The laptop-based mobile newsgathering equipment, vid'linkMobile was being used by the news reporters to transfer video footage through the course of the event over non-conventional mediums like dial up internet connection, says an official communique.

The advanced codec used in vid'linkMobile compresses the video almost 70 per cent more efficiently than other compression standards making sure at the same time that the video quality remains intact. The biggest value addition, claims the release, is that the cost of transferring the video from remote locations using vid'linkMobile is almost 80 per cent less than traditional mediums like VSAT, and leased lines.

According to the release, Zee News was able to transmit the video footage over a 3G mobile phone.

Speaking about how Beehive's vid'linkMobile has benefited the channel, Zee News CEO Laxmi Goel said, "vid'linkMobile has helped us reduce the cost of covering Olympics significantly which would have otherwise been considerably large given the scale of coverage for an event as big as the Olympics. One other advantage is, since the system is laptop-based, it gives our reporters the flexibility to move anytime, anywhere without having to travel with traditionally bulky equipment which firstly needs considerable preparation to set up and secondly limits mobility."

While Star News' director operations Vynsley Fernandes said, "Using vid'linkMobile to cover Olympics has made lot of business sense for Star News considering that this system has helped us cover one of the biggest events of the decade at a fraction of the cost normally incurred by traditional mode of video transfer. Goes without saying that the quality and ease of handling is a phenomenal advantage in itself."

According to Beehive Systems' vice-president, business development Ajay Pal Singh said, "It's a matter of great pride for us that such high-profile channels like Zee News, Star News and Doordarshan have relied on Beehive's newsgathering solution to cover an event as prestigious and important as the Olympics. The clients' feedback on the system's performance and the impact it has had on their business has been very positive so far and there is no reason why it should not go on to bring about tremendous cost benefits for the clients by the time the event is over."

Prior to this, the release claims that Doordarshan had used vid'linkMobile to cover the Iraq war and was able to achieve unprecedented views of the battlefield, which in turn had help the pubcaster to give a fillip to its TRPs.