Capacity doubled without on-air disruption to Riga broadcast center

As part of a increase in the capabilities of its Riga broadcast center in Latvia, direct-to-home satellite and Pay TV operator Viasat, part of Modern Times Group, MTG, has installed a new 512×1024 Platinum™ IP3 router from Imagine Communications. The new router, supplied and installed by Latvian distributor Tilts Integration, expands the capabilities of Viasat’s existing Imagine Communications Platinum router. The Platinum IP3 will massively increase signal capacity as well as resilience through redundant crosspoints. Together, the two routers will support more than 1500 outputs to accommodate future expansion.

Continuing development in Baltic services, delivered from the Riga center, meant that Viasat needed to interconnect more devices and destinations. This required a new router to provide a large number of additional paths and increase system availability. The existing Platinum router provides redundant power supplies and resource cards, and the new Platinum IP3 router also offers full crosspoint redundancy.

“Our existing Imagine Communications router has given us excellent service, and the new Platinum IP3 is the latest generation of the same reliable technology,” said Magnus Lindholm, Head of Platform Development at MTG. “As well as continuity, it meant we could expand our facilities to more than double the capacity without taking the old router offline for a moment — in a facility as big as ours that is like replacing the engine in a car while driving at full speed along a freeway.”

Viasat has long benefitted from integrated routing capabilities in the Platinum router to maximize rack-space efficiency, using Imagine Communications HView™ multiviewers to monitor traffic through the center. The Platinum IP3 router increases multiviewer capacity, allowing Viasat to monitor new channels and facilities as they come online. Viasat will control both routers from the same panels and computer screens, appearing as a single logical device to simplify operations.

“No one expects a router to just be a simple switch anymore,” said Mathias Eckert, vice president, sales and services, Europe & Africa for Imagine Communications. “Users count on them to handle multiple signal types and levels, and add functionality such as timing and clocking, format conversion and multiview monitoring. The Platinum IP3 was developed in direct response to requests from users worldwide seeking highly reliable, futureproofed integrated routing capabilities. We are delighted to see it adopted by businesses like Viasat, who can reap immediate operational benefits with the ability to scale based on changing needs.”

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About MTG
Modern Times Group (MTG) is an international entertainment broadcasting group with operations that span four continents and include free-TV, pay-TV, radio and content production businesses. MTG’s Viasat Broadcasting operates free-TV and pay-TV channels, which are available on Viasat’s own satellite platforms and third party networks, and also distributes TV content over the internet. MTG is also the largest shareholder in CTC Media, which is Russia’s leading independent television broadcaster. Please visit www.mtg.se for more information.

About Imagine Communications

Imagine Communications empowers the media and entertainment industry through transformative innovation. Broadcasters, networks, video service providers and enterprises around the world rely on our optimized, futureproof, multiscreen video and revenue enablement solutions every day to support their mission-critical operations. Today, nearly half of the world’s video channels traverse our products, and our software solutions drive close to a third of global ad revenue. Through continuous innovation, we are delivering the most advanced IP, cloud-enabled, software-defined network and workflow solutions in the industry. Visit www.imaginecommunications.com for more information, and follow us on Twitter @imagine_comms.