GS Group launches new hybrid receiver for Russia

GS Group’s Technopolis facility in Kaliningrad

Russian technology provider GS Group has launched the first of a new hybrid set-top boxes, the GS E212. 

The box is the first unit design in the line of receivers under the General Satellite brand that is able to receive both satellite and terrestrial signals. It can support multiple streaming formats and is designed to support Russia’s transition from analogue to digital broadcasting, due to be completed by 2019.

According to GS Group, the GS E212 will enable Russia’s 60 million satellite viewers to access the country’s Federal TV channels over the first and second Russian DTT multiplexes, as well as regional DVB-T2 channels.

The box includes two independent tuners to receive DVB-T2 and DVB-S/S2 signals.

The box will be HD-capable and is based on an STMicroelectronics chipset alongside a GS Lanthanum crypto processor developed in-house.

The first 100,000 units will be available for sale at the end of this autumn.

“The GS E212 set-top box was designed with due regard for broadcasting digitization objectives in Russia and, in our opinion, will be in high demand by the consumer,” said Andrei Bezrukov, director of strategic marketing.

“It allows users to significantly save on their purchase of receiving equipment and to receive additionally to their satellite operator HD-channels all free-to-air terrestrial content broadcasted within the region with digital quality and supporting HD format. It will also save the customer from the need to use additional devices for receiving various types of signals.”