Asia Global Crossing (AGC) will deploy an ATM service for Australia's National Racing Broadcaster, Sky Channel.

The leading pan-Asian telecom services provider says the ATM network will deliver transmission at an access speed of 45 Mbps with a constant bit rate (CBR) of 8 Mbps. The new capability starts from February 2002.

Sky uses its global broadcast network to provide live and exclusive telecasts of Australian and international horse and greyhound events. The ATM service will enable Sky to provide audiences with live transmission of Australian horse races from its premises in French's Forest, Sydney to a re-broadcaster in Louisville, Kentucky via a gateway in Los Angeles. Video, voice and data will be delivered on the ATM backbone replacing Sky's traditional satellite delivery.

Sky Channel's satellite services only offer simplex transmission capacity. The new arrangement is expected to reduce transmission costs and provide Sky with a dedicated video duplex, audio and data transmission capability. Nearly 41,000 live horse and greyhound races are covered each year from Down Under on the channel. The company delivers its services within Australia to commercial customers through the Aurora platform on the Optus B3 satellite and offers a tailored service to domestic households via the Pay TV networks distribution infrastructure. It has international capacity on the Thaicom 3 satellite to deliver its service across Asia, Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

AGC offers broadcasters uncompressed 270 Mbps television broadcast capability and provides transmission speeds up to 1.28 Tbps, while fully resilient hubs ensure automatic global re-routing capability.