DotCast, Dubai coach building facility, Dubai OB van makers, Farid Bittar, BroadcastPro, Vijaya Cherian
DotCast has launched a 12,000 sq.ft coach building facility in Dubai. The faciility is the first-of-its-kind in the Middle East and claims that it can provide fully-fitted OB vans at 30% lower costs than its European counterparts. The company is currently building a 16-camera trailer for an international manufacturer. The trailer is primarily designed for sports production and supports both SD and HD.
"We will deliver this trailer with eight cameras initially but it is wired for 16. Along with this, we will also supply a second support van," stated Farid Bittar, CTO of DotCast.
Bittar is a broadcaster veteran with expertise building OB vans in Italy and the United Kingdom. A third van is also being built at the facility presently.
"In previous years, we have seen systems integrators get the coaches done overseas and do the fittings here. We procure only a basic trailer from abroad. We do the rest from doing up the walls to the air conditioning at this facility," commented Bittar.
DotCast claims it launched this facility to fill a gap in the market and also, to tackle the HD boom.
"There are huge expenses involved in building an OB van abroad, travelling to the site to ensure specs are met and also, to eventually ship the product to the region. A local facility solves all of that. We also expect a lot of demand for OB vans as more broadcasters move to HD. Rather than shut down their operations, many are looking to use an HD van as a control room as they undertake upgrades. We have had requests to use an OB van in this manner." Bittar claims that the facility has the capacity to build five big trailers along with smaller vans at the same time. The company’s biggest challenge, however, is to gain confidence in the market.
"We need to establish more confidence among clients. When customers see what we are capable of delivering and the benefits of building OB vans locally, they will begin to appreciate this facility," added Bittar.
