W3 serves Eurovision for transmitting more than 470 hours of coverage of events marking European Union Enlargement
For 48 hours from Friday 30 April to Saturday 1 May, the Eurovision network, which operates through capacity on Eutelsat's W3 satellite, has been geared to handle the largest single event in its history, with more television contribution channels dedicated to a single event since its creation 50 years ago.
The largest single origin will be the temporary resources set up at Farmleigh House, where the Irish government, as president of the Union, will celebrate Enlargement. Additional reporting will also be transmitted direct from Dublin Castle, Ireland's traditional venue for European meetings.
In addition to permanent connectivity through Eurovision's Brussels gateway with the European Commission, the European Council, the European Parliament, the International Press Center and most production companies, temporary Eurovision facilities are being made available throughout the new member countries.
Temporary satellite uplinks will work both sides of Cyprus Green Line and in Malta. Transportable earth stations have also been deployed in the Baltic republics of Lithuania and Latvia (boosting the permanent capacity in those cities, as well as the Eurovision gateway in Tallinn). Eurovision has strengthened its gateways in Warsaw (where both a permanent uplink and temporary facilities in the city centre are available) as well as in Prague. On the old border between East and West, Eurovision facilities have been deployed to the German town of Zittau.