The new Trio platform is built on EMC's SATLink technology and will be delivered through the Arabsat Badr-7 satellite, due for launch to the 26° East orbital slot in November 2015.
The bundled satellite service will provide homes with 10Mb/s broadband connectivity, free-to-air and pay-TV reception, video-on-demand (VOD) and video recording capability, and act as a Wi-Fi bridge to connect hand-held devices to the service. A tried and tested business version of Trio will also serve enterprise and governments who want to bring efficient communications and content distribution to their communities.
Santiago Rossi, Trio's general manager, said everyone involved is "very excited" about the project which will initially cover between six and ten countries in the Middle East and Africa. This number will grow to 20 countries by 2018, and between 40 and 50 countries by 2022.
"We offer our viewers at 26° East an amazing TV viewing experience; it's no longer about watching TV, it's now about enjoying and interacting, it's about creating a house environment of amusement and convenience. The enterprise version of Trio will be promoted as the technology platform for all governmental and enterprise networks on Arabsat satellites. Arabsat and EMC have been strong partners for more than ten years now and we are proud to be part of such an innovation leap in the industry," said Khalid Balkheyour, president and CEO, Arabsat .
Abel Avellan, CEO, EMC, added: "Trio was built on the superior SatLink technology that supported the telecom market for many years; with the conversion trends between media and telecom, we have invested heavily in R&D activities to produce a revolutionary chipsets that can support many applications including 4K. This joint venture with Arabsat will take Trio further as the product of choice for TV markets."
The triple-play service will be available once Arabsat Badr-7 is launched and enters commercial service in 2016, with Trio expecting to attract local ISPs, small business enterprises and telecommunications operators as partners.