The South American country of Peru is home to 34.5 million people. It’s a country of diverse geography, featuring coastal deserts, rainforests and mountain ranges. Around a third of Peru’s population have settled along the desert coastal belt and around the capital city of Lima, and roughly half live in the Andean highlands. The remainder live on the slopes of the Andes and rainforest, though this is sparsely populated. Approximately 30% of the population in Peru live below the poverty line and, according to the World Bank, 21% live in rural areas, where poverty rates are higher and terrestrial connectivity is limited.
Many in Peru lack access to basic information technology such as internet access. Living in a country with high rates of poverty, for many, connectivity is an unaffordable luxury. This means that many Peruvians are unable to access educational, governmental, and healthcare resources. This results in a plethora of lost life opportunities for many people in Peru, especially in rural areas. The Digital Divide was exacerbated by the COVID pandemic, which exposed the lack of connectivity to poor and remote communities when access to digital services like public broadcasting and e-learning was so important. This lack of connectivity had a direct impact on the amount of deaths as the health messages around COVID-19 were not getting through to indigenous communities. Peru lost more lives through COVID than any other country per capita.
Challenges in Education
According to Innovations for Poverty Action, high school dropout rates continue to be a significant problem. At the national level, 12 % of children leave school before age 13, and 17 % do not finish secondary school. With 30% of the population lacking internet access, many families do not own connected devices or computer equipment other than mobile phones. Additionally, for some children, schools are located at great distances. In these cases, an alternative means of delivery of educational content is invaluable.
Breaking down the Barriers with DVB Native IP
Last year, the National Institute of Radio and Television of Peru (IRTP) selected SKYflow, a partner ecosystem whose technology leverages the DVB-NIP (Native IP) standard and does not require internet connectivity, to help reach the remaining 30% of the Peruvian public without access to internet or public broadcasting.
SKYflow’s genesis goes back to 2021, when a group of active DVB members worked collabortatively to develop an ecosystem that took the DVB-NIP standard and created a working solution that can be implemented today.
This ecosystem, comprising ST Engineering iDirect, EKT, EasyBroadcast, EZDRM and Quadrille, has appeared in live demonstrations at major tradeshows around the world. The adoption if SKYflow by IRTP shines a light on the immense potential of this ecosystem and the impact it can have across a variety of use cases.
The DVB-NIP standard bridges the gap between IP and broadcast networks, paving the way for a truly converged media distribution solution. It uses the efficiency of broadcast networks for large-scale content distribution to modern IP devices, fully integrating broadcast technologies with those used in broadband networks.
Content distribution over satellite using multicast ABR (Adaptive Bit Rate) can serve multiple markets and applications. Distribution for live, linear and file-based video content (Video on Demand), as well as non-video content like PDFs, JPEG, text files and more – all are supported.
Eutelsat Group and ST Engineering iDirect have contributed to the DVB NIP Technical Working Group, with Eutelsat taking a front seat as one of the members tasked with steering the group. Learn more about DVB-NIP and why it’s important to the satellite ecosystem in the whitepaper ‘DVB NIP: The Gamechanger of Content Distribution’.
Making the News
The launch of the new system utilizing the SKYflow ecosystem made national news on January 17th – the 66th anniversary of IRTP, marking a watershed moment in the history of Peruvian broadcasting. Now every individual in Peru will have access to view entertainment and educational content, 24 hours a day – free of charge. Regional and municipal governments are making self-install kits available so that households can implement the system at home.
The project was a year in development with IRTP and the SKYflow partners working to assist the Government of Peru to reach 100% of the population with cost-effective, ultra-fast, low-latency delivery of DTH live and file-based video content to homes and mobile devices. The ecosystem partners are working to supplement this offering with multiple government and educational channels, emergency/disaster notifications, the option of 2-way network communications, all-IP contribution capabilities, and more. The project is being co-managed as a system integration by DIVICAM and ST Engineering iDirect. Leading satellite operator Eutelsat Group has been chosen to deliver satellite capacity for content distribution to the unconnected population of Peru. Underscoring Eutelsat’s dedication to supporting digital inclusion programs initiated by public authorities in emerging countries.
This breakthrough represents more than content delivery for all. It is transformational for Peruvians who have previously lived without any consistent access to content and information. It opens doors to education, business opportunities, healthcare and even life-saving information. Now, not one household needs to go without this invaluable information source and with the very real prospect of two-way communication through SKYflow in the near future, the possibilities are endless.
“Following a year of development by teams at ST Engineering iDirect and partners EKT, Quadrille and EasyBroadcast, we’re pleased to confirm the activation of live free-to-air channels in Peru using SKYflow – a DVB Native IP over satellite ecosystem. With SKYflow, we are able to assist the Government in their pursuit to reach 100% of the population with cost-effective, ultra-fast, low-latency delivery of DTH (direct-to-home) live and file-based video content to homes and mobile devices. Soon we will be able to supplement this offering with multiple government and educational channels, emergency/disaster notifications, the option of 2-way network communications, all-IP contribution capabilities, and more.”
Emma Park, Senior Vice President Market Growth Strategies – ST Engineering iDirect
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