Digital Plus Partners with Cisco to Develop iPlus Terminals

Spanish DTH provider Digital Plus has signed a strategic partnership with Cisco Systems.

The alliance between the two companies will enable Digital Plus to provide 3-D and HD content to subscribers in Spain through its iPlus digital terminal. Cisco will help develop the iPlus terminal and provide a new line of financing to cover research costs in cooperation with Spanish media group Prisa TV, which owns the Digital Plus DTH platform.

ViaSat Introduces SurfBeam 2 Satellite Networking System

ViaSat is introducing its SurfBeam 2 satellite networking system to simultaneously deliver a range of residential, enterprise and mobile broadband services.

ViaSat said the new SurfBeam 2 system builds off its SurfBeam satellite networking system, with more than 800,000 units shipped and installed in the United States, Canada and Europe.

The SurfBeam 2 ground system provides access to new transformational high-capacity satellites, including Eutelsat’s Ka-Sat, and continuing with the scheduled launch of ViaSat-1 this summer for the WildBlue and Xplornet direct-to-home services in North America.

The unit was designed to combine terminal pricing, data speeds, network scale and management systems to enable satellite service to compete effectively against terrestrial alternatives such as DSL. The system features higher integration of elements in the modem, RF equipment and gateway electronics. The unit also adopts DVB-S2 transmission standards.

VSD Unveils TV-DTS Antenna Control Unit Replacement Kit

Satellite antenna manufacturer VSD has introduced its AL-7204-CONT4 Antenna Control Unit replacement kit to support its AL-7204 Television Direct-to-Sailors (TV-DTS) maritime system.

The TV-DTS system aims to deliver satellite television to naval ships. The new replacement kit replaces its obsolete Antenna Control Unit, and includes new Servo Driver and Inertial Measurement units. The kit uses two of the three existing control cables that can be installed by a ship’s crew.