Broadcast connectivity specialists NEP Connect (formerly known as SIS LIVE) today announced that a total of 26 of its ‘ad-hoc’ SNG delivery vehicles will be despatched for multiple UK broadcasters for live coverage throughout the day and into the night of the UK General Election on 8 June 2017.

Starting from early May through to post-election results and analysis, two NEP Connect SNG vehicles on longer term hire have been traversing the UK to provide redundant satellite uplink services for election coverage. 24 trucks have been booked on election day itself, crewed by an equal number of mobile satellite communications engineers plus a few extras for double crewing. NEP Connect has an ongoing contract to supply 18 contracted SNG uplink trucks for regional news broadcasters and these will be used throughout the elections.

David Meynell, managing director, NEP Connect, said, “We have been making detailed plans and finalising schedules since the Prime Minister announced on 18 April that she was calling a General Election.

“Important, often historic events require responsiveness and resilience, not only by the participants in the election activities but by the news media covering those activities. The speed and unpredictability of live events is what makes them so thrilling to watch, and challenging to report on, so the last thing you want is unpredictable connectivity.”

NEP Connect will provide ad-hoc satellite capacity of over 100MHz plus and additional 55MHz for contracted news customers. NEP Connect’s network operations team are on hand as usual 24/7 ensuring all feeds are managed and monitored.

Meynell added, “The fact that so many broadcasters have entrusted us with their SNG requirements for such a critical event is testament to the confidence we have earned with our comprehensive satellite infrastructure, talented engineers and efficient operations teams.”

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