Rohde & Schwarz commissioned to install nationwide DVB-T2 network in Oman

Oman TV, the national television broadcaster in the Sultanate of Oman, is switching over to digital TV. It has tasked Rohde & Schwarz with delivering and installing a turnkey countrywide DVB-T2 network, one of the biggest in the Middle East.

The contract, amounting to more than 10 million Omani rials (more than 22 million euros), was awarded in the third week of May. In late 2014, Oman TV, the public authority for radio and TV in the Sultanate of Oman, had released a tender for a nationwide DVB-T2 digital TV network with 69 sites to be set up on a turnkey basis. Rohde & Schwarz and several other leading vendors participated in the tender. After evaluation, the German company was selected as the prime contractor for the project. By winning the bid, Rohde & Schwarz is continuing its TV success story in the Middle East. Qatar, Bahrein, Sharjah and Jordan are already running or building DVB-T2 networks from the market leader in terrestrial TV transmission systems.

The project was designed and the technical specifications drawn up by the Public Authority for Radio and Television Omani team, which will be the consultants for this project. The project will be implemented within 28 months. It comprises the supply and installation of the complete DVB-T2 signal processing and transmitter infrastructure, consisting of headend; transmitters from 50 W to 5 kW for 56 sites; transposer systems for 13 sites (all units in 1+1 standby configuration); program feed and monitoring equipment including transport stream analyzers, satellite receivers and multiviewers for 56 sites; network management systems for 21 sites; and diverse test and measurement instruments.

Besides these key components from Rohde & Schwarz, various products from other manufacturers will be delivered, such as UHF TV antennas, satellite dish antennas, feeders, mask filters, dummy loads, voltage regulators, power distribution boards, shelters, towers, air conditioners, generators and firefighting equipment, all of which is to be implemented by the project team from Rohde & Schwarz Middle East and Africa. Construction and installation will be carried out by several local subcontractors.

The new network is due to be put into operation step by step between January 2017 and September 2018. The old analog network will eventually be switched off.