Charter to Roll Out Switched Digital Video in L.A.
Operator to Deploy BigBand Switched Digital Video to Expand HDTV
By Todd Spangler -- Multichannel News, 11/19/2007 3:00:00 AM
Charter Communications will deploy switched digital video in its Los Angeles-area system, including Malibu, Burbank and Glendale, Calif., to expand high-definition TV and special-interest programming.
The operator will use BigBand Networks’ switched digital video management server and BEQ 6000 universal edge quadrature amplitude modulation platform. In its L.A. system, Charter uses Scientific Atlanta set-top boxes and the SARA interactive programming guide.
Charter is also using BigBand’s switched video analysis viewership and performance analysis application to determine when -- and where -- to roll out new switched channels.
“Switched digital video allows us to significantly expand programming choices for customers and improve the overall bandwidth efficiency of our network,” Charter chief technology officer Marwan Fawaz said, in a prepared statement.
Other cable companies that have initiated commercial deployments of BigBand’s SDV solution include Time Warner Cable, Cox Communications and Cablevision Systems. In addition, Comcast has approved BigBand’s SDV session management software for use in its networks.
Five of BigBand’s cable operator customers have completed deployments or are in the progress of deploying switched digital video across 20 cable systems that pass 11 million to 12 million households, according to the company.
