MUMBAI: Satellite services company Globecast has announced that it has partnered with Brazilian telecommunications group Embratel to provide broadcast services, internet and telephony for Brazilian terrestrial broadcaster, TV Globo for the 2004 Athens Olympic Games.

 
Globecast will also be working closely with four more official Olympic broadcasting rights holders, ATV and TVB in Hong Kong and Japan's TV Asahi and Fuji TV. Globecast will provide specifically tailored packages including satellite transmissions and SNG services for the duration of the games.

Globecast has isued a release stating that its services for rights holders form part of the its comprehensive presence at the Athens Olympics. Globecast is offering extensive facilities for non-rights holding broadcasters. Globecast claims that some of them have already contracted with Globecast for their Olympics coverage, through its Broadcast Base formed in association with UK-based Gearhouse Broadcast and Athens-based Stefi Productions.

The Broadcast Base offers non-rights holders a one-stop-shop for all of their production and broadcast requirements, including studios, work space, broadcast equipment, worldwide satellite transmissions, uplinking facilities, playout, conversion, encoding and mobile SNG facilities.

For Hong Kongs two Olympic broadcast rights holders, Globecast will provide six satellite channels with encoding equipment, uplinks and compression for free-to-air ATV and a satellite uplink for TVB. Japanese rights holders TV Asahi and Fuji TV have signed an agreement with GlobeCast to secure the use of one SNG vehicle each, complete with camera crew for the duration of the Games. This will enable both stations to film live stand ups and report on human interest stories from around the city of Athens, the release adds.