Harris Corporation Equips Transmission Facility at Jordan Media City Company for New Arabsat Services

Harris Corporation Equips Transmission Facility at Jordan Media City Company for New Arabsat Services

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands, Sept. 8 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Harris Corporation (NYSE:HRS) today announced that it has fulfilled a significant order for a range of Harris broadcast equipment for Jordan Media City Co. (JMC) in Amman, Jordan. The equipment is being used to support a new multichannel playout facility dedicated to the Arab Satellite Communications Organisation (Arabsat), the leading satellite services company in the Middle East. The order included nine NEXIO(TM) server platforms, an Integrator(R) Gold wideband digital multi-rate router, an Inscriber(R) G3(TM) HD/SD- selectable character generator (CG) system, Videotek(R) TVM-850 test and measurement instruments, NEO(R) SuiteView(TM) modular multiviewer and a range of infrastructure products.

Initially accommodating 16 channels, the new playout facility at JMC went on air September 1, 2006. JMC will gradually expand the facility to accommodate 32 channels.

"We have been extremely satisfied with Harris over the last few years since the company first installed its NEXIO server platforms at our facility at JMC to play out eight channels," said Radi Alkhas, CEO of JMC. "Since then, our facility has been through a number of phased expansions with Harris, all of which have been very successful. We have been extremely pleased with the robustness and efficiency of the NEXIO(TM) servers -- Harris continues to deliver the results."

The new playout facility provides services to Arabsat to broadcast its programmes within the Middle East region. The 16-channel transmission system is based on nine NEXIO server platforms with more than 1000 hours of storage. The NEXIO(TM) platforms are split across two domains: the ingest domain is configured as eight record/play ports and eight play ports, while the transmission domain is configured as two record/play and 18 play ports. This configuration offers an effective redundancy solution for the client as the ingest domain provides backup for the transmission domain in the event of a failure. The playout automation for this multichannel service is based on a Pebble Beach Neptune automation system, and the archive is provided by a Sony PetaSite(TM) S Series tape library. Content is copied between the ingest domain, transmission domain and digital library over a fast Gigabit network.

"This installation is a testament to our ability to deliver large, multichannel, server-based solutions to meet our customers' workflow and business requirements as these change and grow," said Dave Dougall, vice president of Europe, Middle East and Africa sales for the Harris Broadcast Communications Division. "The success of this installation speaks volumes, as JMC's operations have expanded significantly over the last couple of years, and the NEXIO servers have been at the core of this expansion."

NEXIO(TM) is a modular, scalable server system for transmission and news environments, which offers integrated application platforms for editing, browsing and media management across a multi-tiered storage hierarchy. NEXIO(TM) provides exceptional fault tolerance and interoperability (including IP), and supports multiple compression formats in both standard and high definition, industry-standard control protocols, third-party file formats and ASI interface, providing broadcasters with the flexibility they need to meet any future requirements. As an operation grows, the modular and scalable NEXIO(TM) design allows users to build systems -- up to 28.8 terabyte in a single domain -- in small, low-cost increments.

About Jordan Media City (JMC)

JMC -- a free media zone in Amman -- provides production and broadcast services. For this purpose, JMC operates three television studios and an EFP mobile van, equipped with the latest digital cameras, recording, linear and non-linear editing and server technology. A number of earth stations for uplinking on Nilesat, Arabsat, Eutelsat (Hotbird) and PanAmSat are in use for DTH and occasional transmissions. Additional information about Jordan Media City is available at www.jordanmediacity.com

About Harris Corporation

Harris is an international communications and information technology company serving government and commercial markets in more than 150 countries. With headquarters in Melbourne, Florida, the company has annual sales of $3.5 billion and nearly 14,000 employees -- including more than 6,000 engineers and scientists -- dedicated to the development of best-in-class assured communications(TM) products, systems, software and services. The company's operating divisions serve markets for government communications, RF communications, broadcast communications, and microwave communications. Additional information about Harris Corporation is available at www.harris.com.

See Harris Broadcast Communications Division

IBC Stand 7:621 & M225

Source: Harris Corporation

CONTACT: Laura Whitaker, Vice President, Marketing Communications, of
Harris Broadcast Communications Division, Laura.Whitaker@harris.com,
+1-408-782-1201; or Meriam Khan of MKM Marketing Communications,
Meriam@mkm-marcomms.com, +44 (0)20 8141 4703

Web site: http://www.harris.com/
http://www.jordanmediacity.com/
http://www.ibc.org/

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