AmerHis successfully completes Ground Segment tests

Specifically, the tests checked how AmerHis handles network control and user terminals for video-conferencing. A link was established using two terminals at the Alcatel Espacio offices (image right) in Tres Cantos Spain (near Madrid) and a third terminal at Hispasat's control centre (image below-left) in Arganda Spain (southeast of Madrid).

Tres Cantos

Argando

This most recent news follows the announcement last December of successful in-orbit testing. These series of tests confirm the AmerHis payload as capable of delivering multimedia content across Latin America and beyond. Pilot operations are scheduled to begin soon, with the intention of providing pre-operational services in the first half of 2005.

AmerHis
Launched on 5 August 2004, and now located in geo-stationary orbit at 61 degrees West, AmerHis is carried aboard Hispasat's Amazonas satellite and heralds a new era in satellite communications. The first European telecommunications satellite with onboard processing, AmerHis will enable Hispasat to provide high performance interactive multimedia services to North America, South America and Europe.

Among the benefits to Internet Service Providers (ISPs) will be the ability to manage their own low-cost gateways, in turn providing reliable Internet access to subscribers. Corporate services will also profit. Companies with multiple branch offices will be able to more easily set up their own Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) and share their allocated capacity between all branch offices.

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The AmerHis payload will work like a switchboard in space, managed by a Network Control Centre on the ground able to configure the payload, assign capacity and manage user traffic. It also offers multiplexing and de-multiplexing of MPEG-2 transport streams that will extend the number of video services enormously. In addition, AmerHis supports a wide variety of applications and tele-services from video broadcasting on demand to videoconferencing.

The ambitious project is the product of a collaboration between Alcatel Espacio, Mier Communicaciones and Indra Espacio of Spain, of Spain, Alcatel Space of France, EMS Technology from Canada and Nera ASA from Norway. It is funded by the European Space Agency (ESA) and supported by the Spanish Centre of the Industrial and Technological Development (CDTI). The international scope of the project represents symbolic cooperation between national agencies, operators and industry.

With coverage over all of Latin America, the United States and Canada as well as transatlantic capacity allowing coverage of Europe and northern Africa, not to mention the use of C and Ku bands, Amazonas is also a prime example of what can be done to bridge the digital divide.

To read more about AmerHis or download a brochure, click under related links on the right of this page.