WASHINGTON, Jan. 5 /PRNewswire/ -- INTELSAT announced today that it
carried a record volume - more than 30 channels representing over 1,650 hours
-- of New Year's programming for the millennium transition over the past
weekend. The flawless activation of channel after channel was the result of a
tremendous amount of planning and hard work that started more than four years
ago. Thanks to the dedicated capacity that INTELSAT sets aside for occasional
use television services, broadcasters were able to secure capacity for this
major event long before Y2K even became a buzz-word.
When the clock struck twelve in Kiribati, INTELSAT brought the very first
television images of the Year 2000 to millions of viewers all over the globe,
immediately followed by festive greetings from Tonga, Fiji, Chatham Island and
New Zealand. As the year dawned across the time zones, INTELSAT enabled the
world to collectively experience the celebrations. Twelve INTELSAT satellites
were used to originate and distribute millennium programs including the
MILLENNIUM DAY BROADCAST, 2000 Today, which was an international 24-hour
broadcast. The Broadcast started on the international dateline at midnight,
and moved around the clock and around the globe with live segments originating
from countries as they entered the new century. Over fifty broadcasters from
fifty countries joined the project, including ABC (U.S.), BBC (U.K.), TV Asahi
(Japan), CBC (Canada) and SABC (South Africa).
Harry Mahon, INTELSAT's Group Director, Worldwide Video Services, said,
"We are very pleased that the world's broadcasters relied on INTELSAT to
deliver the capacity, coverage and support for this significant event. This is
a testament not only to the truly global coverage of INTELSAT, but also to the
quality of preparation for the multiple transmissions, and for total system
security during the Y2K event."
At the same time that the millennium television broadcasts took place,
INTELSAT's Y2K support teams carefully tracked the millennium transition of
130 main gateway earth stations around the world, which reported their
operational status once they had reached the Year 2000. This operational
monitoring and customer support function started at 6:00 am Washington time on
31 December, when Tonga and New Zealand began their millennium transition, and
followed the midnight hour around the globe to the Cook Islands, until the
whole world entered the Year 2000. INTELSAT's satellite system greeted the
new millennium without any Y2K difficulties.
INTELSAT owns and operates a global communications satellite system
providing capacity for voice, video, corporate/private networks and Internet
in more than 200 countries and territories. For more information, visit the
INTELSAT web site at http://www.intelsat.int.
SOURCE INTELSAT
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Related links:
http://www.intelsat.int
CONTACT:
Eric Lamm, eric.lamm@intelsat.int, or Susan
Gordon, susan.gordon@intelsat.int, both of INTELSAT, 202-944-7500
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