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Carrier Services
Riding the Wave
Verizon Business Launches HDTV Transport Service
by Sean Buckley
Although HDTV may not be as common in every home as the color TV
yet, it’s clear that it’s a service on the rise.
IMS Research, for one, predicts double-digit growth in this
market over the next five years will result in nearly 60
million HDTV displays shipped in 2010.
If the opportunity for HDTV lives up to these projections, broadcasters and IPTV providers alike will need cost effective video transport solutions.
Enter Verizon Business and its latest offering: Hi-Def DVTS.
The new HDTV transport service complements Verizon Business’ suite of
digital vieo transport services, including its Digital ICF Media Platform and
multi-channel syndication, fast turnaround production and digital media
asset management solutions it debuted earlier this year.
Verizon’s Hi-Def DVTS service will be applicable to a number of
customers, including producers and directors, content aggregators, post
production personnel in addition to mobile/broadband and IPTV
operators.
For Verizon, video transport continues to be a booming business,
especially in the Northeast where many of the major broadcast
television stations reside. “Verizon does about $45 million in business in
this market today, and this service is a response to the growth of HDTV
programming requirements,” said Brian Wilson, product manager for
Verizon Business’ video services. “The customers asked us if we could
transport their high-def signal in the same way we do on our other video
services.”
Verizon’s HDTV transport service will be offered to television
broadcasters in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Delaware, Maine,
Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island,
Virginia, West Virginia and Vermont.
Carried over the Verizon Business’ optical network, the service is a good
fit for broadcast networks that need to transport satellite
uplink/downlink, or to transport video from a sports or entertainment
venue to a production facility.
Apart from the typical operational activities that take place between an
operator and their vendors, i.e., testing and tariffing the services, turning
up the new service was relatively simple.
Wilson points out that the timing for such a service is ripe. “This is going
to be the next step in the transition from an analog signal to a digital
signal up to a higher-quality digital signal,” said Wilson.
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