability to capitalize on the infrastructure and experience of Intelsat in video services. The IntelsatONE network is used extensively on the numerous AFRTS task orders under this contract. Intelsat and third-party teleports are utilized to create a single network with confidence monitoring, and monitoring and control services are operational throughout the network.”

            With military personnel demanding the same levels of entertainment and communications services they receive at home, there is flexibility in this partnership to deliver more services going forward. “Intelsat General has committed to DMA that all current services will be provided at the required availability requirements. Intelsat General envisions a short-term increase in bandwidth utilization, not due to an increase in the quantity of channels, but an increase in the quality of channels (i.e. increase in HD content). As DMA increases their technology and delivery format, Intelsat General will grow services to meet the new DMA demands,” says Foust.