Bell transmits on Nimiq KU band satellites.  They haven't used Anik satellites in decades.  It's a matter of spectrum management.  Each satellite in their fleet (two - at 91 and 82 degrees), is wideband and divided into  a number of transponders.  There are 32 transponders on each satelllite - so Bell for the sake of argument is working with up to  64 wideband transponders.  Each transponder can be utilized to transmit HD or SD signals, it is a matter of "how" bell multiplexes content within the transponders.  So when they stop supporting SD receivers, the bandwidth on those transponders that carry SD signals, will be repurposed to transmit HD content.   This is all done at their terrestrial uplink centre(s).  FYI, with digital video compression a number of HD channels can be accommodated on a transponder.  Fast motion sports require more bandwith, and fairly stationary content such as news requires less.  So it's a mix and match for the mostpart of diffeent kinds of content within a single transponder.

Last edited by tvguy (March 29, 2023 9:36 am)