British Broadcasting Corporation

British Broadcasting Corporation

The BBC has a very robust and resilient television network and geographically diverse play-out system. This includes reserve feeds and additional power sources at appropriate points within the infrastructure.

The BBC is unique as it has a UK wide broadcast network supported by both National and Local broadcast layers that in total cover the whole UK. At the local level, strong relationships have been formed between the emergency services and local BBC management. This relationship is developed on trust and ensures first responders can convey appropriate information that can be broadcast during an incident at a local level.

The BBC is in a unique position as it has a local news infrastructure that operates at a local level across the UK. It has been shown in times of crisis, be that localised flooding, school snow days etc., the public will turn to local programming, either through direct radio broadcasts or via the BBC local news websites.

The widespread use of FM radio, smartphones and DAB radios enable the BBC to quickly and easily reach large numbers. The expanding use of smartphones is a technology that will assist in getting emergency information to the public. The 4G standard does have the ability for a broadcast mode to be activated that could be used at times of crisis. However, the technical feasibility to do this would need to be discussed with mobile network operators.

The BBC is a public service broadcaster and has strong links with other UK broadcasters at all levels. If a major issue was to arise with another broadcaster (as a result of a disaster situation) that had public safety implications, this would be dealt with at a local level as long as it did not inhibit the ability to keep the BBC services on air, that are supplying the emergency information to the public as a result of the emergency situation.

The BBC has a 24/7 news channel broadcasting on all platforms in the UK. News is a single division across all the BBC and as such can feed into all BBC media outputs - TV, Radio and internet.

The BBC has strong links to the emergency services at the local level and a high degree of trust has been developed to ensure emergency information is conveyed as required during a disaster situation. Any additional information would be verified following the BBC's rigorous high quality journalistic codes and processes.

ANNEX 2E

Louisiana Public Broadcasting

Louisiana Educational Television Authority (LETA) has recently completed a $1.5 million dollar installation of a new emergency back-up generator and building-wide rotational inertia UPS and electrical upgrade at the LPB Broadcast Operations Centre Teleplex.

In addition, LETA has completed a $100,000 dollar installation of new emergency back-up generators at the Monroe and Lafayette transmitter sites, and the acquisition of a Satellite Uplink Truck to complement our state-wide fibre optic connection and our satellite transponder.

LETA has for its use for emergency communications the following:

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  Fibre connection from the State Capitol to its Broadcast Operations Centre operated 24x7, 365 days of the year.
  
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  Fibre connection from the Governor's Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness (GOHSEP).
  
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  Live press conference capabilities from each location.
  
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  LETA owns a satellite truck and our own transponder on SES 2 Transponder 5 for mobile uplinks.
  
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  LETA has entered into a contract with GOHSEP for services.
  
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  LETA signal is available via downlinks at news stations throughout the state
  
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  Fibre or satellite to national media using VYVX first video two way fibre.
  

ANNEX 3A

BBC Media Action - Use of emergency equipment

BBC Media Action has a suitcase radio on standby in Nepal which can be used to set up an emergency radio station in conjunction with the government and local broadcasters in the event of a major earthquake in Kathmandu. Used in conjunction with a small petrol-driven generator, the equipment can be used to put an FM radio station on-air within hours of a disaster occurring. The idea is usually not to set up a completely new radio station, but to operate a special Lifeline radio service on the FM frequency and broadcasting licence of a local partner station that is no longer able to broadcast from its own studios and transmitters.

BBC Media Action is considering the deployment of suitcase radios as back-up equipment to provide emergency broadcasting facilities in other strategic locations where existing broadcasters may be shut down by the sudden collapse of infrastructure in an emergency. The existing suitcase radio in Kathmandu may also be deployed to emergencies in other Asian countries, if required

BBC Media Action also has several satellite telephones and Broadband Global Area Network (BGAN) satellite modems which can be deployed to support emergency broadcasting in locations where the local telecoms infrastructure has collapsed. They could provide emergency telephone and internet links for a radio station in a disaster zone that had no other telecommunications links to the outside world. The satellite phones are used exclusively for voice communication. The BGANs, which are similar in size and weight to a laptop computer, may be linked to a telephone handset to provide voice communication. However, in practice BBC Media Action mostly uses them to send and receive email messages. The BGANs may also be used to access websites on the internet. BBC Media Action has not so far deployed this equipment in support of a radio station transmitting Lifeline programming from inside a disaster zone, but it is ready to do so at any time should the need arise.

BBC Media Action has acquired small quantities of solar/wind-up radios to equip listening groups that form part of our outreach activities in non-emergency media projects. However, it does not keep a stock of solar/wind-up radios for distribution in humanitarian disasters. BBC Media Action is not geared up to handle sophisticated logistics. We would normally expect one of our aid agency partners to handle the transport and distribution of any radio sets acquired for distribution to the affected population following a disaster.

ANNEX 4A