MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.—Ihlas News Agency (IHA), a Turkish news agency with correspondents in each of the nation’s cities and more than 60 countries, has taken delivery of 30 TVU One mobile 5G transmitters for use throughout the Middle East, Europe, Asia and the Americas.

IHA will deploy the TVU One transmitters in all Turkish provinces and at all of its international offices. Alen Elektronik, TVU Network’s authorized dealer in Turkey, recommended the TVU One transmitters serve as the core of IHA’s remote broadcast systems because the news agency wanted resilient contribution technology that could make acquisition fast, TVU Networks said.

“We’re looking forward to a strong and strategic relationship between TVU and IHA that furthers the news agency’s mission to provide high-quality, late-breaking coverage from anywhere in the world,” said Emad Qawasmi, sales director for MENA at TVU Networks. “We’re confident they’ll see significant improvement in the quality of their newsgathering efforts with the addition of our latest 5G-ready mobile transmission technology.”

The TVU One has a track record of reliably contributing audio and video for broadcast news and live production from remote areas of the world and in unstable conditions, the company said.

It simultaneously aggregates up to 12 data connections from networks in more than 180 countries. Supported bandwidth sources include cellular 3G, 4G, 4G LTE and 5G networks, Wi-Fi, Ethernet, satellite, microwave and BGAN. TVU One automatically aggregates all available network infrastructure to transmit stable, broadcast-quality video from any location, it said.

The company’s patented Inverse StatMux Plus (IS+) video/audio algorithm ensures reliable transmission regardless of the environment, it said.

The TV One delivers video with higher contrast, brighter images, and more vivid colors. It relies on an advanced HEVC/H.265 chip to encode video for delivery of full broadcast-quality 4K, 10-bit true 60fps HDR at bitrates as low as 3 Mbps (or 1080p60 HDR as low as 800 Kbps), TVU Networks said.

The real-time dual encoder simultaneously records a full 4K or HD copy of the live video to be downloaded later. A bi-directional IFB audio feed enables communication between the studio and field operators with nearly zero latency, it said.

“With the TV One, international news agencies like IHA can enter a whole new phase of remote broadcasting, with worry-free operation, anywhere in the world, even in the most unstable network conditions,” said Rafael Castillo, vice president/general manager, EMEA and Latin America, at TVU Networks.

“Today, viewers demand high-quality live news—not just from the studio, but also from remote locations," he continued. "We’ve partnered with major cellular networks around the globe to ensure that broadcasters can take advantage of 5G infrastructure for remote reporting. And we’ve developed next-generation solutions like the TVU One mobile transmitter that can automatically aggregate the best connections available, wherever reporters find themselves covering the latest news.”

NEW YORK—Last week saw the closing of at least 20 television and radio stations by the Turkish government under the justification of Cabinet Decree 668, which allows for such shutdowns to any media outlet on “national security” grounds.

Reports differ on the number of stations closed, between 20 and 23, and Turkish broadcast regulator Radyo ve Televizyon Üst Kurulu (RTÜK) and government controlled satellite operator Türksat have not issued regarding the matter.

Reports indicate that the stations shut down comprise pro-Kurdish and leftist stations, including a Kurdish-language station for children. Press reports indicate that Türksat stopped carrying the stations’ signals on the night of Sept. 28 following an order from RTÜK.

These closures comes after the Turkish government also shut down various newspapers, magazines and stations following the failed military coup in July. 

The Committee to Protect Journalist has called for the immediate reversal of the order and for the Turkish government to allow all the stations to continue broadcasting without interference. “After silencing much of the critical press, Turkey is now targeting a wide swath of cultural and political expression by shuttering minority broadcasters,” said Robert Mahoney, CPJ deputy executive director. “When the government sees even children’s programming as a threat to national security, it is clearly abusing its emergency powers.”

This story originally appeared on TVT's sister publication Radio World.