Broadcasters Move to Bypass Interference

 

Last week brought news of massive jamming to stymie radio broadcasts, emails, and cell phone communications beaming both out of and into Iran, thus challenging the ability of journalists to cover the massive protests that erupted after the results of that country’s presidential election met with widespread skepticism and charges of election fraud.  Now, broadcasters are scrambling to employ the technologies that can bypass this technological assault. The British Broadcasting Company (BBC) has received particularly harsh criticism from the current Iranian government and has had its correspondent expelled from that country. BBC statements indicate that its Farsi language broadcasts have been subject to massive interference. Specifically, transmissions from the Hot Bird 6 satellite, long used by many broadcasters providing programming to the Middle East, Europe, and North Africa, have been the target of persistent jamming.

Now, the BBC has announced that it has made its Farsi language service available over satellite Eutelsat W2M and would soon be using the Egyptian satellite Nilesat as well. Iranian viewers should be able to pick up the new satellite signals by making slight adjustments to satellite dishes. The Voice of America (VOA) is reported to have added new satellite paths as well. Also, VOA has changed its programming in response to the crisis. It is now providing a special report on its Persian News Network and has experienced an overwhelming 800 percent in visits to the PNN website. The network reports that it received 300 videos from within Iran within a 24-hour period. Check the official announcements from both the BBC and VOA, and note the links to websites and blogs carrying aspects of this unfolding story.

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