Intelsat Selects SlingPath for SNG Training to Minimize Global Interference Problem

Free SNG Training to be offered to Selected Intelsat Customers

[17 September 2009, Luton, UK]

BeaconSeek Ltd, a UK-based satellite consultancy and training company, announced today that Intelsat, the world’s leading provider of fixed satellite services, has purchased a substantial number of training places on BeaconSeek’s SlingPath SNG (satellite news gathering) online training program as part of the Intelsat Interference Management Initiative (I3) to reduce satellite Radio Frequency Interference (RFI).

Interference is a growing problem in the satellite community, and a key component of the I3 initiative is increasing SNG uplinking expertise through more training and certification. Since the launch in March 2009 of the I3 initiative, Intelsat has partnered with 14 satellite operators and a number of industry groups, and dozens of customers and equipment manufacturers to make RFI mitigation a top priority and to strengthen quality-of-service standards for satellite communications worldwide.

SlingPath (slingpath.com) is BeaconSeek’s innovative competency-based online SNG training and certification program. It is used by companies such as Fox News, ABC News, Al Jazeera and Arqiva amongst many others for its employees as well as by many individual freelance operators.

Intelsat Chief Technical Officer Thierry Guillemin said, “As a leader in the satellite industry, Intelsat understands the importance of establishing an interference-free environment. This includes a user community that has the technical knowledge to responsibly access our global network and not create unintended interference for other users. We have selected Beaconseek’s SlingPath program as one of our approved sources of customer training that we believe will be ideal for SNG field operators. In the next few months we will be offering this training, free of charge, to a select group of customers. Beyond this initial phase we look forward to continue supporting our customers by facilitating relevant and affordable training. All satellite users are encouraged to ensure that their field technicians and engineers have appropriate skills.”

Intelsat’s 3-year program will provide free online training for a number of its SNG and Occasional Use (OU) customers and offer everyone access to a negotiated group rate for operator certification courses. Intelsat’s goal is to have 1,200 global technicians and engineers trained by 2011.

The SlingPath course is aimed from the absolute beginner to intermediate level, taking the student through the basics of satellites, how they are used in newsgathering, the various key technical parameters and critical component parts of an SNG system, and how to work with satellites.

The SlingPath presentation of the material is highly graphical, interactive and user-friendly, with potentially complex subjects presented in a fashion that makes it approachable to even the most techno-phobic participants.

In particular the program has been designed for those who are required to operate the latest generation of ‘auto-pointing’ SNG systems, which enable operatives with negligible training to access satellite capacity, but in doing so mask a significant amount of the technical aspects of the actions being undertaken.

Jonathan Higgins, Managing Director of BeaconSeek, says “We are delighted that after Intelsat’s extensive trialling and assessment of our program over several months, they have concluded that it meets the high standards for the quality of training and level of knowledge Intelsat require for their SNG customer base. We fully support Intelsat in its proactive initiative in tackling the increasing problem of satellite interference and the inconvenience caused to broadcasters and viewers alike”

SlingPath was launched in 2007 by Jonathan Higgins - the author of two books on satellite and electronic newsgathering - in collaboration with e-Blended Learning Solutions of New Zealand, specialists in designing web-based training for remote learning applications.

SlingPath has already been assessed and endorsed by both SUIRG (Satellite Users Interference Reduction Group) and WBU-ISOG (World Broadcasting Union – International Satellite Operations Group) as meeting their high standards for the training of operatives in SNG.