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UBMS showcased Movietech's dolly and crane at CABSAT 2008 for the first time.

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Several manufacturers in various areas of expertise including production, editing and test & measurement demonstrated their HD systems at CABSAT this year.

United Broadcast & Media Solutions (UBMS) stand had several firsts on its stand including a special lens from Fujinon, a dolly and crane from MovieTech, monitors from Marshall Electronics and a new Anton Bauer battery. Oasis Enterprises also had a wide range of products from the manufacturers it represented.

At the show, the UAE's monopoly cable operator, E-Vision announced that the much-awaited video-on-demand service will be available to customers from the fourth quarter of this year. Previously, viewers have only had near VOD services that gave them access to specific movies through E-vision's E-view service.

One of the big issues in the Middle East has been putting in place the infrastructure to make VOD possible and it looks like with the right partnerships in place, E-vision might be better placed to address this now.

Another impressive exhibitor at CABSAT was du, the TECOM-backed telecommunications company that has ambitiously moved forward to provide new broadcast services to the region. On the one hand, du's broadcast arm has partnered with an Italian firm to provide a one-stop solution for any broadcaster looking for turnkey support for the production and playout of sports and live performance coverage.

On the other hand, du has also taken significant steps to improve its IPTV services in the UAE.

At CABSAT, du announced that it will deploy TANDBERG Television's iPlex UltraCompression IPTV video processing and transcoding system as the head-end for its IPTV services.

du's multilingual IPTV service offers more than 15 premium TV packages, in 18 different languages, providing UAE viewers with a wide choice of TV programming, including live sporting events, from around the world.

TANDBERG TV's iPlex UltraCompression HD and SD video processing and transcoding system will provide du with a range of advanced features including bandwidth savings, industry leading density and improved picture quality.

Several high-profile deals were announced at CABSAT including a multi-million dollar deal for the installation of 34 high-end Hitachi cameras and 31 Vinten Radamec robotic pan & tilt heads as part of an ambitious project in Saudi Arabia to begin HD broadcasts from Makkah and Madina in time for Hajj in December 2008.

Other major deals included the first installation of the Omneon MediaGrid at Arab Media Group's broadcast facility in Studio City; several Harris installations at Saudi TV, Sharjah TV, Ajman TV and Cairo, JVC's involvement in a HD OB van in Cairo as well as several installations at Abu Dhabi Media Company as part of its efforts to upgrade to High Definition.

The number of projects in the Middle East has reached such an astounding level that Tim Thorsteinson, president of Harris Broadcast Communications, decided to pay a visit to CABSAT - his first to the show, and to Dubai. Thorsteinson told Digital Studio that the Middle East is one of the top four regions on the radar now for Harris along with India, China and Brazil.

"We see four places outside of North America, where we envision a lot of expansion, and that is India, the Middle East, China and Brazil. These regions used to represent only 8% of our business but now we see a 40% growth in our business in these countries. Consequently, they have becoming very important markets for us," commented Thorsteinson.

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