MBC Group deploys Cisco Unified Communications Solution to Improve Workflow Between Offices and Production Sites

Top Middle East Broadcaster to Transmit All Data, Plus
Pre-recorded and Live Video Content via Internet Protocol

Dubai, November 27, 2007 – Cisco® today announced that the Dubai-based Middle East Broadcasting Centre (MBC Group) has completed the implementation of an innovative network that will help the broadcasting giant to distribute data and live and prerecorded video content over a Cisco networking architecture. MBC has further deployed a Cisco Unified Communications solution including Presence, Unified Messaging, MeetingPlace collaboration platform, Video and Wireless Telephony to support greater employee mobility and improve collaboration and workflow between the offices and production studios.

The new Internet Protocol (IP) network will connect the broadcaster’s Dubai head office to 16-branch offices and three production sites in Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Lebanon.

The deployment of Cisco’s broadcast solution will reduce the time and cost of delivering content across large distances and reduce the reliance on satellite connectivity. 

Amjad Edris, chief technology officer at MBC, said: “The liberalisation of the communications sector in the Middle East has led to an exceptional boom in the number of free-to-air channels. Due to the very timely and sensitive nature of broadcasting, as well as the rapid growth that our operations are witnessing, we turned to Cisco to deploy a very strong and reliable platform that can handle our requirements.

Edris added: “Cisco has provided us with a scalable broadcast solution based on IP architecture, by interconnecting disparate networks, we have opened the possibility for collaborative working with our regional offices and production studios as well as managed to centralise network management and significantly reduce operational costs.”

Delivering and distributing content across an IP infrastructure provides broadcasters with an alternative to the expensive satellite method. Even where geography demands the use of satellite technology, IP complements it in a variety of applications including local content delivery and interactivity.

Sam Alkharrat, managing director for Cisco, Gulf and Pakistan said: “MBC can now integrate Cisco Unified Communications applications over the IP network, using Cisco’s advanced capabilities. The new state-of-the-art infrastructure will also help MBC harness the power of Web 2.0 in order to effectively organise and categorise content, improve collaboration, open new communication channels, and link into its business processes.

We are very pleased to participate and help enable this very important transformation for MBC,” he concluded.   

Cisco’s solutions include Cisco Unified Communications, call centre solutions to serve as the broadcaster’s IT help desk; security solutions including Cisco ASA5500 Series firewalls, Cisco Network Admission Control, Cisco Security Mitigation and Response System, Cisco Catalyst® 6500 Series Switches, fully loaded to serve as the core and edge of the network and a host/network intrusion detection system. 

The overall implementation features Cisco’s latest technologies, which include a range of routers to enable WAN connectivity as well as integrated wireless networking, Wide Area Access Services (WAAS) and the Digital Media System. The same solutions will be implemented in all the branches.

MBC Group includes 6 television channels: mbc1 (general family entertainment), mbc2 (24-hour movies), mbc3 (children’s entertainment), mbc4 (entertainment for new Arab women), MBC Action (action series and movies), and Al Arabiya (the 24-hour Arabic language news channel); two radio stations: mbc FM (Gulf music), and panorama fm (contemporary Arabic hit music); as well as O3 productions, a specialized documentary production unit, and Middle East News agency (MEN), a video news gathering agency.  

About mbc Group
mbc Group was established in 1991 as the first pan-Arab free-to-air satellite broadcasting company in the Arab World.  Over the past 16 years, mbc has grown to become a global media group that enriches people’s lives through information, interaction and entertainment.  Based in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, mbc Group includes 6 television channels: mbc1 (general family entertainment), mbc2 (24-hour movies), mbc3 (children’s entertainment), mbc4 (entertainment for new Arab women), MBC Action (action series and movies), and Al Arabiya (the 24-hour Arabic language news channel); two radio stations: mbc FM (Gulf music), and panorama fm (contemporary Arabic hit music); as well as O3 productions, a specialized documentary production unit, and Middle East News agency (MEN), a news gathering agency.   It has also several online platforms: www.mbc.net, www.alarabiya.net, and www.alaswaq.net.

About Cisco Systems
Cisco, (NASDAQ: CSCO), is the worldwide leader in networking that transforms how people connect, communicate and collaborate.  Information about Cisco can be found at http://www.cisco.com. For ongoing news, please go to http://newsroom.cisco.com.  Cisco equipment in the Middle East is supplied by Cisco Systems International BV, a wholly owned subsidiary of Cisco Systems, Inc.

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