Belfast - Apr 6, 2007 - The European Broadcast Union (EBU) has struck a deal with Belfast-based codec manufacturer APT to use the company's Worldnet Oslo units as part of a pilot scheme designed to develop surround sound broadcasts.

During 2007, 20 Worldnet Oslo units will be deployed to several European Public Service broadcasters who will use them to transmit live radio broadcasts in surround sound. The pilot project has an option to provide an additional 50 units in 2008 to the remaining member and affiliate broadcasters that belong to the EBU.

In recent months the EBU has been actively seeking to agree on formats and standards with regard to transporting multichannel audio. A working group brought together the collective findings of those broadcasters who had already experimented with live surround sound, including ORF in Austria and WDR in Germany. Both of these broadcasters had successfully used APT products for this purpose and on the recommendation of WDR, fellow German state broadcasters Bayerischer Rundfunk, Suedwestrundfunk, ARD Crosspoint and Hessischer Rundfunk had also adopted APT's Worldnet Oslo for their 5.1 transmissions.

The APT Worldnet Oslo has E1 and IP interfaces, a modular design and several coding standards including linear and J.57 with MPEG Layer II, G.722 and J.41 due for release, as well as APT Enhanced Apt-x algorithm.