(3 June 2006 2:00 pm)

MUMBAI: Global content management and delivery firm GlobeCast has been selected by Sky Italia to provide HDTV contribution for the World Cup of Football from the International Broadcasting Centre (IBC) in Munich to Sky’s headquarters outside of Milan, Italy.

The event kicks off on 9 June in Germany and airs in India on ESPN Star Sports.

This solution includes both fibre and satellite contribution to ensure a seamless broadcast.

The contribution service provided by GlobeCast is an end-to-end solution including routing and transmission via fibre, as well as the provision of encoding and decoding equipment in HD.

GlobeCast will also provide HD satellite coverage as a backup for the event, using capacity on Eutelsat’s Eurobird 3 satellite at 33º East. This satellite coverage will guarantee a high level of reliability and service quality, especially with the inauguration of the latest HD-ready member of GlobeCast’s proprietary fleet of Satellite Newsgathering (SNG) vehicles. This particular truck is the first such all-HD vehicle in the Italian market.

The service package provided by GlobeCast also includes a 24 hour on-site customer support and technical assistance desk, staffed by GlobeCast’s technical experts.