NEP Connect (formerly known as SIS LIVE) has signed a new contract with European Tour Productions to provide worldwide satellite services for their golf coverage until the end of 2018.

This includes satellite services, uplink trucks and flyaway units for events in Europe and the Middle East, as well as co-ordination of local uplink providers and satellite services for events in South Africa, Asia and Australasia. The agreement allows European Tour the flexibility to increase the coverage in Europe to five simultaneous High Definition (HD) feeds with redundancy; all from one of NEP Connect’s bespoke dual antenna uplink trucks.

Tony Coxon, Head of Production operations at European Tour Productions said “In conjunction with NEP Connect we have moved our delivery from Mpeg2 to Mpeg4 over the last couple of years. This transition was made in a practically seamless manner and we now deliver HD signals to Sky and the rest of the world. We therefore had all confidence in extending our contract with NEP Connect to include our coverage up to the end of 2018. We will continue to use the excellent NEP Connect team as well as the dual uplink truck, which underwent a refit as part of its Mpeg4 upgrade, to help us deliver the forty or so live four day golf tournaments that we produce annually.”

NEP Connect has worked with European Tour Productions on all its golf coverage since January 2004 and since March 2008 NEP Connect has also provided internet access, ISDNs and telephone lines using its iDirect platforms on IS907 and IS905.

This move has given European Tour Productions and its clients a more consistent, flexible and cost effective solution. The system utilises satellites, therefore the remoteness of each location has no impact on the service. NEP Connect provides European Tour Productions with its own dedicated telephone numbers so as soon as the uplink dish is deployed, phones and internet are immediately available for everyone in the TV compound.

“NEP Connect is delighted to extend its partnership with European Tour Productions for such a prestigious worldwide sport,” said David Meynell, Managing Director of NEP Connect. “We help to ensure that many of the world’s top golf tournaments are broadcast live to millions of homes across the globe, and are keen to continue working with European Tour Productions to enhance its coverage.”

More information about The European Tour and European Tour Productions can be found at www.europeantour.com

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