Álex Mestre, from Abertis Telecom: “the new approach to Broadcast IT is a success”

Abertis Telecom is one of the main European telecommunications infrastructure and services operators with an extensive infrastructure network, extensive service vocation and technological know-how. They have their own terrestrial network of more than 3,000 centers throughout Spain and have space capacity in Hispasat and Eutelsat, as partners of both companies.

Abertis has successfully led the implementation of DTT in our country, placing Spain in one of the first positions in terms of Digital Television, in the whole of Europe. In this sense, Abertis Telecom is an international benchmark as a member of European forums that work on the definition of standards and the implementation of audiovisual technologies. The operator is also present in the mobile radio communications sector for security and emergency forces, developing platforms and projects in the Smart City field.

Its marketing manager, Álex Mestre, comments in this interview on his participation in Broadcast IT 2011.

What projects is Abertis Telecom currently working on?

In the audiovisual sector, we are currently developing new services for the broadcast sector, such as paid DTT or Connected Television, demonstrating the competitiveness of the DTT platform in the traditional broadcast business, creating value-added services for it and promoting digital convergence in Spain and Europe.

As for the other business areas in which abertis telecom is present, we highlight our developments in the Smart City area. In this sector we work with City Councils providing tools that improve Administration efforts; their relationship with the citizen and optimize mobility and safety in cities without forgetting energy efficiency.

We are also active in the provision of telecommunications infrastructure for the broadband segment, management of radio and telephone towers and fiber optic networks.

What export capacity does your company have?

Abertis is in a continuous process of internationalization of its activities, which has allowed it to be present in 15 countries on three continents and consolidate itself as the European leader in infrastructure management and one of the leading references in this field on a global scale.

The entry of abertis telecom, in 2007, into the capital of Eutelsat represented the first major step in the internationalization of abertis' activities in this sector.

Currently, we provide consulting, advisory and technical assistance services for the audiovisual sector, helping in migration programs to digital TV in countries such as Colombia.

What advantages can participating in a fair like Broadcast bring to a company like Abertis?

Abertis Telecom has historically participated in Broadcast IT, presenting in each edition the audiovisual tools and solutions that have shaped the television of the future. Digital television and radio were once protagonists of sectoral events and marked the presence of our company in them. The new name of this fair, Broadcast IT, identifies it as a showcase for the solutions that are shaping the coexistence of the audiovisual sector and Internet content.

From our vision, this generates new options for the traditional broadcast sector. Abertis Telecom provides great technological capacity in this convergent environment to transform these possibilities into business opportunities.

The entry of the audiovisual sector into the Internet environment, which is drastically modifying the viewer's relationship with broadcasters and content creators, is now the protagonist of part of the activity of companies in the sector and, therefore, our presence at Broadcast IT is aimed at presenting developments in this regard.

What are the most interesting innovations presented at this Show?

Abertis Telecom has a 60 m2 stand, located in space 3C05, where it will present through technical demonstrations the new features that the TDTCOM platform offers to broadcasters and viewers regarding access to content in the multi-device environment and the ability of the HbbTV standard to distribute content in different formats over the Internet.

The TDTCOM platform, accessible to the viewer through a specific decoder or through televisions connected through the HbbTV hybrid television standard, will allow broadcasters' content to be distributed over the Internet without the viewer stopping tuning into their DTT channel.

We will also present the CDN content distribution services, showing a new web page acceleration system that allows speeding up access to the web, optimizing the way in which information appears and content display on the screen. Visitors to our stand will also learn about a multi-device content adaptation system that directly manages the access of different devices to a single URL, allowing easy and effective management of the different appearances defined for mobile phones, tablets or computers.

Finally, the DAB+ system, a logical evolution of today's Digital Radio, will also be present at our stand. The new Digital Radio makes it possible to increase the content offering as well as significantly improve the audio quality and allows the display of images and texts simultaneously with listening.