Video networking systems power BigBand Networks Inc., on Wednesday announced the successful completion of a large switched broadcast deployment with Cablevision Systems Corp., which is using the vendor’s switched broadcast technology to deliver nine new, in-language programming services, featuring dozens of international channels from around the world.
For Cablevision, the fifth largest U.S. cable operator, it’s all about bigger bandwidth and maximizing its current network infrastructure investments.
“With BigBand’s Switched Broadcast, we can significantly increase the number of channels we can provide to customers over our existing hybrid fiber coaxial cable network,” said Patricia Gottesman, Cablevision’s executive vice president of product management and marketing, in prepared comments. “We are using BigBand Networks’ technology today to deliver nine distinct, in-language international programming options across our entire service area, and we see this as an important tool in our efforts to deliver new choices for our diverse and growing customer base.”
BigBand said switched broadcast is designed to enhance the efficiency of bandwidth and network resources that cable operators use to provide digital programming, thereby reserving capacity for more program choices and bandwidth-intensive services such as HDTV.
With switched broadcast, the vendor added, digital television programs are dynamically directed to those areas in which subscribers are actively requesting them, so that only those programs being watched consume bandwidth in any given area.
BigBand said resulting plant efficiencies can be leveraged to grow offerings to subscribers, including expansion of the types of ethnic and foreign language programming Cablevision has deployed using the technology.
BigBand Networks Inc. www.bigbandnet.com
Cablevision Systems Corp. www.cablevision.com
