GO has invested heavily in an upgraded sports playout facility and is now fully equipped for the exclusive transmission of the English Premier League and Italian Serie A due to kick off in August.

The investment comes after the company won exclusivity to air matches from these two leagues from the 2010-11 football season onwards. GO will broadcast up to six live games simultaneously on every match day.

This investment was announced this week at GO’s headend in Maghtab during an official visit by Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi.

During his visit, Dr Gonzi was shown GO’s TV operations facilities at the Maghtab TV headend, where he was given an explanation on the intrinsic functions of the new high tech equipment at the upgraded sports playout facilities, as well as the renovation work carried out over the past months.

During the visit, GO CEO David Kay announced that GO is planning to invest €100 million over the next six years as part of its technology roadmap that will see it launching next generation networks such as fibre-to-the-home, mobile network upgrades and investments in its TV infrastructure to cover new services and applications.

In addition, Mr Kay said that €7 million had been invested in GO’s TV infrastructure since the company began its TV operations in 2007, mainly on providing almost 100 per cent DTTV coverage around Malta and Gozo, and the improved headend facilities. He explained that GO’s TV customer base has increased considerably from just under 10,000 subscribers in 2007 to over 53,000 current subscribers.

Dr Gonzi’s official visit to GO’s headend also marked the start of the company’s transmission of some of the latest sports channels it has acquired, namely Inter Channel, Juventus Channel and Roma Channel. It will also shortly begin broadcasting the Milan Channel. These channels continue to enhance GO’s sports offering, given that it already broadcasts exclusively the channels of Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool.

In addition, during the Prime Minister’s visit, GO launched GO stars, a premium pay channel that carries movies of all genres, series and other entertainment programmes. All GO TV (Free, Silver and Gold) customers will have open viewing of GO stars for a period of one month.

With regard to the work carried out at the Maghtab headend, this includes a new HD-ready playout system that allows the company to play out up to six simultaneous live feeds, while being able to receive and record a further four feeds for delayed playback. As a result, all GO sports customers can rest assured that they will not miss a minute of action from the English Premier League and Italian Serie A. In addition, GO recently introduced a state-of-the-art Media Control Room at its Maghtab headend that enables the company’s TV team to monitor and direct all transmissions effectively. The facility boasts fully redundant power generators, uninterrupted power supplies, satellite antennas and video-processing equipment that guarantee the fastest recovery time in case of any fault.

During the visit, Dr Gonzi met GO’s top officials as well as the team of engineers and technicians responsible for the manning of the state-of-the-art equipment at GO’s TV headend.

Dr Gonzi thanked GO for its commitment to investment in its technology and infrastructure, commenting: “Telecommunications is an important enabler for the economy and is pivotal for Malta to reach the Vision 2015 targets. The €100 million investment programme is a sign of confidence in Malta’s potential and will further enhance Malta’s investment attractiveness. The investment that GO has undertaken further confirms that liberalisation and privatisation processes have been important catalysts for investment.”

Referring to the television service, Mr Kay said: “The newest upgrade involving the sports playout facilities – one of many carried out by GO in recent months – further underpins GO’s reputation as the leading telecoms operator in the Maltese Islands. GO thanks its board of directors, management, employees and suppliers who have made this investment possible.

“GO is committed to providing customers with the best level of quality digital TV service – offered through its DTTV platform – both in terms of content as well as service provision. All English and Italian sports enthusiasts can watch their favourite games and matches to their hearts’ content, thanks to GO sports.

“GO sports is the exclusive sports package for GO TV customers, offering a variety of international rugby, football, tennis, golf, horseracing, boxing and other sports at affordable prices. We have already secured live and exclusive rights for major international events for the next few years, and our plan is to enhance this offering through ongoing value-for-money propositions,” he said.